Please reccomend me a new faucet + shank +

Whatever else I need for the complete pouring aspect of my kegerator. I have an old stand up refridgerator style kegerator and I need to buy at least one new complete set up, probably two though.

I'm not sure my LHBS is the best route and was wondering if anyone has a good online site. I was also wondering what some quality parts would be that won't break the bank. I hear stainless steal for everything is the way to go, but any input and advice is greatly appreciated! thanks all

Kegconnection did right by me. There's also Kegcowboy.

If you're able to kick in the extra money you'd be best served to get SS. I have chrome right now and can't wait to save up some money for SS.

Get perlicks! They are "forward sealing", so they don't stick. Trust me- that's huge!

Yooper said:

Get perlicks! They are "forward sealing", so they don't stick. Trust me- that's huge!

Click to expand...

Word. That's a problem I'm having with my current faucets. Go a couple days without a beer from the tap and it sets up.

I've heard that name before. I'm thinking when I upgrade my kegerator set up I can just pull the nice taps with me too. Probably the best bet as I see no stop to this obsession! Haha, the tap that came with the preowned kegeator was apparently copper, and I was changing the keg out/recleaning hte tap set up and the top bit snapped clean off (the metal).

I could get a replacement piece but I want to do it proper now that I have a hang of it. That and like I said, I can take the good pieces and upgrade whenever I need to in the near future!

So if I get stainless steal perlicks, can I just get any stainless steal shank and that is all I'll need) aside from the line and what not...

You will also need a fitting kit. It goes on the end of the shank and attaches to beer line.

Nice. I've already got the fittings for one keg to be hooked up.

This is a blessing in disguise and I'm just going to upgrade and get two freshy shanks and faucets and one extra fitting rig...for whatever reason I already have two "Out" Couplers.

My last question is there any specific shank size I need to fit a perlick? It seems like it's just length as the main distinguishing characteristic on websites I've peeped.

Not all perlicks are forward sealing.
Not all forward sealing perlicks are the easiest to clean.
The perlick 425 and 525 are great. The 425 is easier to clean.

cheers!

My first tap was a generic chrome. I just got a Perlick 525SS.. and really regret getting the generic. It is a beautiful thing.

Any reason not to get the 575SS, if one were so inclined? [http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=12232]

Having the creamer option might be nice for topping off a beer, but not if it comes at the expense of the standard features.

All awesome advice and solid links! Two last questions...

Is it worth buying a hole saw with a drill bit for cutting ease, (15/16 " is the size I've found which I guess makes sense because it seems most all shanks will be 1/8 ")

and are the creamers worth it?

Stainless shanks are only a few dollars more than chrome at initial purchase, so it probably wouldn't hurt if you haven't bought them yet to upgrade. In a home setting however you probably will not notice the difference over the usable life of the shank, so I probably wouldn't put upgrading any existing shanks at the top of my list, unless you have spinners on your car wheels and collect those gold plated quarters from shop at home.

All the creamer does is make foam for the top of your beer. If you like foam, then i suppose it is worth it, I am not pouring pints to sell to people, and I find a head on a beer only serves to slow down my consumption of said beer, so for me it just gets in the way and costs me more.

If you are thinking you will want it down the road for a stout, just get a stout faucet for one tap... you will also want a nitro setup on top of that, so when you are ready just go all in, for a proper stout you won't be sad that you don't have a creamer faucet a few years down the line, since that won't prove the best solution anyway.

425ss... get a piece of nostalgia... you can get them if you "search" hard enough. I have the 425ss and the 525ss on the same tower. The 425ss just "seems" to pour better, but I am not complaining about the 525ss at all!!

You don't need a creamer, just half pull the existing faucet.

Armen_Tamzarian said:

All awesome advice and solid links! Two last questions...

Is it worth buying a hole saw with a drill bit for cutting ease, (15/16 " is the size I've found which I guess makes sense because it seems most all shanks will be 1/8 ")

and are the creamers worth it?

Click to expand...

IMHO I think that hole saws suck, they are ok if you are cutting something very thin. When I drilled my keezer collar i used something like this Drill Bit This allows you to drill through a much thicker collar, faster and easier.

I think he is going through metal though as it is an upright cooler not the wood of a collar and spade bits suck for that. Get a cheap diamond hole saw from harbor freight, it will be cheaper than a twist drill bit of the same size as it has a ton less metal in it. Consider it disposable though, you won't get more than a few holes out of it at those prices.

Yea I'm thinking this stuff will be an investment for the future as well. I know down the line I'll want to expand/make something a little more legit. The better drill bits might be worth it! Thanks again.

whatever you get, dont get anything with teeth, they will hop all over on metal and will end up making a mess of your work. you can get a cheap diamond bit that will do thin sheet metal and give you about a dozen holes for under 10 bucks, or you can get a nice one that will do 50 holes for about 30... only you know how many taps your dream system will have

I want to recant my post, I missed the part about it being metal. My Bad

I had absolutely no trouble drilling through the metal door with the cheapest $5 15/16 hole saw I could find. It was ace hardware brand and was the wood model( I'm cheap and the metal one was $10). I used it to drill 3 holes and still looks fine. If you have problems with it wobbling around drill a hole through a 3/4" peice of wood first. Then clamp the wood into position on your kegerator where you want the hole. Now it won't wobble around since the hole in the wood is steadying it. Also let the saw do the work only use very light pressure.

I'll give another story.

In the interest of being cheap, I picked up a wood hole saw, and destroyed it in 3 min. flat. If I had of spent the extra 3 bucks, and gotten a metal saw.. I wouldn't have had the problem.