Need Help: Low profile Commercial and homebrew keg compatibility

Hey all,

I need some help making my kegerator compatible for both commercial and homebrew kegs. Right now I have a low profile sanke tap for commercial kegs. Low Profile US Sanke Tap :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

for home brew i use a ball lock with 1/4" mfl, and a corresponding 1/4" hex nut on the beer and gas lines that screw onto the 1/4" mfl ball lock disconnects.

If you look at the picture on the low profile, it comes with 2 different sized barbs which could be hooked up to the beer and gas line, but that would mean taking out the barbs everytime.

I have tried buying a part to replace the barbs on the low profile tap, so that they would have 1/4" mfl instead of the barb, but I can't seem to find the right part to fit. Has anyone had success making their low profile sanke tap compatible with their homebrew setup?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I think what you need is a 1/4 male pipe thread to 1/4 male flare fitting adapter. See if this will work:

Tube-to-Threaded Pipe Connectors

Mcmaster has them in stainless, and they are a bit pricey at $8.93. I looked for them in brass, but no luck. I'm sure somebody must carry them, since one of my cornelius regulators has this fitting on the gas-out low pressure port.

 

If you use swivel nuts on all of your lines, you can just buy these adapters to easily switch between the sanke and corny kegs. Here's the fitting that kegconnection sells, and how its used in the next picture.

 

I have these 1/4 MFL tailpieces also, but if you click on the link in the original post, he has a "low-profile" keg coupler, which uses (what looks to be) 1/4" female connections instead of the standard 7/8" male on a regular coupler.

 

Sorry, you're right, I hadn't looked at the link. Those 1/4" to 1/4"MFL are available at Lowes. I've used them before, they only have them in brass, but if you want to see if they work its an easy way to find out. Good luck.

 

thanks for the replies,

I have actually ordered the 1/4" MFL to 1/4 NPT connector and it does not fit. What ever size the opening is on the low profile coupler, the 1/4" MFL thread is the right size, but does not fit because it has the little nipple on the end. If you look at the picture alohanole posted from Mcmaster (particularly the drawing), for whatever reason 1/4" NPT is much larger than 1/4" MFL. So I guess what I need is 1/4" MFL to something that is the same size without the nipple, which oddly enough is not 1/4" npt. Any other thoughts? The Mcmaster link does give a little insight because it says that the 1/4" mfl actually means for 1/4" tubing, so the fitting itself must be smaller than 1/4".

Thanks for the help

 

The 1/4" NPT goes onto the coupler, the 1/4" MFL is for the beer/gas line nut. How did you order it and recieve it already. I would take your coupler to Lowes and see what threading works on it. Worst case scenario you just hook up about 4-6" of tubing to the barb, and on the other end of tubing attach these

 

i ordered the 1/4" mfl to 1/4" npt a while back before I sought help here. If you look at the picture of that part(McMaster-Carr) and scroll down to the drawing, the 1/4" NPT side is much larger than the MFL side.

I tried going to home depot but they did not have any fittings that had an npt side that was small enough. I think i may have found what i need on the mcmaster website. McMaster-Carr
It seems that against what seems like common sense, the actual sizes needed are 1/4" MFL to 1/8" NPT

At $1.78 each I'm just going to order a couple. I'll report back, and hopefully the problem will then be forever solved.

 

Any Luck??

 

Was that the right size. I ordered the same coupler and also want to be able to use the same fitting that goes into the ball lock coupler for my corny.

 

I have the same exact question. Does the 1/4" MFL to 1/8" NPT adapter fit the low profile coupler?

 

Yes. 1/4" flare to 1/8" mpt.

www.mcmaster.com - pn 50715k161 in stainless steel

www.mcmaster.com - pn 0675k161 in brass

 

Yeah, I was looking at that same part.

Good to know that it fits. Thanks!

Edit: Do you have a low profile coupler that you used those adapters on? If so, did you use gaskets such as these?

 

Yes. The flare gasket is critical on that setup (also on a standard Sanke tap when you use the flare fitting adapters). The metal to metal flare connection needs to have that washer in place to form a good seal.

Hope this helps.

 

It sure does help. Thanks for the info!