Rebuilding regulators

I searched this forum and on line and could not find much information on rebuilding regulators. My regulator is a North American Dispense System (NADS) Model # 70012. This company is no longer in business but was bought out by Tapright and they no longer make this regulator or parts for it. The problem I had, was CO2 was leaking out of the blow off hole near the adjustment screw.

When I took it apart, every thing looked OK as far as I know. I ordered a replacement diaphragm and the valve under the diaphragm (rebuild kit) for a Tapright system, It looked different than mine but was told by the salesman that it would work. When I received it, it looked like it was build a lot better than the original. I replaced the parts and what do you know it still leaked.

After trying everything I could think of, I did my last ditch effort. I took the spring behind the valve and stretched it out a little (not sure why that did not come in a rebuild kit) and put it all back together. Opened the valve and no leaks. Closed the valve and left it pressurized for 3 days and it did not move. All that, and it was a weak spring.

Hope this helps someone get their beer back on tap.

Actually N.A.D.S. does still exist - they are a division of Taprite.

Also, stretching the spring only took care of your symptoms for a little while. Your leak is caused by a bad diaphram and your kit should have included a replacement. If it also leaks then the replacement is bad or it's the wrong size for the regulator body.

Time will tell, but as far as I can tell how they work, the spring needs to have tension on the valve. It was not seating properly. The diaphragm is fine. After reading the instructions that came with the kit, it tells you to replace the spring.

The spring is just part of the balancing going on inside the regulator and a worn out spring just means that the regulator will no longer adjust full range. You still have a bad or incorrect diaphram. I know this because the diaphram has 2 purposes.

1) It provides pressure feedback from inside the regulator and that feedback is what regulates your pressure.

2) And it acts as a seal between the inside and outside of the regulator. The only way CO2 can escape through the small hole in the regulator bonnet (front piece) is if it gets through the diaphram. And the only way the CO2 can get through the diaphram is it has a hole or it's the wrong part.

Yuo have a leak - it may not be showing up right now because of the spring pressure on the metal disk attached to the diaphram, but it will show up again. Or it's just leaking slowly now. You'll know in a week.

As far as I can tell it was leaking were the pin comes through the diaphragm. It has been on my tank pressurized for two weeks and have not lost any pressure. If you have a week spring, I would think it can leak gas through the diaphragm because it is not seating properly.

The new kit the diaphragm was thicker than the original and has the metal disc attached to it with a seal in the metal disc were the pin comes through. The original one was just a piece of rubber with a plastic disk that was loose. The pin that goes through the diaphragm was shaped a little different. That was the only difference in the parts. Since the pin seats into the new diaphragm, it should not make a difference.

It's been about 2 months and still no leaks, works like new.

Would appreciate it if someone could explauin the general workings of a regulator. There is the regulator body, a valve assy. which screws into the body, a diaphragm that puts pressure onthe valve(?), and a a spring which controls diaphragmatioc pressure.

My issue is that the regulator will not dial down. It is at 30+ psi with no pressure on the spring. This suggests an issue with the valve but I cannotsee anything obvious.

Cheers!

NanoMan

Just an FYI if you have this older model NADS 70012 regulator that needs repaired and you want to take a chance on fixing it. NADS was bought by Taprite and there is no longer parts for any NADS models. However, the Micromatic Economy Series Secondary Regulator Repair Kit 8000-15 Is almost an exact match. The Economy Series Regulator Seat Capsule Assy 8402 is a little off, but I got it to fit. I had to tighten it down firmly. Also, don't forget a 84010 Seat Spring. It's also slightly smaller, but worked. http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-pid-8011.html

I actually have two of these NADS Regulators and this Micromatic kit worked on one and not the other. Your odds are 50/50.

The older model Taprite repair kit looks like it could work also, but I didn't try it. The Diaphragm and Regulator Pressure Plate are one piece, but appear like they "might" work. http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...rch_in_description=1&keyword=regulator+repair

Also, the Draught Technologies repair kit looks like it might be an exact match, but again I haven't tried it. http://rapidswholesale.com/beer-sup...aught-technologies-regulator-repair-pack.html

These are very old regulators and you might just want to buy a new one.

Update: Forget most of the above advice. The way to go is draught technologies repair kit from rapids wholesale. It's an exact match. The kit doesn't come with a Bonnet Gasket, but the micro matic one seems to work fine.

http://rapidswholesale.com/beer-sup...aught-technologies-regulator-repair-pack.html