Ball lock QD issues...

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TXCrash

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Most of my experience with kegs has been with my pin locks. I think I hate ball locks.

Keep in mind while reading this post: It's under the influence of apfelwein.

Tossed a fresh keg of sparky's brown into the keggorator last night. Came home to a pretty good puddle (probably around a gallon lost - don't really wanna know... good beer... on floor... bad thing). Turns out, the QD leaks or all my posts are crap or I ordered the wrong O-rings.

Some history: Ordered kegs from insco in janruary - some posts left a bit to be desired, but based on all the positive replies - I'm just a picky SOB or just happened to get some sh*t kegs. Ordered from McMaster in february. Quick disconnect leaks on all three kegs that have product in them. QD is brand new - purchased from LHBS.

Ideas of what I may be doing before I go to the LHBS to see if they've had issues with the current batch of QD's/check the qd on one of their kegs (assuming they have kegs there when I get there...)?

Order from McMaster follows...

Anyone wanna trade rebuilt ball locks for pin locks? ;-)


19452K1721 PackBuna-n O-ring, As568a Dash Number 10929452K231 PackBuna-n O-ring, As568a Dash Number 11139452K2182 PacksBuna-n O-ring, As568a Dash Number 417
 
Where are they leaking from? the very top? If so you might need new poppits. Sometimes poppits stick, I will sparingly lube the poppit seal with keg lube before installing. This helps it settle and seal. If its leaking from under the post it is your diptube seal. make sure the diptube lip is undamaged and the seal is soft and pliable.
 
Have you taken apart the QD to make sure all the parts are there and the O-ring inside is in the right place? I'd think that if it leaks on all 3 kegs then the QD is the issue.
 
Where are they leaking from? the very top? If so you might need new poppits. Sometimes poppits stick, I will sparingly lube the poppit seal with keg lube before installing. This helps it settle and seal. If its leaking from under the post it is your diptube seal. make sure the diptube lip is undamaged and the seal is soft and pliable.

It doesn't leak when under pressure NOT attatched to the QD. Seems to be leaking between the QD and post. Not positive how the seal works - but as I understood it - the poppett only affects things when the keg is not sealed. Wrong?

Have you taken apart the QD to make sure all the parts are there and the O-ring inside is in the right place? I'd think that if it leaks on all 3 kegs then the QD is the issue.

I'll take a closer look at the QD tomorrow (a bit druk now due to lots of apfelwein) but it's brand new and appeared to be all there.

If it's the QD, think I can convince the HB store to replace the lost beer? ;-)
 
It doesn't leak when under pressure NOT attatched to the QD. Seems to be leaking between the QD and post. Not positive how the seal works - but as I understood it - the poppett only affects things when the keg is not sealed. Wrong?
The poppit seals when the QD is not attached. If its leaking when the QD is attached I would check 3 areas, 1)The outer post seal(this is what seals between the QD and post). 2)Make sure both posts are installed on the correct keg nipple. Most kegs have different threads for in and out, if they are installed on the wrong nipple you won't get the correct compression of the diptube seal and it will leak from under the post. It will also leak here if the post was not tightened. I made this mistake after cleaning several kegs. Forgot to tighten the post and as soon as I hooked it up it started leaking. If these two areas check out then it must be a flaw on the inside of the QD(crack or poor casting).
conpewter was refering to the seal inside the top of the QD. It is accessable with a screwdriver using the slot on top of the QD, this would cause a leak from the top of the QD. Hope all of this helps.

I tried to use your links but they didn't work. The McMaster P/Ns I have are different but mine are for silicone orings. I haven't ordered any of these yet so I'm not sure if they are correct. The last time I used P/Ns I found on HBT (different #s than the ones below) the post seals were wrong. The #s are [FONT=&quot]#9396K74 - size 109, [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]#9396K24 - size 111, [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]#9396K926 - size 417[/FONT]
 
My gut would be to blame the o-rings unless your posts were severely damaged. I've gone with a standard o-ring kit (Cornelius or Firestone, depending on the keg manufacturer) from Austin Homebrew Supply and used them on Insco's used Pepsi kegs without spilling a drop.
 
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