Cornelius Keg poppit valve question

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RobertHSmith

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As I was taking apart my kegs (Pepsi) to sanitize/rebuild, I noticed that one of the poppet valves was a little bit different. There were 3 different ball lock fittings, but all had the same poppit valve except for one.

The two types can be seen in this image from http://hbd.org/carboy/ballkegclean.htm
Image8.gif


7 of them are like B, but one is like A. I took a good look at the inside of the ball lock fitting and the tapered part at the top looks the same on all of them.

It seems like the design of the one that isn't like the others will work on any of the ball lock fittings, but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with this type of situation. Do I need to be careful and put the one that is different back into the same ball lock fitting, or does it matter?

;) and a helpful hint: make sure when releasing the pressure that you release it from the ball lock fitting marked in, not out. Having your eyelashes stuck together with residual syrup is not a pleasant experience.
 
wait for an expert but in my experience they are interchangeable.
I release the pressure from the pressure relief valve in the center of the lid.
 
RobertHSmith said:
and a helpful hint: make sure when releasing the pressure that you release it from the ball lock fitting marked in, not out. Having your eyelashes stuck together with residual syrup is not a pleasant experience.

Or you could use the pressure relief valve.;)
 
As far as I know poppets are not interchangeable, I would either put that one back in the same place or replace it with the proper one. When I rebuilt mine I replaced all the poppets, their expensive but it's worth it not to have your beer leaking all over the floor. This site tells which poppet goes to which keg. http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_14 They also have decent prices.
 
Williams Brewing has all 4 of these poppets and their page lists which poppet goes with what keg.

I believe true Cornelius kegs were all the same poppet. I believe there are two types of firestone (pin-lock) keg poppets, and the 4th is a cornelius clone.

you do wanna have the right poppet for the right keg brand for reliability and proper seals.
 
Ok,

I lined up all of the plugs and poppets and noticed something, they are all basically the same height and the one poppet that is different was in a plug that was the same as 4 of the other plugs that had the cornelius stlye of poppet, or the one with the thickest rubber seal, type B from the image.

I'm no engineer but, it appears that the only issue would be if I used a shorter poppet with a longer plug. The diameter of the holes at the top and the taper appear to be the same, although I arrived at that conclusion by the very un-scientific eye-ball method.
 
:( Looks like I'll be ordering poppet valves. The one odd poppet isn't working out. Although it seals, it won't depress enough to get the quick disconnect on. Ugh.

I could modify it with a dremel, but think it will be better in the long run to jus order new ones...
 
I just replaced some poppits on a used keg I just bought. The keg has ball lock posts and somebody jammed two longer poppits (similar to type D) in them. When they tightened the posts it drove the three poppit legs into the dip tubes and crimped them and mangled the o-ring.

I pounded the dip tube lip flat and went with the type A poppits, which is all I could get local. I just pressurized the keg and it seems to hold pressure fine.
 

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