Why are my new Ventmatic faucets CRAP????

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Gregthespy

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So flash back to my days when I didn't home brew... I bought a kegerator conversion kit from beverage factory with a simple Krome rear sealing faucet. I ran about 20 half barrel comercial kegs through it without a hitch or a drippy seal, I didn't even have the sticky faucet syndrome.
I then started homebrewing and kegging. I decided it was time for an upgrade, or so I thought... I searched through countless threads on this great site and saw the issues with the pearl faucets and thought id try my luck with the Ventmatic faucets which are now available again from CHI Corp. I bought three of them and expanded my kegerator in preperation for my Oktoberfest.
Upon installation, I noticed that one of the faucets had a habit of a drip or two of beer leak through the threads on top of the faucet, I dissasembled it and cleand it up, added a little keg lube to the O-ring and figured that my problems were behind me. Wrong! The party was a success with one kegerator issue, the same faucet that I had issues with decided it wasint going to seal right for one of my party guests when I was not around, it proceeded to lrak out about 2 pints of hefewizen onto the floor after filling the drip tray completely. I cleaned it up and went about the party.
Flash forward to today and another one of the faucets is now leaking through the top threads of it. Its a slow leak which after a night fills the bottom of my drip tray with a sticky syurp. Now i,'m having concerns I mafe the wrong choice in faucets. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Should I just send them back (if they will even take them back) and get some stainless rear sealing faucets?
I'm about done with this nonsense!
 
Oh boy. Folks were looking at that faucet as the Second Coming.

To add to your dilemma, I just stumbled across this note at the bottom of the ChiCompany page that lists the Vent-Matic "1.1" faucets:

"Perlick is discontinuing the Pearl [sic - it's actually "Perl"] line of faucets due to ongoing leak issues sometime in the 1st quarter of 2014."

Between your problem and the apparent End Of The Perl, this is gonna make many people nervous...

Cheers! (hugging my many years leak-free six pack of 525SS faucets even tighter tonight ;) )

[edit] PS: If the leak is at the "bonnet", the o-ring that seals the lever pivot may have been pinched or distorted due to dry fitting.
I'd take everything apart, clean gently, put a film of keg lube on all the o-rings, and reassemble.
I had to do this to one of my six Perls out of the box, and it joined the other five in leak-free status a couple of years ago.

Thinking of investing in a crate of Perls right now...
 
Looks like I'll have to contact them and get a band aid to the problem. I bought mine in August, thanks for pointing that out to me, that's unnerving that this problem is affecting the Ventmatics as well. I was disappointed with the quality of the Ventmatic the moment I took them out if the box, very notchy, almost like the stainless was galling on the slide.
Oh, and regards to your P.S. I've tried almost everything to get the bonnets to seal better, I was very cautious to get the nylon sleeve to align and used a generous ammount of keg lube as a desperate attempt to take up some clearance. Something I was going to try was making a shim washer to add above the nylon sleeve to allow me to add more tightening pressure. It seems as if when I tighten the bonnet cap down I run out of thread before it feels sufficently tightened onto the O-ring. Just a lsst ditch attempt.
 
Replacement parts are on the way to me. I'll report back with what shows up and how it differs from the original seal. Crossing my fingers but not getting my hopes up.
 
Very interested to hear how this turns out. I am very close to buying the Ventmatics from CHI, so I'd love to hear the outcome and if it solves all of your problems.
 
Never had a problem with my Perlicks. Not sure which model, but they are the Brass colored forward sealing ones. I've taken them apart many times. Basically eveyr time I put a new keg in, I disassemble completely and soak in PBW and starsan before reassembling. They have never failed to go back together easily and leak free.
 
Never had a problem with my Perlicks. Not sure which model, but they are the Brass colored forward sealing ones. I've taken them apart many times. Basically eveyr time I put a new keg in, I disassemble completely and soak in PBW and starsan before reassembling. They have never failed to go back together easily and leak free.

This is what makes the whole "leaky Perl" issue so weird to me: aside from straightening out one of the six I installed at the same time a few years ago, they've worked perfectly ever since.

As they're most likely automatically machined castings you'd think dimensional variations would be within tolerance pretty much forever. Yet there was a rash of problem reports with the 525 two summers ago, then reports that there was some kind of change to the 525 design and the "new design" was ok, and now this semi-cryptic message on the ChiCompany site about the Perls being pulled off the market?

I'm tempted to buy at least one new 525SS just to see if there have been any changes since my half dozen were purchased and if so try to understand what they mean - and if they're related to things apparently going south...

Cheers!
 
I don't get it either, I'm a high precision CAD designer and CNC machine programmer and the quality of the cut/ feed rate look good, I believe it's got to do with tolerance and mating of the seals.

I clean my faucets every time I have a keg change and it never posed a problem with my old fwd sealing faucet. But from the start with these Ventmatics I've had problems. The action on the one was so notchy I took the slide out and polished it out to try and get it to cycle better with marginal results.

What's so hard about making a good faucet, maybe I should break into the market???
 
Bottling is the reason I'm building a mobile kegerator for a christmas party. Even for just "away" events it's worth it to avoid bottling...
 
I bought two of the Ventmatics as well. In my opinion, they do not operate as smoothly as my Perlicks. I used mine for a day and took them back out and put the Perlicks back in. They may have been great in the day but this new iteration seems a bit "rough around the edges". It's just my opinion, but I don't see these as a viable replacement for Perlicks. Your mileage may vary.
 
When I had leak problems with the 525s, they were supposed to send me new 525SS as replacement. Instead, they sent the 408X, a rear-sealing design.

I truthfully have never had a single problem with the 408X sticking. Even as a rear-sealing faucet, they're doing perfectly.

So I'm not sure how much of the sticking problem has to do with being rear-sealing, and how much has to do with being *cheap* and rear-sealing.
 
So I arrived home from work to find a padded envelope in my mail box, I reached in and noticed that it felt quite a bit heavier than what I expected a couple of revised seals to be. It turns out that the CHI Company sent me three NEW Rev.1.1 faucets! In addition to 6 updated seals to repair my current faucets and have a set to spare!

At first glance, the new faucets appear to be the same, the main difference that sets them apart is that the new ones have "Vent-Matic" laser etched on both sides. The patent number etched on the bottom is the same, so no major redesigns as far as patents go.

And as far as I can tell, the internals seem to be identical to appearance. The only difference internally is the forward rubber seal that sits on the front of the slide is a standard O-ring instead of a injection molded piece that slanted back tawards the rear of the faucet. Untill I get some time to put some calipers on all of the parts i'd say that's it as far as design changes go.

I just really hope this solves this problem as well as the bonnets leaking. I'm going to swap one out with a current keg and see if it's any better. I'll report back!
 
Geez, can't win. I bought three Perlick 525ss, installed one and it had a slow leak, so I put my old standby rear sealing faucet on and dealt with the occasional sticking. So I heard about the comeback of the Ventmatics and bought three form Chi. They are the latest revision. Out of the box, they seemed great, so I took them apart, took pictures of the assembly order to make sure I put them back together correctly, soaked them in PBW and put them back together. Well, they seem to be stuck. Unless I leave the bonnet fairly loose, the range of motion is almost nothing and notchy, like gregthespy mentions above. I'll try lubing one up and see if that helps. (The faucet that is!) ;)
 
Yeah, "notchy" is the word I'd use to describe mine as well. Tried disassembling them and using some lube on the parts but it didn't seem to change much. They're sending me the revised seals but I don't believe that'll change the functionality of the faucets.
 
The one revised faucet I installed last night seems to be a lot smoother than the previous three I received. I'm not sure if it's just a "luck of the draw" type thing because one of the three I got in the original batch worked and functioned flawlessly, and the other two had either a leaky bonnet or a leaky bonnet and notchy action. Only time will tell.

I tried polishing out the moving parts on the really notchy faucet, as this has helped with tight gun bolts/actions, it didn't seem to help much.
 
Welp, went to pull a pint after work from the faucet I replaced last night and looks like the leaky bonnet issue is still a problem. I had a sticky syurp trail from around the bonnet to the bottom of the faucet and a nice collection of it in my drip tray directly below.
Here's my fair warning, DON'T EVER BUY VENTMATICS!!! To be fair it seems like they did fix the drippy forward seal from what I can tell from one day of operating. But again, only time will tell...
 
So, if the note on the ChiCompany site is accurate, and the Vent-Matics are crap, and rear-sealing faucets are notorious in a home dispensing environment for sticking - sometimes hard enough to break tap handles - where are future kegerator operators going to go for faucets?

I suppose before outright panic sets in, someone's going to have to get a confirmation on the demise of the Perl thing.
But I have to say I'm relieved to have a solid six faucet Perl setup and not have to deal with all this drama...

Cheers!
 
Yes, one of mine has the leaky bonnet issue too. No amount of tightening will stop the leak. Completely disassembled, cleaned, lubed and reassembled but it still has a slight bonnet leak. I agree with gregthespy, you should hold off on buying these until they get them right.
 
After reading your troubles with these Ventmatics I have decided just to go ahead and purchase four of the Perlick 525SS taps. I was really excited about the Ventmatics, but it seems as though there are some fundamental issues with them!
 
bwarbiany said:
When I had leak problems with the 525s, they were supposed to send me new 525SS as replacement. Instead, they sent the 408X, a rear-sealing design.

I truthfully have never had a single problem with the 408X sticking. Even as a rear-sealing faucet, they're doing perfectly.

Hmmmm. I remember when we were talking about that in the other thread. I just took my 408x replacement and threw it in my spare parts drawer and forgot about it. If it has been working well, maybe I need to try it out. Thanks.
 
So, if the note on the ChiCompany site is accurate, and the Vent-Matics are crap, and rear-sealing faucets are notorious in a home dispensing environment for sticking - sometimes hard enough to break tap handles - where are future kegerator operators going to go for faucets?

I suppose before outright panic sets in, someone's going to have to get a confirmation on the demise of the Perl thing.
But I have to say I'm relieved to have a solid six faucet Perl setup and not have to deal with all this drama...

Cheers!

The 525ss are getting a 600-series replacement that will be similar. Forward sealing, no flow control or creamer, in at least PC and SS. Maybe the SSTF also?

Not worried about it, but will be supplementing my 525ss collection after x-mas.
 
Geez, can't win. I bought three Perlick 525ss, installed one and it had a slow leak, so I put my old standby rear sealing faucet on and dealt with the occasional sticking. So I heard about the comeback of the Ventmatics and bought three form Chi. They are the latest revision. Out of the box, they seemed great, so I took them apart, took pictures of the assembly order to make sure I put them back together correctly, soaked them in PBW and put them back together. Well, they seem to be stuck. Unless I leave the bonnet fairly loose, the range of motion is almost nothing and notchy, like gregthespy mentions above. I'll try lubing one up and see if that helps. (The faucet that is!) ;)

So I put keg lube on all 3 Ventmatics. One got less notchy, the other two still tough to move. I put the one good one on my tower and it poured a decent pint. Then I lubed one of my Perlick 525ss's and screwed it on my tower. Perfection! Smooth action, good pour and after closing it, two drops and done. It's done that consistently over the last night and a few pints. I'll lube my other Perlicks and swap them in to see how they do. If they're as good as the first lubed one, see ya Ventmatics. BTW, none of this is CHI's fault, it's the product. CHI packaged them great and shipped them fast to the East coast along with 3 stainless steel shanks for my towers. Kudos to them. After Turkey Day, I'll contact them about returning the Ventmatics and hopefully their customer service will still be as good.
 
I've been advocating the use of a thin film of keg lube on the two o-rings that capture the faucet lever pivot ball on the Perls since the day I got my half dozen. I believe it makes a huge difference in tuning these faucets, as dry o-rings just won't stay seated right when that ball rotates and tries to roll or twist the o-rings - or even before, when you tighten the bonnet.

My faucets have been dead-on reliable, I wouldn't trade them for anything on the market...

Cheers!
 
Have four 525SS. The first two always run beer at 12psi, third always runs wine at 5psi, and fourth runs either juice at 5psi or iced tea at 25psi.

Never had one stick or leak in a year of daily use by 3 people, plus plenty of parties and get-togethers.

Will be buying six more 525SS after X-mas. Don't want mis-matched 600-series on the same keezer as 500-series. Even if they look "similar".
 
I purchased mine on 10-10. On 10-22 they starting shipping the new versions. Mine are very finicky with the front seals....you really have to mess with them to have them not leak or drip. This morning there were a coupe pints of pale ale on the floor......i figured it was the several pints SWMBO had yesterday that caused her not to make sure the faucet was sealed after she poured her last pint.

Then i did a ventmatic search.......

Just emailed Chi Company. We'll see how they do.
 
The ones I received have no brand name on them. I'm guessing the "unbranded" faucets were pre-production releases. Like others, I'll be requesting a refund although based on comments by others in different threads, I'm not holding out high hopes for a quick resolution.
 
E-mailed the Chi Company on Friday and requested a return label as per their direction and have not heard back from anyone.
 
Damn, I hate to read this right now. I am just finishing up a keezer and have two of these sitting in a box ready to go. I have the 1.1 version, so we'll see how they work. I'm hoping to get them installed this weekend, but I've never had perlicks - so I don't really have anything to compare them to.
 
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 6 faulty faucets. Even with the forward seal seamingly fixed with the new seals they sent I have a harder time overlooking the leaking bonnets.

At least I could make sure the faucet was not leaking when it was the fwd seal issue. Now that the bonnets leak constantly it makes my kegerator and drip tray look constantly like a mess.

I may just have to experiment with a home made solution.
 
Yeah, they haven't even acknowledged the bonnet leaks. It doesn't seem like these were anywhere near production ready. It's unfortunate that they were rushed to market. And the fact that Ventmatic isn't stepping up to make things right should be a warning flag as well. I've seen this thread referenced in a few other forums so maybe the word will get out before too many people spend their hard earned money on these.
 
received an e-mail today.....can't complain yet about the customer service.

Mr. Weeks
Thank you for your inquiry,
We apologize for the delay; we were closed for the T. Giving holiday and then we have played “catch-up”.

We are extremely sorry to hear that the Vent-Matic faucets are not to your satisfaction. We understand that you have not received the new front seals.
The new seals are on their way to you via USPS.


If after the installation of the new seals you are still not satisfied with the Vent-matic Faucets, please do not hesitate to let us know….we like happy pours !

Taylor
 
Gotten three shipments from Chi recently.

Shipping time wasn't too bad at all, though it could have been a few days less considering I'm < 100 miles away on the same distro hub.
 
Yes, for the record, the CHI company has been a great company to deal with and must say that they are trying to stand behind the products they carry which is more that I can about most companies these days!

I may send out another email to them regarding the bonnet leaks and see if I may be able to get a comprable replacement or some sort of solution.
 
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