are pin lock cornies worth a damn

i have a few and was wondering if they can be used effectively maybe even change out the couplers?

I have both pin and ball lock. I gotta say I love the pin lock cornies, they are awesome.

I have all pins and I love them. You can't accidentally put the wrong disconnect on a post and I just feel they are more secure (that is probably just a delusion though)

Not worth the money they were purchased with at all.... I'll pay shipping to get them here so I can dispose of them for you....

i love my pin locks.. i just wish they were more readily available.. i think it is safe to say that ball locks are more common online and on craigslist which kinda sucks. even around here in coke land(atlanta georgia), the ball locks are more common

When I used cornies I always used pin locks. Coca Cola would not use an inferior design

Get a set of pin lock disconnects and try them out. Set up a two (or more) tap system that uses a combination of ball and pin lock kegs. Alternately, just use quick disconnects to switch out your keg fittings when switching from ball lock to pin lock and back.

Aren't the pin lock disconnects more expensive and the kegs wider meaning less can be stored in a keezer/kegerator? Can someone explain how they are better or why they love them more than ball locks. Just curious as I've never seen one.

Scut_Monkey said:

Aren't the pin lock disconnects more expensive and the kegs wider meaning less can be stored in a keezer/kegerator? Can someone explain how they are better or why they love them more than ball locks. Just curious as I've never seen one.

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The disconnects can be purchased for the same price.
They are slightly wider, but I can still fit two in my Sanyo 5912.

The nice thing is that the gas side has two pins, and the liquid has three. You can't get them mixed up. I also find it easier to connect and disconnect then ball locks.

Pinlock kegs are about 1" wider and a tad shorter than ball lock. Not a big deal in most instances but can be critical in others.

There's a theoretical possibility to change pinlocks to ball lock but you'd need to have the same thread and interior height on the disconnects.

I started with pinlock, now have a mix of ball and pinlock. If I could find enough pinlocks I'd use em exclusively.

There are 4 of us in Devils Creek, and we have an even split between us of ball and pin. I did some work a few years ago for a friend who was cleaning out his dad's old restaurant/bar. I got paid in pin lock kegs and a stainless steel bar top. Best 2 days of labour (beer drinking) I have done in my life.

curtis97322 said:

Pinlock kegs are about 1" wider and a tad shorter than ball lock. Not a big deal in most instances but can be critical in others.

There's a theoretical possibility to change pinlocks to ball lock but you'd need to have the same thread and interior height on the disconnects.

I started with pinlock, now have a mix of ball and pinlock. If I could find enough pinlocks I'd use em exclusively.

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I have a collection of ball locks with only one Pin Lock that will not fit into my Pepsi single corny tap refrigerator. A swap would make me happy plus I have some quick disconnect fittings to go with the this pin lock keg. I'm looking for like kind condition of a ball lock in a direct swap, i'm the next state below ya.

I never got the popularity of ball locks... I just assumed they were more available. My first keg was a pin so I just stayed the course after that.

I developed a deep, abiding hatred of pin-locks in college. Worked concert concessions and never got through one without being sprayed several times by people having trouble seating the connectors. Ball-lock, the poppet doesn't open until the connector is sealed.

I used to have a kegerator that was setup for pins and used them for a few years but my former roomate bought me out of my half of the kegerator. I now have a ball lock kegerator and strongly prefer them. More can fit in my keezer and I have yet to get sprayed with beer when messing with the qds which happened some with pins.

I got a pretty good deal on the first two kegs I bought, and they were ball lock. So I decided to stay with ball lock for ease of fittings. The first thing I do with a new keg (after I rebuild them) is paint a ring around the fitting of the gas "in" side - in case it's hard to read. No mistakes yet...

One advantage of the ball lock system is that the pressure relief valve has an O-ring that you can pull to bleed off pressure.

The pin lock system requires that you push in the gas poppit to bleed off pressure. I'd suggest that you go one way or the other, having both makes it just that more complicated.

Good Luck...

All of my pinlocks have a pressure release valve. No need to fuss with the poppet. I assume this is the same for all pinlocks. Is it not?

I have 3 pinlocks and none of them release valves. A little annoying, but not that big of a deal.

All of my pin lock cornies have a pressure relief valve, but you can't get to them to release pressure. The relief valve is covered by a metal extrusion. Ball lock kegs have an 0-ring on the pressure relief valve that you pull to dump co2, pretty handy.

arturo7 said:

All of my pinlocks have a pressure release valve. No need to fuss with the poppet. I assume this is the same for all pinlocks. Is it not?

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WenValley said:

All of my pin lock cornies have a pressure relief valve, but you can't get to them to release pressure. The relief valve is covered by a metal extrusion. Ball lock kegs have an 0-ring on the pressure relief valve that you pull to dump co2, pretty handy.

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I mostly use ball-locks (I can fit more of them in my kegerator), but do have 3 pin-locks in my collection. One has the metal extrusion you speak of, one lacks a pressure relief valve altogether, and the last actually has the "O-ring pull valve."

dataz722 said:

I have all pins and I love them. You can't accidentally put the wrong disconnect on a post and I just feel they are more secure (that is probably just a delusion though)

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But you can (or at least I did) put the wrong connector on the gas in, so that the gas was on the beer out, and beer out was on the gas in...apparently they are not different size threads...anyway - I was pretty surprised when I connected the gas (blub blub blub inside) .. I don't know if you can do this with Ball lock..

arturo7 said:

All of my pinlocks have a pressure release valve. No need to fuss with the poppet. I assume this is the same for all pinlocks. Is it not?

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I have 3 pinlocks - none has a relief valve (which was pointed out to me by a fellow homebrewer..

He said they were dangerous w/o a pressure reief valve, which got me thinking - can you actually make a corny into a bottle bomb, assuming that your tank regulator went south and started pouring high pressure into the corny with no pressure relief valve.

Remember both the Pepsi ball lock and the Coke pin locks both have a overpressure release valve as a safety precaution. They are the same and function the same on both types of corny's. The only added feature on the Pepsi ball locks they added the pull ring so that you can overpower the overpressure safety valve and release the gas inside the corny.

My one Coke pin lock has the overpressure release valve, is completely dent free with good solid rubber ends. One or two gas in fluid out quick disconnect set of fittings I recall in storage (been a while) that will go with it for a like kind condition ball lock corny only. Swap cost of shipping only or else it's a future Ebay item. Northern Calif. area.

My pin locks don't all have a relief valve... honestly I don't fear them at all. My regulator relief is much lower than the keg can handle anyhow....

Pin locks you can't confuse the connectors....
Pin locks when I can find them are usually cheaper (cause everyone want ball locks)
In a Sanyo 1214 kegerator I can fit 4 cornies... I can't fit the ball locks in the back cause they are too tall once connected.
Besides I got my first 4 kegs at a very good price...

so seriously, ship them to me.... I'll ship some beer back at ya...

Pin locks are just over two feet tall when connected. With a 4.5" radius: shorter and fatter than ball lock.

As far as connections go, I have never had a problem. The pins are simple connections and you know if they are "locked".

You can't ever miss connect because your distribution should have 3 pins and your Co2 should have 2. If you have two of the same connectors, you screwed up.

Simple. 3-beer, 2-gas.

all of my fittings are for ball lock and the pin locks i have are a mix, some have pressure relief valve and some don't i have a lot of pin locks but would like to stay with one or the other just cant decide

jtrainer said:

My pin locks don't all have a relief valve... honestly I don't fear them at all. My regulator relief is much lower than the keg can handle anyhow....

I'll ship some beer back at ya...

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I have seen many tap regulator systems without a relief valve added to the regulator, should the regulator go bad and creep up you corny can end up near or past their max operating pressure. Co2 can surpass 700 psi, feel lucky? I did see one Pepsi corny filled with water, the overpressure relief defeated with a building sprinkler system pressure test pump that had the corny at up to 385 psi.

I'll pass on the bier, thanks for the offer. I was thinking a corny with extra quick disconnect fittings was a fair direct swap for someone for their ball lock Pepsi. You get and I get the style corny we want plus you get the disconnects thrown in free. I should go to the 4 sale section plus be best for someone close on the Left coast for shipping. Shipping to me by UPS 120 miles from The CHI Company is $11.34.

As for swapping out the posts. It is possible depending on who made the keg. Cornelius Kegs have the same threading whether they are ball lock or pin locks.

Richardwhittaker said:

As for swapping out the posts. It is possible depending on who made the keg. Cornelius Kegs have the same threading whether they are ball lock or pin locks.

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The problem I have is that I have one of the original 5 gallon old Cornelius brand manufactured refrigerators with a single front tap that the larger diameter Coke corny will not fit inside besides all the other Pepsi cornys I have are ball lock. I was putting this Coke corny with quick connectors out and available for a cheap win win for someone to help both of us get what we want. As posted above if on the west coast just shipping cost would be a rather cheap swap for this Coke for Pepsi vs a corny purchase and adding shipping. Sound fair enough?

I'll have to pass on that one. Maybe another west coaster will pick up on that.

I've got over 10 ball locks and only 2 pinlocks. The only way I'd trade out is an entire swap out and within local dropoff range - which will probably never happen.

BrewBeemer said:

I have a collection of ball locks with only one Pin Lock that will not fit into my Pepsi single corny tap refrigerator. A swap would make me happy plus I have some quick disconnect fittings to go with the this pin lock keg. I'm looking for like kind condition of a ball lock in a direct swap, i'm the next state below ya.

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No worries curtis, just an offer if not you someone within the northern Calif area might run across my offer. Not like it has to be done right away.
Thanks bro. Carl in the S.F. bay area.