Corny keg disconnect coming apart (ball lock)

[outside92129]

Does anyone else have issues with their ball lock corny keg disconnect coming apart? For me it's always the black/beer out disconnect, never the C02, and either the spring shoots out of the top or the ball-locking sleeve mechanism comes off. It never appears to be broken, i can re-assemble, but it's a pain at night/dinner/party, etc. They're all 1-3 years old, from various companies (CMB, etc). Not sure if i'm doing something wrong or if it's the disconnect.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Hmmm, I've never had that happen and some of mine are 10 years old. Did you buy them all around the same time? If so, could have been part of a bad batch. I remember I once got one that was molded wrong...as in grey gas molded as black liquid, or vice versa...I can't remember for sure. I just remember it wouldn't fit on the post it was supposed to go on. Anyway, have you taken them apart to clean? It's a stretch, but any chance you didn't put them back together right?

 

[b-boy]

I've had one bad QD in 5 years of brewing. The one that went bad gave me a complete beer shower when I went to use it. I just tossed it.

I keep a few extra laying around just in case I need them.

 

[IslandLizard]

Maybe you've got really badly manufactured / cheap Chinese knock-offs?

On all the CMB ones, it's about impossible to get the locking sleeve off. And how can the spring shoot out the top? There's a threaded insert in the top that needs to be unscrewed a couple turns before you get to the inside and the spring. Very curious how these things happen "all the time."

 

[chickypad]

On all the CMB ones, it's about impossible to get the locking sleeve off. And how can the spring shoot out the top? There's a threaded insert in the top that needs to be unscrewed a couple turns before you get to the inside and the spring. Very curious how these things happen "all the time."

My thoughts exactly so to answer your question no, in 8 yrs of kegging I've never experienced what you're describing. I did once get a couple gas disconnects that seemed to be knockoffs - not the CMB gray ones, they were pure white with different consistency of the plastic. They leaked around the post so I sent them back. But the sleeve actually coming off?? Or the spring shooting out - how does that happen unless the top is not screwed down?

 

[gnef]

definitely throw it away, and get another one. I have dozens of sets of ball lock and pin lock, and have not had a problem like that in my 10 years of brewing with using all of these disconnects.