Corny kegs - ball lock or pin lock?

[Cheapo]

Hope I'm not being a PITA in this forum, geesh! I've been all over it in the last week.

I'm looking at corny kegs, and I wonder - what type do you guys go for? What's easier to maintain, has more accessories easily available for, etc?
I'm doing my shopping and I want to be set from the beginning, and buy my equipment once.

 

[camonick]

Hope I'm not being a PITA in this forum, geesh! I've been all over it in the last week.

I'm looking at corny kegs, and I wonder - what type do you guys go for? What's easier to maintain, has more accessories easily available for, etc?
I'm doing my shopping and I want to be set from the beginning, and buy my equipment once.

Pinlock (Coca cola) kegs will only be available used. Some you’ll find in good condition, some not. Most of the lids on them will have a fixed/static PRV (pressure relief valve) as opposed to a manual PRV found on the used Pepsi kegs and all new ball lock kegs. This is an issue for some and not for others. It’s not important to me. The replacement static PRVs are becoming difficult to source if you find one needs replacement. The whole lid can be replaced as a last resort. Lids are interchangeable between the two. Pin lock kegs are shorter and wider than ball lock. This might be something to consider with space constraints. Ball lock kegs are more popular and all new accessories will be ball lock oriented. Disconnects and a few other accessories are still available for pin locks though. There is a definite go/no-go when connecting pin lock disconnects, which some folks feel is an advantage/ foolproof feature. The disconnects can be mixed up on ball locks if enough force is applied. The functionality of the 2 is the same, the differences only being disconnect style and height and diameter differences. I use pin lock because I was given nearly all my kegs by a Coke repair technician for free about 20 years ago. They work perfectly fine for my situation. O-rings and poppets are still available for repairs and maintenance, so that’s not a major concern either. Maintenance is essentially the same for either style. Others will surely have more info.

 

[IslandLizard]

Ball lock would be my preference:

• For ease of finding parts (although there's rarely a need for them)
• More universally used by homebrewers
• And should come standard with a manual PRV/pressure release valve in the lid.

[EDIT] As @camonick said, if you're buying new kegs, ball lock is the only available option. Now, AFAIK, there are 2 3 main different type ball lock models (and a few others):

• Regular corny kegs with rubber boot and rubber handle,
• Torpedo kegs, all stainless, integrated handle in the (protective) collar, no outside rubber, and
• Stainless kegs with a welded-on handle, but no protective collar. Some may have a rubber boot.

Parts of either should be interchangeable, such as posts, poppets, lids, PRVs, O-rings, etc.

FWIW, I have 21 kegs, all are ball-lock, all bought used in various conditions for $30-50 each. 5 have an old "Pinlock type" lid with a static PRV valve under a dome. To vent those I just push an open disconnect on the gas post for the same result.
When purging those with the static PRV, it's gas-QD on, gas-QD off / open-QD on, open-QD off (repeat x times).

 

[Sam_92]

I recently bought two pin lock kegs, one is a coke keg (short and wide) and the other is a Cornelius (tall and skinny). In my searching around it's easy to deduct that there are far more aftermarket parts for ball locks but the pin locks seem to usually come cheaper. I like that I can't screw up gas and beer QDs with pin locks.

 

[day_trippr]

Used to be it was a coin toss as to which style keg to buy, but nobody is producing any "aftermarket" fittings for pin lock kegs.
Meanwhile, those crazy Aussies have been cranking out all kinds of ball lock specific couplers 'n' stuff.
Ball locks FTW...

Cheers!

 

[Cheapo]

Thanks everyone, that was AWESOME! You guys know your sh**

 

[TheBluePhantom]

FWIW, I have a few Italian Pepsi kegs that are the shorter variety, ball lock and stamped pepsi so not converted, so the height is variable. I prefer new ones because I don't like dings, and I can get the Old Ale in 5,3,2.5,1.75 gal.

One thing worth noting. If you prefer to do full teardown cleaning the older kegs tend to have the

poppets, which are a lot harder to pull out than the newer style

poppets on the new ball locks I get.

Replacment o rings on the older tend to be the 103,108 etc sizing, I found metric o rings on my newer ones.

 

[IslandLizard]

One thing worth noting. If you prefer to do full teardown cleaning the older kegs tend to have the

poppets, which are a lot harder to pull out than the newer style

poppets on the new ball locks I get.

How do the newer "pyramidical" style poppets work for you?
Have you cut the bottom turn off, to reduce tension?

Prefer them over the old style?
At least the O-ring on it is replaceable.

 

[AlexKay]

I bought my kegs, 30+ ball locks, all new from Adventures in Homebrewing. Compared to new kegs, I saved time on cleaning and didn’t have to worry about any of the seals. Two years in I’m very happy with my decision.

 

[AlexKay]

“Learn to brew your own beer,” they said. “Think of how much money you’ll save,” they said.

 

[tracer bullet]

Adventures in Homebrewing

I've bought a few there as well. Good prices and sometimes free shipping. Over time I've been slowly replacing my old kegs with new ones and I love them. No sealing headaches from bent lips, same size fittings and poppets, one wrench only needed, and so on. Often I like keeping old stuff going, and remembering that when things work they should be kept in use. But the new kegs really are... maybe not nicer but certainly more convenient.

 

[Yesfan]

Another thing with ball locks is the size of the posts. Some need a 7/8" wrench to remove, some with 13/16". Not a huge headache by any means, but with new you have some sort of standard. I've sold most of my kegs as I don't brew as much as I'd like, so I made sure the ones I kept had the same size post on them. One wrench to rule them all.....

 

[Draft Master Flash]

How do the newer "pyramidical" style poppets work for you?
Have you cut the bottom turn off, to reduce tension?

Prefer them over the old style?
At least the O-ring on it is replaceable.

I replaced all my poppets on my used ball lock kegs with the universal type as all other rubber parts to rid the smell of soda. I do notice there is a lot of tension although they do seem to work. Any advice offered on how to cut the springs to reduce tension?

DMF

 

[day_trippr]

Simply snip a ring or two off the broad end...

Cheers!

 

[wetmk]

My first 3 kegs were used pinlocks I bought almost 30 years ago. Maybe 15 years ago a cousin gave me 4 kegs that were in the garage of a house he bought; 3 ball lock, 1 pin. Awhile after that I bought a 1.75 keg, ball lock. So my score is 4 pin, 4 ball. They all work fine.

Recently about a third of the rubber handle on one of my kegs has pulled away from the metal. Anybody have any ideas on what type of adhesive I should use to fix it?

 

[Draft Master Flash]

My first 3 kegs were used pinlocks I bought almost 30 years ago. Maybe 15 years ago a cousin gave me 4 kegs that were in the garage of a house he bought; 3 ball lock, 1 pin. Awhile after that I bought a 1.75 keg, ball lock. So my score is 4 pin, 4 ball. They all work fine.

Recently about a third of the rubber handle on one of my kegs has pulled away from the metal. Anybody have any ideas on what type of adhesive I should use to fix it?

One of my 5 gallon corny kegs I bought intentionally with a broken handle very cheap. I used to be a scuba diving intructor so I had this scuba tank tote laying around that fits around it and works just fine on a corny. You could probably find them on Amazon.

DMF

 

[wsmith1625]

My first 3 kegs were used pinlocks I bought almost 30 years ago. Maybe 15 years ago a cousin gave me 4 kegs that were in the garage of a house he bought; 3 ball lock, 1 pin. Awhile after that I bought a 1.75 keg, ball lock. So my score is 4 pin, 4 ball. They all work fine.

Recently about a third of the rubber handle on one of my kegs has pulled away from the metal. Anybody have any ideas on what type of adhesive I should use to fix it?

3M Black Super Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive, 08008, 5 fl oz Amazon.com: 3M Black Super Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive, 08008, 5 fl oz : Automotive

 

[IslandLizard]

Recently about a third of the rubber handle on one of my kegs has pulled away from the metal. Anybody have any ideas on what type of adhesive I should use to fix it?

I've read Gorilla Glue doing the job. Not sure how well it holds up.
But as with any glue job, the glue needs to be able to bond well to both surfaces, which totally rides on thorough cleaning and surface prep.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

How do the newer "pyramidical" style poppets work for you?
Have you cut the bottom turn off, to reduce tension?

Prefer them over the old style?
At least the O-ring on it is replaceable.

I didn't change out the poppets on the older kegs, I have the old ones with old poppets and new ones with new. Although all the orings on mine have been replaceable but one. On the old pepsi kegs you just rotate the tri leg and there is a slot to take off the legs and the rest pulls apart easily. The only one that didn't disassemble had the rubber cast onto the post. That one I bought a new tri leg poppet.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

That is the other nice thing about new kegs, no oxidized rubber marking everything up.

 

[mashpaddled]

I'd recommend picking one or the other so you only buy one type of fitting. I have pin lock kegs because that's what I started buying so everything is uniform. For a time they were a little cheaper which influenced my decision. Pin lock kegs are no longer made to my knowledge so I assume some day it will get increasingly more difficult to buy fittings and maybe additional kegs.

If I was getting into kegging now I would opt for ball lock. All the new brewing equipment is made for ball lock so the only way I can ever consider buying new gear for kegs is to either buy ball lock kegs specifically for that equipment or convert everything to ball lock.

 

[Spivey24]

On the new ball lock kegs I have bought, the poppets don’t seem to come out like on the old ones. It makes the post easier to screw on but a little worried about cleaning. Is there a way to get them out? I don’t want to force them and break it.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

On the new ball lock kegs I have bought, the poppets don’t seem to come out like on the old ones. It makes the post easier to screw on but a little worried about cleaning. Is there a way to get them out? I don’t want to force them and break it.

pics? or what make? The Old Ale from Adventures just push out. But the orings make them a bit snug.

 

[madscientist451]

I've got both an actually prefer the pin locks. Just seems easier for me to get the plastic coupler seated on the pin locks.

 

[Beermeister32]

I prefer AEB kegs and poppets. These are the Cadillacs in my humble opinion. So much so that I sold off my other kegs and run AEB’s exclusively.