Regulator repair

What the hell...

I posted about this issue in another thread, but I figured I'd start a new one rather than hijack the other guy's topic.

Bought my initial kegging setup from kegconnection.com. Money was tight, so as much as I wanted to, I didn't go with the Taprite regulator, I went ahead and got their house brand. It's now only a month later and the high pressure guage isn't working. Not sure what you call it, but the metal disc that has the psi readings painted on it has warped to the point where it prevents the needle from moving.

Now, I know the high pressure guage isn't even really necessary, but it is a nice convenience, and it's a convenience that I paid for.

kegconnection is basically nonresponsive via email or phone these days. Calling is useless, and sending an email takes a day or two for a response.

Obviously this will be my last purchase from them, but in the meantime I'd like to know how to get my regulator opened up so I can flatten the plate back down and get the needle freed up.

I've tried "significant" force with a pair of channel lock pliers in the hopes of twisting the lens assembly off. Doesn't want to move. I've undone every screw I can find, but that obviously doesn't allow removal of the outer shell on the guage.

Any of you more experienced guys have any tips or tricks on how I can get this guage working again? I obviously have no support or assistance coming from my vendor any time soon.

If I understand what your saying ,and I know this might not be the answer your looking for but if it was up to me I would unscrew it from the regulator body and throw it away and buy a new one. I had pretty good luck dealing with those guys to bad its not going as well for you

skylor60 said:

If I understand what your saying ,and I know this might not be the answer your looking for but if it was up to me I would unscrew it from the regulator body and throw it away and buy a new one. I had pretty good luck dealing with those guys to bad its not going as well for you

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Yeah, that's probably what I'm going to have to do. Honestly, I don't even know what sort of warranty, if any, they offer on their stuff, but after doing my research online and seeing lots of comments from people like you who have had good experiences with them, I just sort of assumed they'd take care of faulty gear that was only a month old.

As I said in the other thread I mentioned, my emails go unanswered, and calling the customer service number just gets me some kid who doesn't know jack and gives me another guy's cell phone number. Unfortunately, the other guy doesn't answer his cell phone or respond to voice mails.

This company sucks ass.

Do you have a picture? It sounds like you have problem with the gage rather than the regulator. You can replace the gage, they're sold at Lowes/HD in the welding section.

jpietraski said:

Do you have a picture? It sounds like you have problem with the gage rather than the regulator. You can replace the gage, they're sold at Lowes/HD in the welding section.

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Well, yeah, the problem is definitely in the guage. My main ***** is that the seller is totally unresponsive over a period of three days.

However, there's now a new issue. This is a dual body regulator. One high pressure guage (that is useless after one month) and two regulators each with a low pressure guage. In the few hours since I started this thread, one of the regulators has totally shot craps on me. With the screw turned all the way in, I'm getting about 2 psi on the output, until I tap it with a screwdriver handle, then it lets 40 or so psi go, but won't cooperate when I try to turn the pressure back down.....

Still no response from my attempts to contact kegconnection. (Which is, actually, my only real complaint.) I understand that problems happen, but when a vendor doesn't even answer the phone, that's just plain unacceptable....

Lesson learned. I'm a ****ing idiot. Should have popped for the extra 20 bucks for the good regulators.

Second lesson learned. Never buy a damn thing from kegconnection.com no matter what kind of sale they have going.

Did you backwash some beer through it? I did that once and had to disassemble/wash/rvassemble. Then it worked as normal.

jpietraski said:

Did you backwash some beer through it? I did that once and had to disassemble/wash/rvassemble. Then it worked as normal.

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Huh... Good question.

I would say absolutely no. First off, I have not done anything that would introduce pressures to make that possible. Secondly, and most importantly, the product description says that the equipment I bought includes check valves to prevent that.

Any way you look at it, kegconnection.com sold me faulty equipment, and they refuse to respond to my polite inquiries.

****ty company. Bull**** customer service. Very, very NOT recommended.

(Oh, yeah, I even emailed them a link to this thread right after I started it. still no response. talk about a company that just don't give a ****...)

subliminalurge said:

Huh... Good question.

I would say absolutely no. First off, I have not done anything that would introduce pressures to make that possible. Secondly, and most importantly, the product description says that the equipment I bought includes check valves to prevent that.

Any way you look at it, kegconnection.com sold me faulty equipment, and they refuse to respond to my polite inquiries.

****ty company. Bull**** customer service. Very, very NOT recommended.

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It is Friday night. Relax, siphon yourself a beer. Don't destroy the regulator in a fit of rage. I'm sure they will replace it. Coming from someone who's been there...cheers.

The regulator problem might be fixable, there have been a number of folks that followed a procedure to blow out debris that gets into the reg and causes the same symptoms you're describing. Latest one I recall reading was within the last 10 days or so, so you may be able to search it up...

Cheers!

lschiavo said:

It is Friday night. Relax, siphon yourself a beer. Don't destroy the regulator in a fit of rage. I'm sure they will replace it. Coming from someone who's been there...cheers.

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Oh, I'm relaxed. Done with the beer for the night, SWMBO just announced that dinner's ready, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we're supposed to watch the new Pirates of the Carribean movie, but to be honest... After eating her dinner I'll likely be out like a light 10 minutes into it...

So I am relaxed, I'm not anywhere near a fit of rage, and I'm certainly not about to destroy anything. Just posting my experience with this company so that everyone knows how crappy they are instead of just me.

Avoid them. Buy your stuff somewhere else. RDWHAHB.

That's all I'm sayin'.....

subliminalurge said:

Oh, I'm relaxed. Done with the beer for the night, SWMBO just announced that dinner's ready, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we're supposed to watch the new Pirates of the I Carribean movie, but to be honest... After eating her dinner I'll lively be out like a light 10 minutes into it...

So I am relaxed, I'm not anywhere near a fit of rage, and I'm certainly not about to destroy anything. Just posting my experience with this company so that everyone knows how crappy they are instead of just me.

Avoid them. Buy your stuff somewhere else. RDWHAHB.

That's all I'm sayin'.....

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I'm also done for the day. I wish I were eating dinner at your house though. That would put me right out too. And those f#=_#n regulator problems will still be there tomorrow. Sleep tight

If your regulator came shipped in styrofoam peanuts I bet a small peice made it's way inside. It could be the problem, the same thing happened to me.

Nope, came wrapped in bubble wrap.

Planning to tear it down later on this afternoon for a cleaning and "exploratory surgery".

Cleaning shouldn't be necessary on one this new, since it's advertised as having check valves to prevent backflow, but after the service experience I've had with this company, I'm now perfectly willing to believe that their product descriptions might even be lies.

In the interest of fairness, I need to post an update and let it be known that kegconnection is finally making it right.

They're shipping me a new high pressure guage at no charge, and are even including some other small items (that I'll be paying for) in the box so that I can save the shipping charges on that purchase.

Still annoyed that it took so long to get a response from them, but, fair is fair, and since they're finally stepping up and making it right, I need to also step up and withdraw my advice to avoid this vendor.

Go ahead and buy from them, they do have pretty great prices on a lot of things, and are willing to custom make things that aren't listed on the site. (I need a keg-to-keg transfer line, which they're making me for 6 bucks even though they don't list it as an item for sale, versus the 16 or so dollars that kegcowboy lists for the same thing....).

I do still think it's fair to let it be known that if you have issues and need service, it may be a slow process. But they do eventually get you taken care of.

Nice to see that it was taken care of even though it was slow. And who knows maybe would not have happened if not for HBT and this thread