Corny Keg???

Im getting ready to build me a keezer. I need to get everything to make the keezer. I know I want to do Corny kegs, just don't know if I want pin lock or ball lock....dont know the difference. What is everyone using and what is the easiest. I want to order everything like the lines and connections but don't know if they are all the same? Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

 

Ball Lock are more expensive than Pin Lock. Also, Pin Lock are slightly shorter and bigger in diameter so depending on your keezer measurements you might fit more Ball Lock in than Pin Lock. Also, Pin Lock lids don't always have a manual pressure relief valve. Not a big deal but a consideration. I have a few pin locks I converted into ball locks, but because of the extra width, they don't fit as well in my keezers.

 

I use all pin locks but that is because that is what I started with. I believe used ball locks are a little easier to find.

 

So the connections are the same on both? Its just one is a little bigger than the other. The Keezer Im using is going to be plenty big so thats not an issue. Also where is a good place to get the other equipment? 5# Co2 canister, taps, lines etc?

 

I went with pin locks because I was able to get them pretty cheap - adventures in homebrewing has had quite a few sales on pin locks in the last year, where you can get them for under $40 each.

Main downside for me is that everybody at the homebrew club I started attending seems to have ball locks. So I may end up converting some of my pin locks to ball locks.

In my keezer I can *just* barely fit 8 pin lock kegs, if I jam them in just right. Ball locks would fit much more easily (might be able to fit 9?). So even if you have a big keezer, you might still find the size difference is significant.

 

The connections are different. Pin locks have pins on the post. So you can not hook up a gas line to the liquid post and vice versa.

I have not owned any ball lock kegs or seen any but my understanding is you can accidently connect the lines wrong.

I chose pin lock due to cost and availability.

 

Ball and pin lock differ in the type of liquid out and gas in connections (pin locks use 3 or 2 pins to secure the connector), in their dimensions (pin lock are typically wider and shorter), and because pin lock kegs don't typically come with lids that have manual pressure relief valves in them.

I would start with craigslist. I have bought both Cornelius kegs and CO2 tanks off of it for much cheaper than they could be bought online. There are other easy to find websites online, some of which are forum sponsors, which sell all manner of kegging equipment.

You might start asking around about cheap local places to refill your CO2 tank as well because at least where I am there are some dramatic price differences. For example, my closest Airgas charged $22 to exchange a 5# tank whereas there is a Wesco that is more out of the way than Airgas but only charged me $17 to refill both my 5# and 20# tanks. That's a huge price difference for only another 30 minutes of drive time.

 

Pin locks and ball locks have different disconnects.

Standard ball locks are slightly skinnier, slightly taller. 25" tall by 8.5" diameter.
Standard pin locks are slightly fatter, slightly shorter. 23" tall by 9" diameter.

Pin lock disconnects, however, are significantly taller than ball lock disconnects, so the height advantage of pin-lock kegs are pretty much negated by this.

Pin locks often don't have a pressure relief valve built into them, whereas ball locks do, which is a nice thing to have.

Pin locks seem to be more available these days, since most of the ball lock kegs have gotten snapped up by homebrewers.

New ball locks are being made, however. I don't think anybody is making new pin locks.

Cut out a bunch of 9" diameter circles from a piece of cardboard and lay them out in your keezer. If it looks like you might be able to squeeze one more keg into your keezer if you had 8.5" circles, then go with the ball locks.

 

So I guess I need to figure out what corny's I wan before I get the co and beer line connections.

 

Maybe not. If you go the MFL route, the only thing that you need to hold off buying are the gas and liquid quick disconnects. That's the only thing that's different.

There's two types of connections - barb and MFL. Barb disconnects just have a hose barb on the end and you connect the air or liquid line right to it. This has two advantages. 1) Cheaper than MFL, since you don't have to buy an MFL swivel nut. 2) One less thing to leak on you. The big disadvantage is that you can't swap out disconnects, so if you ever do get a sanke keg or a disconnect different from your usual, you'll have to chop the line and put a new quick disconnect on.

Personally, I like to have barb connections on the air distributor and the ends of the shanks, but MFL connections for the end of the lines where the quick disconnects attach.

 

This just came up on Homebrewfinds.com

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/comple...em-includes-used-keg-co2-tank.html?i=6c300461