Pin va ball probably beaten to death

Are pin locks harder to use than ball locks or is it just the size that makes people choose ball over pin

Ball locks are more commonly found than pin lock kegs on the market. Pin lock kegs are shorter and slighter fatter around so that could be a problem if you are short on cubic footage in your kegerator. Also a number of pin lock kegs don't come with lids that have pressure release valves, so you will have to either vent the gas manually from the gas in line or buy a lid with a pressure release valve.

The dimensions are the only worthwhile differences. Pin locks are easy to purge by depressing the gas in poppet. You can get a little adapter to do it, or just use something to depress the poppett.

So a converted pinlock keg has a new lid w that pressure release valve like a ball lock?

benzy4010 said:

So a converted pinlock keg has a new lid w that pressure release valve like a ball lock?

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sometimes

jaynik said:

The dimensions are the only worthwhile differences. Pin locks are easy to purge by depressing the gas in poppet. You can get a little adapter to do it, or just use something to depress the poppett.

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I would call having a dedicated and inherently designed-in pressure relief valve system a worthwhile difference. If you can simply swap lids to get this, then the it might come down to cost and local availability.

flex_318 said:

Ball locks are more commonly found than pin lock kegs on the market.

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This used to be true, perhaps, but over the last year or so ball locks have been in increasingly short supply. Several places are only selling pin lock now.

I think it's a relatively easy thing to add a purge valve to a keg lid if it didn't already have it. I think you can buy replacement valves online and only need to drill a hole to place it.

So basicly the only diff now is size and availability

benzy4010 said:

So basicly the only diff now is size and availability

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...and whether or not you get a built in relief valve.

Also, people sometimes talk about owning a mix of ball and pin locks as an intolerable possibility. It's slightly more convenient to own all of one type, but in reality it doesn't make that much of a difference. You're going to need a gas and a liquid port for each one in any case.

Dimension is the biggest difference. The main reason I went with ball lock was because the club I belong to has jockey boxes that are ball lock connects.

Also, with ball locks, you can always add a collar to a freezer and fit more (I can fit 4 without a collar and 7 with).

Totally a personal preference, but if I was doing it again, I would absolutely go with ball.

How big of a freezer do you all have and how many kegs and ect fit and what style kegs?

I have both types of kegs and with flare fittings it's easy to change from one type to the other.
I have a 12 cu ft freezer that holds 6 cornies of either size. In my fridge I can fit 6 if at least 2 are ball lock kegs, if not I can fit 5.

I have a mix as well. My chest freezer is for chilling/carbing/fermenting lagers. My kegerator is a kenmore model from Sears. The compressor hump is in the back, at the top. I have found I can fit the pin lock keg under the hump, along with two ball lock kegs, a 5# CO2 bottle and a 5# Beer Gas bottle, all in the same fridge.

benzy4010 said:

How big of a freezer do you all have and how many kegs and ect fit and what style kegs?

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I have a Maytag 14.8. It will fit 9 ball locks, but I have a 20lb co2 tank on the inside, so it's 8 ball locks now.

I just want a 4 tap keezer and I'll get pin locks prob cuz they ate cheaper and I can convert them apparently what size would be right?

Some 5 cu.ft chest freezers fit four. My 7.2 fits 6 ball locks or 5 of a combo (I have 4 pin lock and 1 ball lock). All my lines are on flare fittings, so the different QDs don't matter to me.

I've got a Frigidaire 8.8 cu ft from Lowes. Like I said, i can fit 7 ball lock kegs and my 5# co2 tank.

Even if you only want a 4 tap keezer, I highly recommend getting something big enough to hold 5 kegs. Also get a 5-way co2 manifold. That way you'll always have a keg ready when one goes dry. Also if you ever decide to add a 5th tap, you can. I originally just wanted 5, but I'm finding that I'd like more. Now I'm really glad I have the option of adding two more.

Sort of like a TV. I always tell people go one size bigger than you think you want. The only person who hasn't listened to me is my dad, and he regrets it.

I had all ball locks til recently when I scored a deal for 15 pin locks and one ball lock 10 gallon keg for a total of $240. But with keg prices soaring I couldn't pass up a deal for $15 dollar cornys no matter the type.