Advice on fixing Tap-A-Draft Dispenser

[tomrobbins]

A friend of mine got me started on homebrew and gave me his supplies, including the now discontinued "Tap-a-Draft" System, which I love using, but I recently broke the dispenser/regulator somehow. Since the product was always pretty niche, and its not made anymore, its hard to find anywhere online discussing them breaking / fixing them, so I figured I'd try asking here.

When I was putting in a CO2 cartridge, it blew a piece off the side. (I was outside at the time so the plastic covering was not recovered, only the metal pin inside). Now, when trying to insert a CO2 cartridge, it seems to release the CO2 outside of the bottle somehow (not sure how to be more helpful there with the description).

If anyone has used one of these, or is more knowledgable about the inner workings, and can offer some advice on how to fix it I would really appreciate it. I looked in to trying to find a replacement tap (and at the also discontinued miller home draft and related systems, haha).

Alternatively, if there are other (relatively cheap + easy) methods of dispensing + keeping the beer fresh in these 6L bottles (I still have almost a full batch in them) I would love to hear about it!

Current state of the dispenser:

Recovered metal pin:

 

[Ottosmith]

Hi Tom,

At least the beer is safe! I am no expert on these, but have an older model TAD which recently developed a gas leak and my search led me here. The one I have screws together and uses two 8g cartridges instead of a single one, but the part of the regulator in question looks similar to yours. Sorry in advance for the bad lighting, but this will illustrate what it looks like on the older model.

There are likely two missing pieces on yours. The first is a retainer cap which snaps on the end, and centers a small coil spring inside it which presses against the white flange inside the regulator assembly. The second is the spring.

I'm not sure where (or if) the roll pin fits in, mine doesn't have one.

I wish I could advise on sources for replacement parts other than getting another unit if you can find one for sale. Check around, someone on this board or Ebay might have one for sale. Hope this helps.