Stout Faucet Repair

[day_trippr]

Figured I'd write this up in case anyone runs into the same problem some day...

In the wee hours this morning I toddled down to my keezer for the short pour of my big chocolate stout that is my nite cap, only to have the stout faucet refuse to close! I scrambled to stand the overflowed glass in the brewery sink then raced back to the keezer as the stout poured into the drip tray - and jammed my thumb over the faucet spout to stop the flow (Yay! My thumb is stronger than the 35 psi of beer gas! )

At that point I was able to reach behind the keezer to close the shutoff on my beer gas regulator, then crack the lid open enough to reach in and pop the stout QD off its keg so I could let go of the faucet spout. Phew! Spend the next 20 minutes cleaning black beer off everything it had sprayed on, then resolved to deal with the faucet later - in the more civilized portion of the morning.

Not knowing what might be wrong I went ahead and swapped out the Taprite for my old Micro Matic faucet. The thing is totally a war club of a faucet compared to the Taprite. - which is downright elegant by comparison

Then I took the Taprite apart and here's an exploded view. Looking for a rebuild kit, it turns out the faucet is supplied to Taprite by Krome Dispense. I should have guessed that because I had always noticed the two companies' faucets looked identical.

After stripping all the other parts I had to chuck the body in a bench vise between soft pine blocks to tap the plunger out, as there was a build-up of dried stout that was impeding its movement. I should have taken a picture before I cleaned the plunger, but the build-up was around the round key shown on the plunger below that mates up with a matching relief carved inside the faucet body. I suspect a chunk of the dried beer had wedged itself in the relief preventing the spring-loaded plunger from fully returning to its resting point.

I inspected all the O-rings with a magnifier and they all looked fine, so I reassembled the faucet with a bit of keg lube on the rubber parts, mounted it and tested it with a shorty pour. Works perfectly again!

For reference, here's the Taprite exploded parts diagram for the faucet:

I was able to find the rebuild kit here: https://installationpartssupply.com/Stout-Beer-Faucet-Repair-Kit-Krome-Repair-Parts_p_8509.html

Cheers!

[search bait: Taprite SF2003, Taprite stout faucet repair]

 

[Agent]

So in theory, you probably could have forced the stem back down to stop the beer flow?

 

[day_trippr]

Tried for a couple of seconds to force it via more pressure on the handle lever but it would not be moved. Later, after I removed the faucet from the shank and rinsed it, I checked the plunger position with a dial caliper and it was stuck just a scoche under 2 mm from fully closing. That's why I think a chunk of the dried stout was blocking it...

Cheers!

 

[ITV]

Did your Taprite stout faucet work after the cleaning and afterwards you installed the gaskets/o-rings from the rebuild kit?

Any long term issues with your Micromatic stout faucet?

It seams like a "regular" cleaning schedule for stout faucets is needed.

 

[day_trippr]

The Taprite is working perfectly, I have only ordered the kits (which shipped this afternoon). Yes, it will bear more attention - it had actually started feeling a bit hitchy this Monday and I planned on cleaning it soon.

I used the Micromatic for a decade and aside from a breached gasket (which was even more exciting than this event because the stout shot UP out of the handle end) it worked wonderfully. I replaced it because it's so awkward looking next to the Perls and was going to sell it, but this has me thinking of keeping it as a backup...

Cheers!