Taprite vs. Chudnow?

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winvarin

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Any consensus out there? I've had a dual regulator Chudnow system for a little over a year. Prior to that, I had a single regulator Chudnow setup.

I've gotten tired of throwing rebuild kits at this thing (cartridge + diaphragm). I had to refurb one of the regulators last fall. The second one tanked on me a few days ago. It seems the Chudnow is really susceptible to pressure creep. I've now put 2 different rebuild kits in this second regulator and the pressure still creeps up.

I had been reading about the Taprites and they seem to be more reliable. I just dropped the cash on a 2 regulator Taprite from Keg Connection.

My plan is to use the Taprite on my keezer and keep the one good Chudnow for portable use, kegging, bottling from kegs etc.

What are the impressions out there of the Taprite? Most of the vendors I frequent seem to favor it over the Chudnow


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have had two taprites for a couple years now, both still work perfectly
 
I've had two Chudnow regs for over five year now - a single body for my carbing fridge and a dual body for my keezer. Zero issues.

I recently bought a Taprite single body when I added a nitro faucet. It's certainly prettier than the Chudnows ;) Hopefully it will be at least as reliable...

Cheers!
 
Maybe I just got some duds? Or perhaps I am abusing them in some way. I started with a single Chudnow setup. Everything was fine for a couple of years. I added a secondary Chudnow regulator last spring.

Within about 6 months, I was experiencing "pressure creep" on the original regulator. It had to put 2 different rebuild kits (diaphragm and cartridge) in it to get it to hold steady. I did this last October and that regulator has worked fine ever since.

Late last month, I had a porter that was fine for the bulk of the keg, but the last 1/3 became really overcarbed in a matter of a few days. I suspected the regulator, even though it wasn't initially showing signs of pressure creep on the gauge. It took moving the beer to the rebuilt regulator and several gas venting sessions to bring the carbonation back in line with what I wanted. The remainder of the keg finished fine on the rebuilt regulator.

With nothing hooked up to the "suspect" Chudnow, I started getting the telltale signs of pressure creep. Even with the screw backed all the way out, the pressure increases about 5# per day. I put a rebuild kit in it Saturday (and even picked up a new low pressure gauge). Same results. By Sunday morning, the pressure had moved up to 5# again. It was nearly 10# by bedtime last night.

So I went ahead and ordered a dual Taprite set up Sunday afternoon.

The only possibilities I can come up with for what I might be doing to cause them to fail are:

1. Environmental - My keezer is in a garage. Temps in the closed garage range from upper 90s/low 100s in the summer to near freezing in the winter. It also gets pretty dusty if I leave the door open for long periods as Oklahoma can get pretty windy. Although, this wouldn't explain why a new rebuild kit would still not work. I blew the regulator out with compressed air while I had it open.

2. Handling. When I keg beers, I disconnect my CO2 lines from the keezer and take the tank and regulator to my deep sink. I use the gas to push sanitizer out of the kegs and to seal the lids and provide an initial preassure on the headspace after kegging.

But even doing that, I take care not to bang the regulator, let the tank and regulator fall over or in other ways mistreat it.

Once I get the Taprites, I am going to break the Cudnow set up back down to where it is just the one good regulator. I plan on using that one for kegging and transfer, so that I never have to move the Taprites off the kegerator.

A couple of the sites I looked on indicate that the Taprites are more durable and consistent. Let's hope so.
 
Thanks Stealthcruiser. Per FedEx, my Taprite dual regulator should be sitting on my back porch when I get home. Going to swap it in for my old regulators tonight


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I too had to rebuild my chudnow a couple of times. In the process the cardboard psi gauge got bent on one of my dual regulators so I don't know what psi it is if I push it above 16psi. I havent had creep since my last rebuild, but if I buy again I will probably go taprite
 
I'm currently seeing creep on 2 of my 3 Chudnow regulators. One is pretty bad, the other is manageable. The one that isn't creeping is the one that's been isolated and unused for several years.

Is kegconnection the only place to buy the rebuild kits? $7.75 isn't bad for a kit, but buying two and then dropping that much more on shipping kind of hurts. I'm sure all of that stuff would fit in a padded envelope and ship first class for like $3.

Edit: These are about 5 years old.
 
Taprites have arrived and are in place. I hear you on the rebuild kits and shipping.

I've bought kits twice and each time I've bought 2 just to justify the shipping. But this most recent time I put 2 different kits into the Chudnow and was still seeing 5-7 psi per day creep.

I'm going to keep the 1 good Chudnow for portability


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I'm currently seeing creep on 2 of my 3 Chudnow regulators. One is pretty bad, the other is manageable. The one that isn't creeping is the one that's been isolated and unused for several years.

Is kegconnection the only place to buy the rebuild kits? $7.75 isn't bad for a kit, but buying two and then dropping that much more on shipping kind of hurts. I'm sure all of that stuff would fit in a padded envelope and ship first class for like $3.

Edit: These are about 5 years old.

I just called Kegconnection and told them what was going on (had only been a year). They said that wasn't normal and sent me the rebuild kit for free.
 
Taprites have arrived and are in place. I hear you on the rebuild kits and shipping.

I've bought kits twice and each time I've bought 2 just to justify the shipping. But this most recent time I put 2 different kits into the Chudnow and was still seeing 5-7 psi per day creep.

I'm going to keep the 1 good Chudnow for portability


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I wanted to respond to this because of the shipping issue. I contacted the guys at kegconnection and we worked out something to make shipping more bearable on this. I guess that's the reason that I keep buying stuff from them.
 
I hope I didn't sound like I was complaining about the shipping cost. Their flat rate is reasonable and in most cases, I come out ahead on a flat rate like that. I just tended to buy multiple kits to bring the shipping per item down.

I'm one of those guys who keeps a lot of odds and ends on hand. I'd rather have a part sitting around for awhile and have it right away when I need it, rather than be out of commission while I wait for it to ship.

I'm more irritated that I've had to rebuild both of my Chudnows (one of them twice) in the 3 years I've had them.

For those of us who've had issues with Chudnow, I wonder of there is a common environmental cause? Mine sit in a garage that can be as cold as the 30s or as hot as upper 90s to low 100s depending on the time of year. And my garage can get pretty dusty due to the way my house is situated and the wind patterns in my area.

If it's not something like that, I might have just gotten a couple of bad ones, or the product as a whole might not be that well made.


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I'd say my issues are probably due to age. I went back and looked at when I bought this stuff, and it was right at 5 years ago. Mine has been in an air-conditioned basement for that time period.

I was complaining about the shipping though ;). I just wanted to update that if you're just buying a couple of rebuild kits, they'll work with you on getting the price down for shipping.
 
Why just buy a couple of rebuild kits when I can just buy a whole new regulator and have that "did you order more brewing gear?" discussion with SWMBO? I guess the fact that I went ahead and bought the regulator makes her SWSBO (she who should be obeyed) ;)


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