Certain Ball Lock Males Not Engaging...

[Evan!]

Still wading through kegging n00b waters here...

I finished installing the tower on my 4912 today. Looks purdy. I then took to the task of cleaning and sanitizing these nasty cornies someone gave me. Well, they're pretty clean and shiny now, but I have a problem: I have this picnic tap with a black ball lock disconnect. Just to see what I'm in for when the rest of my equipment arrives, I tried hooking up the picnic tap to a few of the posts. Oddly, only 3 or 4 posts out of 8 actually accept the disconnect. The rest seem to be the wrong size, even though they look exactly the same. What's the deal? Do I need to order new posts?

 

[Flyin' Lion]

The gas in posts have notches in the bases, the liquid out posts do not. Very Important to not mis-match the ball-locks and the associated posts. Is that the problem? Are you trying to attach the ball locks to the wrong posts?


EDIT for clarity: 8 posts or 8 kegs?

 

[Flyin' Lion]

Here's the thread where I had problems, I think there are pics that explain the differences.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=17160

 

[adx]

The gas and liquid connectors have about an 1/8" difference in diameter. If you have 4 sets of posts you should expect that it only works on the 4 liquid posts.

 

[Spyk'd]

Duh, what are you, stupid of something?

:cross:

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I wouldn't worry about that picnic tap too much. Everything you ordered from kegconnection.com will arrive soon and when it does, if those QD's all fit properly then you may never be using that picnic tap again.

Just make sure to put the o-rings that Todd sends you in a safe place. You'll need them. I lost 1/2 a tank of CO2 because of a popped o-ring last month and didn't realize it until my beer kept coming out flat.

 

[SenorWanderer]

many of my kegs have posts that look identical. the other half have star sockets for ins and hex sockets for outs, but the other half, well, it's just lucky that they came to me attached properly. a lot of folks use different color o-rings for the in and out side.

 

[Evan!]

I wouldn't worry about that picnic tap too much. Everything you ordered from kegconnection.com will arrive soon and when it does, if those QD's all fit properly then you may never be using that picnic tap again.

Just make sure to put the o-rings that Todd sends you in a safe place. You'll need them. I lost 1/2 a tank of CO2 because of a popped o-ring last month and didn't realize it until my beer kept coming out flat.

Well, I've never actually used that cobra tap, it just came along with the cornies when they were given to me. I was just using it to see if things were set up okay. I guess I'll need to take another look at the posts---I know that some have hex bases and some have star bases, and that the liquid disconnect won't fit on any of the star based ones---but I didn't check for the notches that people say are in the base of the gas posts.

I wonder, should I go ahead and replace the o-rings when they arrive, or should I take my chances with the ones I have? I already replaced all the washers on the posts. The o-rings look okay, but who knows what that means. Also, is lube essential for the o-rings?

 

[Dude]

Well, I've never actually used that cobra tap, it just came along with the cornies when they were given to me. I was just using it to see if things were set up okay. I guess I'll need to take another look at the posts---I know that some have hex bases and some have star bases, and that the liquid disconnect won't fit on any of the star based ones---but I didn't check for the notches that people say are in the base of the gas posts.

I wonder, should I go ahead and replace the o-rings when they arrive, or should I take my chances with the ones I have? I already replaced all the washers on the posts. The o-rings look okay, but who knows what that means. Also, is lube essential for the o-rings?

Used kegs? Don't mess around, buy o-ring kits and replace EVERY single one. Don't take a chance in ruining your beer.

 

[Evan!]

Used kegs? Don't mess around, buy o-ring kits and replace EVERY single one. Don't take a chance in ruining your beer.

Yeah, they're sending me the rings with my kegconnection order...I'll heed your advice. Thnx.