Problem With Keg Tool

I purchased the SS 3/4 to 1/2 reducer and the SS 1" coupling from McMaster to pull 1/2" couplings thru my kegs. I picked up a damaged keg to practice on before doing my good kegs (Thank God!) I pulled the 1/2" reducer thru then when I went to pull the coupling thru and the hole is a little to big. Everything I have read said the coupling should be tight in the hole. If I try to solder it now the solder will just flow thru. What might I be doing wrong?

Sounds like you went too far....you can take pliers and try to gently bend the rim back in a bit......

A word of advice, once you get the fitting in the perfect position, add liquid flux and then just lay a coil of solder into the gap, positioning the vessel so gravity will cause the solder to pool just in the gap, like a bowl. Then just slowly heat the inside of the fitting and watch the solder....stopping just when it melts into the gap.

So, I should not pull the reducer all the way thru?

I had similar issues with my keg tool. If you mic the OD of the taper fitting, it is larger than the machined finish couplers but the same size as the rough cast finish couplers. To get around this, I pull the tapered piece all the way through, then give the lip several whacks with a hammer evenly around the edge. Not too hard, just enough to push it back to where the hole is smaller than the coupler rather than larger. The metal was just stretched, so it goes back down a smidge without too much motivation. Then once the hole is slightly smaller than the coupler, pull the coupler through without the tapered piece and you'll have a nice tight fit that solders up nicely. I'll be posting pics of mine soon, 2 vessels down, one to go.

Instead of pulling the tapered coupling all of the way through, could you just pull it far enough to get the dimple / ring started, then back off and pull the actual coupling the rest of the way through? That would seem to get rid of the "hit with hammer" step.

I noticed this very problem last week when I got my parts together to solder in my coupling, but I haven't done anything about it because I still need to drill out a 5/8" hole in the coupling.

That would work too, but I use an impact driver, so it's hard to be precise. The hammer step takes about 10 seconds.

I would just worry that I might bash it back unevenly and end up with gaps in my solder connection. On the bright side, using an impact wrench sounds like a lot more fun than cranking it down by hand.

Light hits around the edge are plenty, and since you're pushing it back smaller than the coupler, when you pull it through there are no gaps.

klyph said:

Light hits around the edge are plenty, and since you're pushing it back smaller than the coupler, when you pull it through there are no gaps.

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Yep. When I oops this is what I do to fix it.