Failing plastic ball lock connectors - anyone use stainless?

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jcaudill

jcaudill

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I hate thinking about dropping the coin for stainless ball lock connectors. But my plastic ones that live inside my keezer have been slowly failing. A few months ago I discovered a gas one failing after my CO2 tank kept draining. Today I discovered a liquid one failing after seeing half a keg of beer on the bottom of my keezer.

Anyone have stainless that can comment on the reliability?

Thanks in advance.
 
jcaudill said:
I hate thinking about dropping the coin for stainless ball lock connectors. But my plastic ones that live inside my keezer have been slowly failing. A few months ago I discovered a gas one failing after my CO2 tank kept draining. Today I discovered a liquid one failing after seeing half a keg of beer on the bottom of my keezer.

Anyone have stainless that can comment on the reliability?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

May be check your o-rings on the posts? Might not be your disconnects.
 
helterscelter said:
May be check your o-rings on the posts? Might not be your disconnects.
Click to expand...

Definitely the connectors themselves. But I figured out I'm probably an idiot. I didn't realize the ball lock connectors disassemble and that there's an o-ring internally. That's likely what is failing so I'll just replace those more often. Thanks!
 
Man those are a real tempter. I've always been disdainful toward the plastic connectors. They just feel so... so... CHEAP. I only have a four-corny keezer but still that's $120 in connectors....

Any reviews as @pvpeacock asked for??
 
Adventures in home brewing and More Beer also have them, including threaded, rather than barbed ones:
http://www.homebrewing.org/product....m=ProductAds&gclid=CO_MjL2ak8cCFZGBfgod7cUErw

http://www.morebeer.com/products/ba...-flared.html?gclid=CO3x2-qak8cCFQaVfgodWF0OOg

ball lock.jpg
 
If I were buying, I'd go threaded for the flexibility. BUT, you are still subject to gasket failure, which happens over time. Some upgrade their cars with chrome wheels to make it look nice, tires still wear out and need replacing.
 
Hoppity said:
If I were buying, I'd go threaded for the flexibility. BUT, you are still subject to gasket failure, which happens over time. Some upgrade their cars with chrome wheels to make it look nice, tires still wear out and need replacing.
Click to expand...

I agree. I actually the think the plastic ones by CM Becker are fine you just need to maintain them. I'm going to order some replacement gaskets and poppets and just make it part of the maintenance routine to swap them out.

Also agree that MFL is much better and much more flexible than barbed.
 
I have a single stainless ball lock liquid disconnect, and it is quite nice. I bought it solely for the purpose of using for a gadget that I was building - a direct draw keg setup using the stainless ball lock, a stainless fitting to faucet coupler, and a perlick 650ss, this allows me to connect directly to kegs and serve with the appropriate amount of resistance for a good pour.

I wanted to get a stainless pin lock, but I couldn't find one made that was mfl.

If you have the money, they are great! I could only justify it for a project though because I have dozens of sets of disconnects, so plastic is the only reasonable option for me.
 
ok.. dumb question. I haven't started kegging yet, but it's in the near plans. But with the threaded ones.. you would need another part for the hose right? wouldn't that be a barbed part?
 
Not dumb at all. Yes, you need a the swivel nut/barb to insert into your hose. but the beauty of using the threaded versions is that you don't have to unclamp or cut your hose every time you want to disconnect the hose from the ball lock disconnect. You just unscrew it.
 
That's a great price. I'll keep that on my wishlist!

Also, I like the MFL fittings because I use acetal john guest push to connect fittings, and it is very easy to put on and take off tubing.
 
Think about sanke kegs, I can't say how happy I am with them. They are built like tanks. You can find new 6th's for about 80 bucks a pop
 
Just received my order for two sets of stainless steel ball lock disconnects and am very happy I spent the money. They feel rock solid and should last a lifetime. What I am particularly happy about is the fact that, unlike the plastic disconnects, the hose connections are at a 90 degree angle to the keg post. I have back flow preventers on my disconnects/CO2 hoses and these barely fit in my keggerator given the angle on the plastic disconnects. With the SS disconnects, the back flow preventer sits horizontal across the top of the keg lid.

IMG_0547 [1023464].JPG


IMG_0548 [1023466].JPG


IMG_0549 [1023468].JPG
 
The stainless ones are nice, but absolutely a waste of money. There's plenty more awesome things you can waste your money on with homebrewing. Lol!

Usually, you'll find the entire rebuild setups for the plastic ones on clearance for $0.50 on most beer websites. No one buys them. They just buy new ones, or already have 30 to spare. Lol! I've probably got about 30 of the rebuild kits, and replace all of mine once a year... Plus about 20 unused connectors that I've accumulated over time.

I have too much junk maybe...



tl;dr... Buy the plastic ones and the super cheap rebuild kits.
 
WARNING! I just discovered that the stainless steel quick disconnects will leak, particularly on the gas side, if you don't use tailpiece washers with them. Unfortunately, the washers don't come with the quick disconnects. Luckily for me, I discovered the leak before my CO2 tank was empty and luckily for me, I already had a half a dozen of these washers around. If you buy these disconnects, also buy the following washers:
http://www.kegconnection.com/1-4-tailpiece-washer/
 
pvpeacock said:
WARNING! I just discovered that the stainless steel quick disconnects will leak, particularly on the gas side, if you don't use tailpiece washers with them. Unfortunately, the washers don't come with the quick disconnects. Luckily for me, I discovered the leak before my CO2 tank was empty and luckily for me, I already had a half a dozen of these washers around. If you buy these disconnects, also buy the following washers:
http://www.kegconnection.com/1-4-tailpiece-washer/
Click to expand...

I actually use these on my plastic ones as well. I have had leaking issues with the plastic connectors like this. Sucks to drain a tank of CO2!
 
It is odd that you need them for your plastic disconnects, as they usually mold the washer into the fitting itself.

Any time you have a flared metal to metal connection, you will need these washers. I keep dozens on hand! (they are really cheap, so if I'm getting some, might as well get a lot!)
 
Agreed. All of my plastic disconnects have the washer built into the end of the threaded connection. I just ordered 10 more washers for .25 cents each, just to have more on hand. I'm sure I could get them cheaper elsewhere, but I just added them onto another order.
 
UPDATE: I've now had the stainless steel ball lock quick disconnects for almost 2 months. I love them, particularly given that they are lower profile than my old plastic ones. As a result, the kegs and hoses fit much easier into my kegerator particularly given the backflow preventers on the gas lines. The only thing I don't like is that that liquid side can freeze and be very difficult remove. Specifically, the locking ring can freeze if the kegerator is cold enough. It doesn't happen on the gas side because no liquid gets into the connector. On balance, though, I'm glad I bought them.
 
2nd Update: I have now had the stainless steel ball lock quick disconnects for approximately 5 months and have run into a problem with the liquid disconnects: rust! Yes, 95% of the parts are stainless steel. However, the 3 small ball bearings (hence the name "ball lock") are not and they are rusting. As a result, the locking ring sticks making it difficult to take the disconnect off the keg post or get it to lock back on the post. In addition, I can see rust marks on the posts when I take the disconnect off. I don't know if it was the particular brand I bought or all SS disconnects, but I thought I would warn everyone interested.

Last night, I disassembled my liquid disconnects, cleaned off the ball bearings as best I could i lubricated the bearings and locking ring with food grade silicon lube (keg lube). They are all working much better now, but I am looking to see if I can find replacement stainless steel ball bearings to replace the rusting ones.
 
That's interesting and unexpected. I would've hoped that everything would've been stainless, even if those balls don't touch the beer.

If you have a micrometer, you can measure the diameter and then source the stainless bearings. You can try Amazon or McMaster to see if they have something that can work for you.
 
I know this is an old thread but have been considering upgrading ball lock connectors. I know it's stupid but I have a phobia of plastic. What I haven't been able to find is a picture of the valve/spear inside the stainless ball lock connectors.

If the valve is plastic, I don't see the point in spending the money on a stainless body.

Does anyone have a picture or comment on this?
 
Excellent. Have you had any further issues since you have been using them for years now?
 
I have not had any problems with them other than the initial rust on the ball bearings. I do notice, however, that the ring on the liquid disconnects can get stuck when liquid freezes in them. I had this problem more with water when I was using one of my kegs for soda water. If I couldn't get the ring to lift up so I could remove the connector, I would just warm it up and it would fee up. It also happens with beer sometimes, but not as much. Overall, I'm glad I switched.
 
Found this thread after one of my plastic liquid connectors failed, new, only 4 kegs through it. 5 gallons of beer in my basement carpeting. Is stainless the answer?
 
I think it is a defective poppet on a new corny keg. Chinese manufacture, maybe? Bought a replacement liquid out connector, no joy. Emergency transfer of the remaining beer to a remanufactured keg seems to solve the leak issue.
 
sgreene820 said:
I think it is a defective poppet on a new corny keg. Chinese manufacture, maybe? Bought a replacement liquid out connector, no joy. Emergency transfer of the remaining beer to a remanufactured keg seems to solve the leak issue.
Click to expand...

There could be an issue with the posts and/or the outer o-ring. I doubt it's the poppets. The poppets are pressed down by the poppet in the QD, they don't form a seal at that point. The outer o-ring on top of the post forms the seal with the QD.

But I've heard some of the poppets on those Chinese kegs are hard to press down, spring being too long or so.

Make sure your QDs are marked with "CMB" embossed along the top side. They also have something stamped into the side: "Made in Germany," or so.
 
fwiw, I once mis-assembled a Firestone C5 gas post after cleaning which caused the poppet to totally wedge closed.

Found it immediately as I store empties filled to overflowing with a mild iodophor solution - and "burp" the two poppets to fill the dip tubes.
Beer poppet was fine, gas poppet refused to budge.
Had to remove the post and be more careful putting it back on but it worked perfectly since...

Cheers!
 
Update after 3 1/2 years. The ball bearings on all of my liquid stainless ball lock disconnects have rusted to the point that I have gone back to plastic. I bought replacement ball bearings, but due to the rust, some of the old bearings won't come out at all and those that will have left enough corrosion to prevent the new bearings from fitting. What sounded like a good idea and a lifetime piece of equipment was not. I've gone back to cheap, reliable and easily replaceable plastic ball lock disconnects. Bummer.
 
8 years with the original plastic QDs. All original, just disassemble, clean and reassemble every few months. Don't know the brand. They came with a 2 faucet tower setup I got from the Keg Cowboy when he was still in business.
 
What brand of plastic qd’s are better? I see so many different ones to choose from, Onebom, Petra, CM Becker, JanSamn, etc. etc.

Will mostly be using Ball Lock MFL, I love the idea of not having to hassle with connecting and disconnecting.

Also, backflow, any advice as I see that to potentially be an issue. Brands? Best types? Fit?

Sorry to be such a Noob, just would rather buy and obtain the better, more convenient tools and fittings for the trade rather than having headaches.
Much appreciate the advice and help, Thank You in advance.
 
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