Ball Lock Disconnect Questions

[DoubleD]

Setting up my keezer system today. I attached to ball lock disconnect hose to the C02 tank. When I turn the C02 on without attaching it to the keg, I hear the C02 leak. I've tried it with two disconnects. Is this normal? Also is the disconnect supposed to snap onto the post on the keg or does it simply rest on the keg post?

 

[BrewandWineSupply]

It should snap in.
Do you have a hose clamp on the disconnect?

Hope this helps.

 

[DoubleD]

Thanks for the help. I put thread seal tape around the male end of the disconnects and it stopped the leak.

 

[NivekD]

Shouldn't need tape there...are you getting it tight enough?

 

[day_trippr]

^ Wait - what? What is "the male end of the disconnect"? The keg post?

Cheers!

 

[AnOldUR]

This?

 

[DoubleD]

No sorry about the poor description. The ball lock disconnect that screws into the metal barb which inserts into the plastic tubing.

 

[day_trippr]

Ah - ok, that end of the QD is called a male flare fitting - and it definitely should never be taped.

Most plastic QDs have an gasket/o-ring integrated into the male flare, but there may be some that require a separate gasket to be inserted into the female flare coupling before it is screwed onto the QD...

Cheers!

 

[DoubleD]

My kit didn't come with any of the gaskets. It came with thread tape. Do you know what size gaskets I should get?

 

[day_trippr]

Just to confirm what you have:

This is a ball lock beer QD with a flare fitting

This is a ball lock beer QD with a barb fitting

The former - at least the one shown - has an integrated gasket at the tip of the male flare. It will seal on its own when screwed tightly into one of these swivel nut/barb fittings

If you happen to have a flared QD that doesn't have that little gasket/o-ring at the tip (I've never seen one, fwiw) you need to buy some of these. You insert one (bevel side away from the QD) into the swivel nut before screwing in the QD.

Now, backing up, if your QDs are actually the barbed type, they are meant to go directly into tubing with a hose clamp keeping things tight. There's no place to use any tape in that case.

If you could let us know what style QD you actually have we'll all be in sync...

Cheers!

 

[BrewandWineSupply]

Most plastic QDs have an gasket/o-ring integrated into the male flare, but there may be some that require a separate gasket to be inserted into the female flare coupling before it is screwed onto the QD...

Cheers!

beat me to it...

 

[DoubleD]

Day Trippr: I have a ball lock beer QD with a flare fitting with the swivel/nut barb fittings. When I was testing out my kegs half filled with star scan I found leaks in the disconnects. I only hand tightened the QD's and noticed the gasket. I then put thread tape around the QD and tightened with a wrench and don't have any leaks. It it overboard to use the thread seal. I currently have two kegs full of homebrew in the keezer attached to 30 psi (no leaks- tested by spraying). Is there going to be a problem?

 

[day_trippr]

You should never use thread tape on any flare fitting because the tape doesn't come close to where a flare actually seals, and the tape may in fact prevent making a good seal.

But you do need to do more than hand tighten a swivel nut, as was discovered.

If the coupling is holding pressure it can probably be safely left alone, but the next time lines are disconnected for cleaning or whatever, I'd get rid of the tape as it isn't doing anything useful...

Cheers!

 

[DoubleD]

day trippr, Thanks for your help. I am going to take your advice and remove the thread seal from my setup after the two kegs are kicked. I don't have any leaks now and don't want to mess with the setup.