Ball Lock Keg Guide

In the process of getting my kegging setup going, some friends and I purchased a bunch of corny kegs from our LHBS. When kegging day came, we tore them down, put all of the parts in sanitizer, sanitized the kegs, filled them, and then began putting them back together. This is where the problems started. Not realizing that there are several flavors of corny kegs out there with parts that don't mix, we stripped the threads on several fittings, put poppets in the wrong places, and generally made a mess of things. The darned replacement parts to get them going again cost almost as much as a new (used) keg!

To get things straightened out again and hopefully help other folks prevent the same errors, I put together a little guide from a couple online sources. It is meant to hold up to the kegs/parts and visually identify what you have.

Enjoy:
PDF Version: Ball Lock Keg Guide - PDF
MS Word Version: Ball Lock Keg Guide - MS Word

Very nice! I'll keep a copy of that handy.

Thank you, sir! I was browsing those sites the other day for that very information. Well done!

Thanks. Hopefully you can get it right the first time, unlike me!

phillc said:

Thanks. Hopefully you can get it right the first time, unlike me!

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Early in my kegging career, I learned to never break down more than one keg at a time.

Yeah, it's a little late for me, but I'm still on my first cycle through them. At least I can match them up for the next time through.

Nice! Those damn posts always screw me up!

Nice. I'll keep the pdf of that handy. thanks!

Great PDF. prosted!

enderwig said:

Great PDF. prosted!

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Cool. Enjoy!

Another prost from me. Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but it's very "homebrewer-ish" of you to let others learn from that lesson.

Munsoned said:

Another prost from me. Sorry to hear of your misfortune, but it's very "homebrewer-ish" of you to let others learn from that lesson.

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No problem. I just picked up a free mid-sized fridge to use as my kegerator, so that makes up for it! I'll leave it plugged in overnight before I begin the cleaning/conversion process to ensure all is well.

That's great! Those should be in our kegging sticky. May I?

Sticky away!

YooperBrew said:

That's great! Those should be in our kegging sticky. May I?

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Certainly! If anyone wants any info added/altered, just let me know.

Links dead? Tried loading them, blank page. Try downloading them, says the file is not formatted properly....

bsay said:

Links dead? Tried loading them, blank page. Try downloading them, says the file is not formatted properly....

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i'm getting the same...using ubuntu BTW

me three.....

heck....same here

Checking...

phillc said:

Checking...

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Ok, I fixed the links. Apparently Microsoft Skydrive doesn't like you linking directly to files. Instead, the links now take you to the Skydrive site where you can click and download the file.

Let me know if it is working...

Success!

789

File downloaded for me. Great job and thanks for sharing.

One question. Are the tops interchangeable between kegs? Or is each brand different?

where was this an hour ago LOL.....luckily.i think i ordered the right ones thanks, great post

Amiaji said:

File downloaded for me. Great job and thanks for sharing.

One question. Are the tops interchangeable between kegs? Or is each brand different?

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They are interchangeable between SOME of the kegs. The guide outlines which ones. That is its purpose!

phillc said:

They are interchangeable between SOME of the kegs. The guide outlines which ones. That is its purpose!

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I'm sorry I guess I worded it wrong. I meant the lids not the posts. The reason I am asking is I have a Cornelius keg that has a lid with the old style Firestone relief valve. I was wondering if I could swap it for a lid with the Cornelius relief valve.

Amiaji said:

I'm sorry I guess I worded it wrong. I meant the lids not the posts. The reason I am asking is I have a Cornelius keg that has a lid with the old style Firestone relief valve. I was wondering if I could swap it for a lid with the Cornelius relief valve.

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There are two styles of lids, oval and "racetrack". I believe all oval lids are interchangeable. "Racetrack" style lids come in two sizes, small is 4-5/16" long, large is 4-9/16" long. pictures here: Lids for Ball Lock Kegs

camiller said:

There are two styles of lids, oval and "racetrack". I believe all oval lids are interchangeable. "Racetrack" style lids come in two sizes, small is 4-5/16" long, large is 4-9/16" long. pictures here: Lids for Ball Lock Kegs

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Thanks for the link. I looked at all my lids and they are all oval lids. Its good to know I can interchange them if necessary.

I'm getting an adware or something or other message...

homebrewer_99 said:

I'm getting an adware or something or other message...

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No messages here. False positive from your software, I assume. I assure you there is no adware in the files. They are simply an MS Word file and an Adobe PDF file that I created myself.

What adware/anti-virus software are you running?

phillc,
Very nice and useful .pdf!

Question about the old Firestone kegs; did your old Firestone kegs have a nylon spacer (like this) underneath the poppet? I have an old Firestone that has a racetrack lid, plastic gas diptube (SS liquid diptube), and nylon spacers underneath the poppets. The IN and OUT ports of the keg are quite different than any other keg I've seen as well.

I don't even know what kind of seals this thing takes (pretty sure it's not o-rings). The liquid dip tube seal almost looks more like a 'packing' (like you'd find around the stem of a handvalve). I could try to take pics. I only have one of these kegs and I've relegated it to PBW/StarSan duty.

SpanishCastleAle said:

phillc,
Very nice and useful .pdf!

Question about the old Firestone kegs; did your old Firestone kegs have a nylon spacer (like this) underneath the poppet? I have an old Firestone that has a racetrack lid, plastic gas diptube (SS liquid diptube), and nylon spacers underneath the poppets. The IN and OUT ports of the keg are quite different than any other keg I've seen as well.

I don't even know what kind of seals this thing takes (pretty sure it's not o-rings). The liquid dip tube seal almost looks more like a 'packing' (like you'd find around the stem of a handvalve). I could try to take pics. I only have one of these kegs and I've relegated it to PBW/StarSan duty.

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I don't personally have much experience with those... Hopefully somebody with some experience can chime in for you.

Glad you like the doc.

I'll try to take some pics but perusing the Williams site it appears the older Firestone or John Wood 85 kegs went through a change from what I'm talking about to what is in your document.


The description of the Firestone post sold by Williams says: For older Firestone Challenger (no V or VI imprint) and John Wood 85 ball-lock kegs (beer side pictured). Includes needed 7/16” tall by 5/8” wide white nylon insert. Does not fit older Firestone kegs with ‘racetrack’ (not oval) or round lids, unless they are marked ‘Challenger’. These feature 3/4 - 18 threads.
But my old Firestone has a racetrack lid and nylon inserts so it must be one of those transitional Challengers.

It would be nice if one of the volume sellers could help clear it up...they go through so many kegs I'm sure they've seen them all and they prob have to do all sorts of things to get them to seal so they can sell them.

The .pdf really helped me out. Thanks.

uabericm said:

The .pdf really helped me out. Thanks.

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Great! Glad you could make use of it!

Thanks for the info. One question though, after looking at my new kegs I noticed that my air release valve is for an older firestone keg. The picture on page 2 of the pdf my valve looks just like D. My question is would it be possible to to buy type A in the picture on there instead?

loh777 said:

Thanks for the info. One question though, after looking at my new kegs I noticed that my air release valve is for an older firestone keg. The picture on page 2 of the pdf my valve looks just like D. My question is would it be possible to to buy type A in the picture on there instead?

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I am not sure about replacing them, but:
If they work and if they seal, then don't mess with them! No need to replace a functioning thing with another functioning thing.