New to kegging, is this a good deal?

I have the chance to buy a 642 - Premium Grade Double Gauge Co2 Draft Beer Regulator and a 20 lbs c02 tank off of CL. How much a reasonable price for these used items. He wants $110 but I am not sure on the secondary market of these items. Also when I to go look at them is there anything that I should look for?

The Micromatic 642 is a decent enough regulator - and you can get rebuild kits for it, which to me makes it viable. No rebuild kit = no sale imo (see any number of cheap Chinese regulators). It has an MSRP of $59. A 20# CO2 tank is going to go for $100 and up. So figure new prices he's holding at least $160. Offer him a crisp Benjamin, maybe he'll cave the $10

Check the regulator for evidence of drop damage (scuff marks can say a lot). If it looks clean and square (nothing bent) then see if the regulator holds pressure: with any luck he still has CO2 in the tank, so you can play with the regulator to make sure it's not a basket case. If it has shut-off valves on the regulator output, you can set the regulator to say 20 psi, close all of the shut-off valves, then close the tank valve, and the low pressure gauge should stay at 20 psi. If it drops, there's a leak somewhere down-stream...

Cheers!

Thanks so much... that just the kinda info I was looking for. Do you have any recommendation for a regulator? I honestly don't know what I should be even looking for.... do you have any suggestion on where I can find that information?

I wouldn't say it's a good deal, maybe at the upper end of a fair deal.

A good deal is a $jackson with the reg thrown in for free. (i'd found 3 of those on CL over the last year.. not micromatics of course, but the seller had no idea what is was... heck, they didn't even know it was a regulator!)

I think if you wait and keep looking you could find a 20lb tank for $20 or $30. I don't see regulators on CL often (except for "indoor farming").

The reg can be going bad, (creeping up) so it's a gamble. The co2 tank needs to be in test or it's an additional $20 for re-test. Also the tank needs to be customer owned or some places will not deal with it.