Questions about poppets

Hey everyone,

So I purchased a used corny keg a few weeks back, and replaced all the seals, and thought it would be wise to replace the poppets, too. So I changed everything out, including the poppets, which I noted one of them looked slightly different than one of the old poppets (the other two were the same). The old one only had a black head, and my new one is black and yellow. I thought nothing of it. Well 2 weeks later I'm pouring 4/5 of a glass of foam with only the bottom of the glass being all liquid. I do not have this issue with my other keg. So I'm assuming its the poppets? Could it be something else? Nothing else has changed in my setup, and my other keg pours fine. I'm assuming there are several types of poppets out there. How do I find out which one I need? Oh yeah... I stupidly threw out the old ones... I know, dumb. Thanks.

Different poppets for different kegs. There are a few types of "corny" kegs. Look on your actual keg and there will be printing, then go out to the interwebz and buy the appropriate poppets for that particular keg.

Thanks, where is this printing located? Will I be able to quickly replace the poppet and re-pressurize the keg without affecting the beer all that much?

The printing will be on the front surface of the keg body etched into the metal itself and kind of hard to see depending on wear. Once you get the right one, Release pressure, take post off, remove poppet, insert new washed and sanitized poppet, sanitize post again and put it back on. Then put it back on gas. Not a big ordeal.

I'll add that poppets rarely need replacement, 10 years, 14 kegs and I've replaced one.

Here's a pic of the 5 different poppet types for ball lock kegs-
http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_3_14&products_id=17


Since posts and other parts often get switched out, a visual check is often more accurate way to determine type than what's printed on the keg.

Ok guys, need some more help. The printing on the keg says "The Cornelius Co." and underneath that is says "Anoka, MN" (this is from memory, town name maybe misspelled).

So when I replaced the original poppet, I threw it out (idiot!). But I do remember it being black. The new one that I have installed is yellow and black like poppet #2 from the chicompany website.

Is it possible I need the #5 poppet? I guess I should mention that this is the first keg I tried to carbonate using sugar, instead of force carbing. Would this be causing a problem too? I know it has nothing to do with the actual CO2 part of my system (lines and such) because my other keg pours perfectly.

Zeppman said:

Ok guys, need some more help. The printing on the keg says "The Cornelius Co." and underneath that is says "Anoka, MN" (this is from memory, town name maybe misspelled).

So when I replaced the original poppet, I threw it out (idiot!). But I do remember it being black. The new one that I have installed is yellow and black like poppet #2 from the chicompany website.

Is it possible I need the #5 poppet? I guess I should mention that this is the first keg I tried to carbonate using sugar, instead of force carbing. Would this be causing a problem too? I know it has nothing to do with the actual CO2 part of my system (lines and such) because my other keg pours perfectly.

Click to expand...

I have the exact same problem. I have 2 kegs on 1 gas line at 12psi. One pours fine the other all foam exactly as you described.

I as well primed my keg for the first time where the keg that pours fine was not. I did read that the opposing carbonation in the beer and the pressure from the tank could cause the foam, BUT in my case my primed keg pours super slow compared to the other keg.

I've ruled out faulty dip tupes and poppets/posts by swapping with another kegs so i think it does have something to do with the pressure and carb level in the beer. I'm going to bleed out the carbonation on the keg and start from zero and reapply pressure and hope that fixes it. I'll keep you posted.

I may be wrong but I think it matters more what posts are on your keg, rather than the keg itself. Its the ball lock posts that vary on their innards and poppet type. You might have a cornelius keg but cornelius II posts/poppet needs.

sometimes you can just jocky poppets between kegs and make it all happy.

I'm beginning to think it was that I primed the keg with sugar as opposed to the poppet itself... but we'll see. Someone at my local brew store suggested I let the keg warm up, and just release the gas every day for a few days, and then put it back in the fridge. I'm going to give that a try before I mess with the poppets anymore.

Zeppman said:

I'm beginning to think it was that I primed the keg with sugar as opposed to the poppet itself... but we'll see. Someone at my local brew store suggested I let the keg warm up, and just release the gas every day for a few days, and then put it back in the fridge. I'm going to give that a try before I mess with the poppets anymore.

Click to expand...

Zeppman,

I'm doing the same thing too with hopes to resolve my foam problem and am going to reconnect tonight. I'll let you know how that goes.

Question, are your kegs on a single regulator and if so, does your primed keg pour noticeably slower than your other keg? Not sure if excessive pressure/ foam would cause a slower pour but it's frack'n annoying!

No, it actually poured faster than the force carbed keg. I had to lower the pressure on the regulator to about 4 or 5psi for it to pour at the same rate as the forced keg at 8-10psi. I am on a single regulator.