5 liter kegs...

I've seen a few threads on the 5 liter kegs from Heinekin and Widmer about refilling and their use and how ya can't with all the "stock" parts. First thing I thougt when I saw one for the first time is how can I put my homebrew in it. All the threads say you can't refill them but I just saw a web page by someone who uses them in a different fashion. He refills them but uses his own aparatus to get beer out of them. I like the design ALOT. You could use a cobra tap to get the beer out but you need to put Co2 in to get it out. Is there a way to hook up and regulate pressure from a small Co2 cartridge? I have seen a hookup for a ball lock keg set up but It diddn't seem to have any way of regulating pressure. Would a cartridge be enough to push all the 5L of beer out of a keg? Would it matter if there wasn't a way to regulate pressure? It, for me at least, would revolutionize the way I tote homebrew around. Growlers rock, but lets be honest, cool points to whomever brings the keg(s), small or not. I think I could fit 4 or 5 in a cooler and still have room for hotdogs and potato salad, LOL! Plus I know it would fit in all my friends' fridges. Any ideas?

Not that I've seen. The 5L rig I had (briefly), you just gave it a shot of CO2 when the flow got slow. There was an over-pressure relief, but no regulator. I got 1-2 5L kegs with each 8 gm cartridge.

I got sucked into the five liter keg thing long ago when I first began brewing. They are generally not very practical. You can buy a tap arrangement designed for these and the serving pressure can be supplied by either a cartridge or a standard CO2 cylinder. You cannot force carb beer in the kegs as they can't handle the pressure. The kegs are difficult to clean and they dent and ding easily. The kegs are steel and coated with a plastic material inside to prevent rust. Eventually, the plastic coating will develop cracks and the kegs will rust. This usually happens first around the edges of the bung hole on top.

I would like to see a manufacturer come up with an SS version of these kegs designed to withstand higher pressures and with a larger opening in the top to facillitate cleaning. I think they would have a winner with those and sell a ton of them if they were priced right. I abandoned my mini-kegs and sold them all long ago along with the tap and cartridge thingy. I moved on to cornies soon after.

My advice it to avoid them completely and get some corny kegs.

I use both the 5l and the cornie kegs. I made a homemade tap (do a search) connected to a 9 oz paintball canister and regulator. Very portable as I have a softside cooler that holds 2 5l kegs, has a space on top to hold the cobra tap so it is not just hanging out. The co2 hangs on the back on the handle for the coolers wheels.
I usually fill the 5l from the cornies a few days before I am traveling with them.

I have four of the very rare and elusive 3 gallon corny kegs which are near perfect regarding portability. Wish I had more of them. The two liter PET bottles with carbonator caps are great for lesser volumes and they are nearly free as I recycle those that originally contained sodas.