Perlick 525 SS faucet leaks

I've had five 525SS's since June of '09. I've never had a single issue. Guess they don't make stuff like they used to

Combining info on other threads and my experience, here's my assessment.

I have been dealing with Diane. They will send you a replacement for free but it's a 408standard faucet model. There is currently no 525SS replacement. A new forward seal design is apparently in the works. Although I was sent a 408, when Diane gets back, I'm going to ask about a replacement once the new designs are out. You all may choose to hold off on participating in the recall until a new forward seal version is available.

I also have this issue with my 525 Chrome.

Spoke to Diane today (left a message, got a call back ~2 hours later). She initially offered to swap all 6 with the 408, which I do *not* want to do as I worry about sticking with a rear-sealing design. She mentioned that there are other options, and eventually settled on simply "taking a chance" and she's going to send me 2 replacement brand-new 525SS for the two bad (of my 6 total) in the hopes that they're simply not going to have the same issue. Given that my other 4 have been perfect for years, I don't expect these to be an issue.

Either way, I'm pretty happy with that as a resolution, and pleased that Perlick understands that there is a design flaw here and are willing to work through it.

Thanks for reporting back bwarbiany...
I have (2) 525SS faucets and (1) ?575SS? I am keeping an eye on the two 525's...
Anyone know if this effects the 575 heads as well?

Just stumbled on this thread. I have 3 525's. One of which weirdly after pouring and putting the over the tap cover on it sits for a little then POP! it pops off and falls on the ground. I do not notice any noticeable beer loss and usually just put a slight amount of pressure to hold the tap closed and rinse then recap the tap and it does not repeat. Weird thing is this is the only of my 3 that has a actual tap handle on it (sierra nevada PA handle, not oversized, but not one of the cheap black plastic 3 inch ones I bought with them). Maybe I will swap the tap handle out and see if it continues. Is this consistent with what has happened to those of you who have leaks, or is it much more considerable of a leak?

BTW I got my faucets the other day. I was already a little peeved that I had last spoke to Diane on June 24, and even followed up with an email the first week of July, and had NO communication back. But alas, I was happy when a box showed up earlier this week...

...until I opened it and saw two 408X faucets instead of 525SS

And of course, the 408X has a different-sized nozzle than the 525SS, so when I bottled some beer for competition last night, I had to cobble something together, making a mess of my garage and probably not doing a very good job of bottling. Ugh.

At the moment I'm going to try this:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090SP1ZW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Hopefully that will revive the two bad ones. If not, I'm going to have to write back to Perlick and see if they'll swap the 525's replacement for the 408X whenever the new one is completed.

Good luck. After I got my 408 they never acknowledged my existence again.

I just got and installed 4 perlick 525ss from ritebrew.com and fortunately the all work fine. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Update: those rebuild kits were zero help. The leaky one continued leaking and the one showing the similar symptom in the action of the lever continued to exhibit the same symptom...

I'm thinking the problem with some 525SS has to be the casting of the faucet itself, not the o-rings or lever assembly.

Most pro brewers are having the same issue's!!!http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?32083-Perlick-Flow-Control-Faucets-Problems

Just installed my 525's. So far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed. Will post if there are issues. I have to say I am a bit bummed (serious understatement) to hear that everyone is having problems with these, and Perlick for that matter. I thought I did my homework before buying them. All the reviews said that they were the top of the line. Yea right

I was about to buy 6 of these to replace my rear-sealing taps. Not sure if I should hold off now or just take a chance.

I just installed 4 of these in my new keezer. Hoping I don't have a problem.
Would be really pissed if I get a downgraded faucet as a replacement.

jjefrey said:

I just installed 4 of these in my new keezer. Hoping I don't have a problem.
Would be really pissed if I get a downgraded faucet as a replacement.

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Oh, I'm with you there. There is no way I would accept permanent replacement to a plated brass downgrade. Only temporarily until they fix the leak/seal problem. You paid extra to obtain the 525SS and you should get and enjoy the 525SS.

I'm still interested in the 525SS and may just do the gamble. It seems many of them work just fine. They weren't pulled off the market or recalled either.

kev said:

I have to say I am a bit bummed (serious understatement) to hear that everyone is having problems with these,

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That's a little bit of an over statement. Hundreds of people without issues just aren't likely to reply to a thread like this.

AZ_IPA said:

That's a little bit of an over statement. Hundreds of people without issues just aren't likely to reply to a thread like this.

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I have no problems with my 2.

I have 4 of these. I haven't tried the 4th yet, it's maiden voyage is still in carboy. The other 3 all work great.

AZ_IPA said:

That's a little bit of an over statement. Hundreds of people without issues just aren't likely to reply to a thread like this.

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Yeah, I have 3 575ss and the only time I ever had a leak was more my fault than the faucet's. I even have funtioning creamers (but I still wouldn't advise anyone to pay extra for them).

BBBF said:

Yeah, I have 3 575ss and the only time I ever had a leak was more my fault than the faucet's. I even have funtioning creamers (but I still wouldn't advise anyone to pay extra for them).

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The price difference between the 525 and 575 isn't that great, so I figured since I was shelling out the money for the good taps, why not shell out a little bit more.

I've got five 575's, and all of them work fine. Have used them for over a year.

I have 3 of the 525SS faucets on my long draw set up and they seal just fine. The only caveat is that I am using beer pumps that push the beer at 30psi to the faucet. That might make a difference who knows? I am thinking of switching to Ventomatics now that they are being made again. The reason is that I leave them with beer in the line for a week or 2 at a time unattended. It would suck to have 15 gallons of beer go down the drain due to a leaky faucet. Not to mention the fruit flies.

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...d=3277&zenid=f8a48f4b97525eecb0a9c94d7ac74683

I put two of them on my kegerator a few months back. No leaks at all. I did have to back off the adjusting screws a little bit.

Adjusting screws?

crazyirishman34 said:

Adjusting screws?

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It's not a screw, but more like a bolt I guess, or an adjusting wheel. Right where the handle goes into the faucet, I had to back this off a bit to get a good seal.

billpaustin said:

It's not a screw, but more like a bolt I guess, or an adjusting wheel. Right where the handle goes into the faucet, I had to back this off a bit to get a good seal.

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Yep; with a forward sealing faucet, you really want the handle to move freely. Backing off the nut by a 1/4 turn worked on one of mine.

No kidding, wow. That is good info to know, thank you. I am assuming that the nut that you are talking about is kinda in the same location as a packing nut would be on a standard water valve?
Cheers
Kev

crazyirishman34 said:

I have 3 of the 525SS faucets on my long draw set up and they seal just fine. The only caveat is that I am using beer pumps that push the beer at 30psi to the faucet. That might make a difference who knows? I am thinking of switching to Ventomatics now that they are being made again. The reason is that I leave them with beer in the line for a week or 2 at a time unattended. It would suck to have 15 gallons of beer go down the drain due to a leaky faucet. Not to mention the fruit flies.

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...d=3277&zenid=f8a48f4b97525eecb0a9c94d7ac74683

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Thanks for the heads up on ventmatics coming back, just ordered some.

kev said:

No kidding, wow. That is good info to know, thank you. I am assuming that the nut that you are talking about is kinda in the same location as a packing nut would be on a standard water valve?
Cheers
Kev

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Correct. It's item 7 in the figure below...



Cheers!

[edit] fwiw, I've been running six 525 SS Perls for almost three years. Out of the box, one of them had a tendency to drip, the others have always been rock solid. I dis-assembled the outlier, cleaned everything, applied just a ghost of a film of keg lube to all of the o-rings, reassembled it, adjusted the bonnet (item 7) so the lever moved smoothly, and it hasn't leaked a drip ever since. If there's an intrinsic problem with the 525 SS now, someone changed something at the factory , imo...

day_trippr said:

If there's an intrinsic problem with the 525 SS now, someone changed something at the factory , imo...

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Yep. I have five and I have friends with probably 15-20 more (more than one friend)... No problems anywhere.

I have 2 and they have been in service for less than a week now. Thank God there are no issues. It is just good information to have just in case. That way I can at least try something before a call to Perlick to pitch a *****. Thanks for the detailed explanation.
Cheers
Kev

Never had a problem with my 3 perlicks, but I just installed 4 on my long draw bar in my dining room where we just did brand new floors. Wife will kill me if a keg does leak. I think 4 ventomatics might be ordered tonight.

I have 6 525SS faucets for several months now with no leaks.

Can anyone elaborate on where the leak is? Are the bad ones leaking out of the faucet?

I have three 525SS faucets that I've had for a little less than two years. Last night, after pouring a beer, one of them had a slight leak at the top where the lever goes down into the faucet. The threaded cap wasn't loose. I took it apart and removed the lower o-ring and didn't see any damage or gunk. I cleaned it anyway and lubed everything a little with keg lube. Reassembled and no more leak.

Just wondering if mine are developing the same problem or if that was just a random event.

disney7 said:

Just wondering if mine are developing the same problem or if that was just a random event.

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That's exactly what mine does. Leaks reemerge every 2 weeks to 2 months. I used to replace everything each time. I later discovered if you just take it apart, like you did, remove the piece with the ball at the bottem that goes into the main faucet, then put it all back together, it works again....until the next time.

The way I see it, I can keep doing this until Perlick finds a fix, go back to standard faucets, or buy the ventamatics since apparently they are being sold again.

I'm sitting at a newish pub that has about 30 525SS faucets. I asked the guys about them and they say the bonnets spring a leak every two or three months (they see a lot of use).

They have a bag of the o-rings that go below the ball. The bag is Perlick part number 425-8. They replace them as needed. I may grab a bag and replace mine every so often.

I asked if they'd ever lost a keg overnight. They said no, it always happens when operating the faucet and it is never a very bad leak. They just replace the o-ring at that point.

It makes some sense that it might be a wear item.

Hmm. One of my three has stopped sealing properly. Not a fast leak, but the tap condom falls off after hours or days and a couple drops of beer go to the angels or floor. It got better before by loosening the bonnet. No good anymore as it is practically unscrewed now. Its a shame though because I really like the taps. I am going to disassemble and reassemble and go from there.

I just installed 10 on my kegerator. no issues yet.. does someone have the o-ring #'s that need to be changed should a leak occur? Love them so far, are working great. but if I have parts on hand, I've got no problem changing them I guess. 100 orings are 2 bucks or less. if they start leaking. I'll chalk it up to "for love of the game" and happily replace them

crazyirishman34 said:

I have 3 of the 525SS faucets on my long draw set up and they seal just fine. I am thinking of switching to Ventomatics now that they are being made again.
http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...d=3277&zenid=f8a48f4b97525eecb0a9c94d7ac74683

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I was considering that as well. However, there's no seal kits or repair parts available for the VentMatics (at least I didn't see any at the Chi Company website). As it stands right now, there's just faucets.

I bought my four from Adventures a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed.


is the leaks mainly with the O-rings? If so, does McMasters Carr have a part #? What about going with a O-ring?

On another note, what is the difference between the Perlick 525 and 575? I want to add more faucets to my kegerator (maybe 2-3 more), so just wondering about the differences.

Jeffinn said:

I was considering that as well. However, there's no seal kits or repair parts available for the VentMatics (at least I didn't see any at the Chi Company website). As it stands right now, there's just faucets.

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Not too many places have custom sized orings made. It would just be too costly. I would bet that you can get all the internal orings from other sources.