Prepping to keg

Hey guys,
I'm getting ready for my intro to kegging and have a few Q's...

1) I have used pin locks with oval tops. I'm going to buy the gasket kits and saw that they (Morebeer) had a seperate O-ring for oval tops. My Q is do the O-rings from their kit fit the ovals, or are those only for round tops (if those are made)? My guess is that they are universal, and that what I saw was if I just wanted to buy the O-ring for the top, but want to make sure.

2) I have 4 5 gal Pinlock cornys in storage, and want to get a tank to power all of them. What size tank should I get? And, should I go through an online brew supply or would a local gas retailer be better?

Thanks -Hippie

The round o-ring fits the oval top.

As long as the tank holds pressure just fine you can get it from anywhere. You just might want to get it filled at a local gas place.

I'd check locally for a CO2 tank because you'll need them to fill the tank anyway. A 5 lb tank is good for 5-20 cornies depending on the carbonation level. I've always exchanged tanks, rather than filling, it's faster & no hassles with periodic testing. Plus, if you buy/rent a tank from a local, you can switch to a bigger one easily.

O-rings are circular, but they flex. I've never seen anything but oval lids on cornies. A round lid would be impossible to insert. That's why access covers in the street are round, you can't drop it into the hole.

i think he may be referring to the 'racetrack' lid. i have one that is plastic, the keg is quite old, but the lid o-ring still fits. you should be fine with the gaskets.

OP - do you craigslist much? that is where i bought the majority of my equipment from. i bought 6 co2 tanks of varying size, some came with other deals, but most were about 20 dollars. granted, they were out of test, but it was still cheaper paying for the test, than buying from a gas place. (50#, 20#, 20#, 20#, 5#, 2.5#)

i recommend getting as large as a size as you can afford, and able to move around. i think a 20 lb tank works well for most applications. i use my 50 stationary for my kegerator, and only use it for serving. i use my smaller tanks at other locations for purging, carbonating, and for transferring in the future. i usually use the 20 for most tasks, and keep the 2.5 as a backup (i traded my 5 lb tank for a 20cf oxygen tank).

also,. for four kegs, if you plan on using all of them for serving, i would recommend purchasing a manifold and use check valves wherever you can. have fun!