HELP, can a regulator that's stuck open be fixed?

I found this discussion which didn't offer much advice and a couple other pertinent discussions but no answer. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/over-pressurised-keg-regulator-336724/index2.html

Can I 'fix' a regulator that's stuck open? I remember reading somewhere on here, before I had kegging equipment, about how someone got a regulator that was stuck open like this to work. Something about taking it off and knocking it a certain way to get a pin inside to loosen or some such ... it's been years.

My setup is a dual regulator from keg connection. This particular regulator has always been goofy and I think it was doing this same thing a while back just before my recent brewing hiatus. I've got the screw screwed all the way out as in zero-pressure adjustment, have released the line pressure and the release valve. The guage shoots up to about 40 psi then gradually climbs till it pegs out and the release valve is quietly hissing.

HELP?!?!
Thanks,
Phillip

Yeah, this kind of problem is usually due to some sort of foreign material stuck inside the body of the regulator.

Take it apart, clean everything, smear the mating faces with just enough silicone to make 'em shiny, reassemble.

Or short of that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120959565806?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648 (i am a customer of this seller - mine came with a big knob rather than the screwdriver adjustment shown)

TimpanogosSlim said:

Yeah, this kind of problem is usually due to some sort of foreign material stuck inside the body of the regulator.

Take it apart, clean everything, smear the mating faces with just enough silicone to make 'em shiny, reassemble.

Or short of that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120959565806?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648 (i am a customer of this seller - mine came with a big knob rather than the screwdriver adjustment shown)

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply TimpanogosSlim (man what a user name). I'm guessing no matter what I'm taking it apart and removing this 2nd regulator, putting the high pressure guage back on and using it as a one regulator keg. I've got a splitter anyway so I'm good for 2 kegs and only have 1 keg of beer at the moment! Suppose I can work on the messed up one once it's off. Any diagrams/instructions available online? I'm fairly mechanical but have no idea what lies inside this regulator.

Do I need food grade silicone? Get it from the hardware store/walmart/where?

My chemist friend assures me that the difference between industrial grade and food grade is almost always paperwork and insurance.

But regardless of that, a little container of plumber's silicone grease is just a few bucks from the hardware store, and is approved for drinking water faucets.

Mt. Timpanogos is the 2nd tallest mountain in the state of Utah, and during my youth - pre-GPS - was thought to be the tallest. It served as an imposingly tall feature in my youth, visible out the front windows of the house i grew up in. Think of Timpanogos Slim as my porn star name.

Suppose the Mt. Timpanogos of my youth was Marshall's Pond, a beaver pond about 1-1.25 miles behind my home. It was tiny and snake infested being in semi-marsh bottom land. However to get there you went through beer can hollow, there were old beer cans scattered here and there. Once there you could still see the vestiges of what was once a still in a portion of a wooden platform and the metal rings of multiple barrels. Don't know what it is, but I always loved bottoms, swamps, and reed breaks as a boy, still do.

Thanks!

Welcome. Good luck!

sometimes its faster easier and cheaper to drop the regulator off at Oxarc
and pick it up in a couple days

amandabab said:

sometimes its faster easier and cheaper to drop the regulator off at Oxarc
and pick it up in a couple days

Click to expand...

sure, if you live in cascadia.

TimpanogosSlim said:

sure, if you live in cascadia.

Click to expand...

or praxair, they rebuild too

ah, good to know praxair offers that service.

Keg Connection said send it back! Woohoo. Will give a followup on the outcome of this little venture. I'm rather sure it was doing this since I purchased it as I never could get this regulator to act proper like. It even pumped out a full 5 gallon keg through a party tap once because the pressure shot through the roof.

Update: Keg Connections & Todd are great.

In short Keg Connections stood behind their work even though it had been far to long for me to logically expect them to 'fix for free' the issues with the regulator. I was literally hoping to pay for replacement parts and shipping if I was lucky. On that note a solid business model in these tough economic times must include a strong motivation to both stand behind your work and try to earn repeat business from customers. Keg Connection has more than earned my loyalty. To summarize Todd, 'We make so many of these that work just fine it's in our best interest to simply fix the one out of several hundred that fails for good customer relations and to get the word out that we stand behind our work.'

Thanks Todd & the crew at KC, the regulator is working perfectly!