Corny Kegs - Ball or Pin Lock

[myty1705]

Thanks Jaw!!!! I might have gotten lucky and they all are pin style!!!! that might not mean much to you guys that like the ball lock, but here in Texas, and at my LHBS that is what they stock the kits too!!!!:rockin:

 

[Photopilot]

Thanks Jaw!!!! I might have gotten lucky and they all are pin style!!!!:rockin:

Maybe not so lucky. The locks are the preferred ones. I have both styles, actually 3 if you include 2 sanke type cornies. It is a slight pain to work with but you can get a universal end, like this.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_131_575&products_id=1272

Then put on either a ball or pin fitting as needed.

 

[iijakii]

I don't see why people dislike pins. They say it's hard to find parts for them, I've never had an issue. I'd much rather take the cheaper pinlocks than the ball locks.

 

[brewingkitty]

3 years ago when i got into kegging. i had a choice. i like how balls can be snapped on any old way rotationally, and if ya give em a twist to ensure the o-ring isn't welded on they pop right off, and that they are ~4" shorter. prolly cost more simply because of the increased demand. i doubt coke and pepsi didn't each have billions of em!

 

[Photopilot]

I don't see why people dislike pins. They say it's hard to find parts for them, I've never had an issue. I'd much rather take the cheaper pinlocks than the ball locks.

I have never had a problem finding parts but you do have to buy or build a special socket to fit the in/out valves for easy removal.

As far a sizing is concerned being 4" shorter is only important if you have a height issue. The pins are narrower meaning you might be able to squeeze one more into your keezer.

 

[Bruin]

Pepsi used ball locks, Coke used pin locks. I have no problem getting the pinlocks off with a proper sized open end wrench. I was gonna buy the socket with slots to accomodate the pins, but turns out I really didn't need it.

 

[subliminalurge]

I prefer ball-locks for one simple reason. They're smaller in the dimenson that matters. The difference in diameter is enough to make the difference between fitting 3 ball-locks in my fridge, versus only 2 pin-locks. (In my particular setup, I have lots of headroom, so height is fairly irrelevant for me.)

That said, things have apparently changed since this thread started. Ball-locks are in no way easier to find these days. Every homebrew vendor online has pin-locks in stock, but it seems like the majority are either out of stock on ball-locks, or all they have are "converted" ball-locks. Parts for either type seem to be about equally available.

Pin-locks are also considerably cheaper. Even a "converted" keg (Coke keg with ball-lock posts installed) will run you 10 bucks less than a "real" ball-lock.

My kegging setup is all built for ball-locks. I'm ordering a complete pin-lock starter kit for several reasons. First, over the long-haul, it's going to be cheaper to buy a different fridge than to pay the premium on ball-locks for the number of kegs I want to have. Second, I get a spare co2 tank and regulator. And I get some pin-lock QDs. Most importantly, the kit is on sale dirt cheap, too damn cheap to pass up.

Truth be told, I'll probably convert any pin-locks I get over to ball-lock posts eventually, just because I think ball-lock is a superior connector. And I'll have to spend some cash adding pressure realease valves sooner or later. (pin-lock kegs usually don't have a "usable" pressure release. They have a pre-set "safety" release, but there's not ring or lever you can pull to bleed off pressure when you need to....)

Hell, with cornies getting to be in such short supply, maybe I should just suck it up and go with sankeys....... (Actually makes sense if you do 10 gallon batches and look 5 years ahead to when we might have to all pay $130 for brand new 5 gallon cornies...)

I don't envy anyone who is a complete noob to kegging right now. I've been researching this crap for over five years and I'm still confused on what the best way to go is.

Any way you slice it, I think the days of "cheap" cornies is coming to an end. Prices haven't gone up drastically in the last 5 years, but availability has gone drastically down.

 

[EarthBound]

I agree - I've had to switch to buying pin-lock... but I have to say, ******* there's a lot of them out there, so it's all good. I'm pickin them up from Tom's Brewshop in Denver for plenty cheap. I plan on buying more soon only because of paranoia.

I do ten gallon batches, so I suppose I should be using Sanke kegs, but aren't they a PITA? Don't I need some kind of machine to clean them out?

 

[subliminalurge]

I do ten gallon batches, so I suppose I should be using Sanke kegs, but aren't they a PITA? Don't I need some kind of machine to clean them out?

See, that was my original line of thinking, but I just started picking up a few to use as keggles, and it turns out they're not really that much of a pain to deal with. Just pull out the retaining ring, turn the spear so it lines up with the notch, then pull it out.

Sure, it's a smaller opening than a corney, but it's about the same size as a carboy. Just do the usual oxi soak and water rinse, and it should be fine. All you really lose is the peace of mind of being able to see through it, but the oxi has never failed me yet.... Plus you can always get a flashlight and a dental mirror to look inside if you're super paranoid. Plus, they're stainless steel, so you can always just boil a gallon or two of water in them to sanitize if you need to.

And they don't let light in, so you can ferment your hoppy beers completely free from any concerns about skunking.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep collecting cornies, but I also keep a standing ad on craigslist offering to buy sankey kegs, and that ad will stay there for several years, until I run out of space to store them. I have one on hand, I'm picking up another on Friday, so I just need one more to complete my 3 vessel AG brew system. After that, I plan to buy around 8 more to use as fermenters, and then probably 8 more after that to serve from unless I find a killer deal on bulk cornies.

Sankeys are actually really easy to deal with. Much to my surprise, it turns out the biggest problem is getting enough sankey taps at a reasonable price. Once you have those, sankey kegs are actually easier to work with, and more sanitary, than anything else (provided you don't mind burning through some extra co2.... But co2 is cheap, so what the hell....).

If I could just get my hands on enough cheap sankey kegs (and taps), I could easily set up my entire process so that my beer never sees air or light anywhere between the boil kettle and the glass.

A month ago when I had never done anything with a sankey keg other than tap it and choke down the miller lite contained within, I thought they were "mysterious". Now that I bought an empty and have played with it, they're pretty simple. The spear comes out really easy, and if you're a little more bold, you can even take the spear apart and end up with a setup that lets you use a standard carboy-sized stopper to use one as a fermenter...

Hell, I'm done buying glass. From here on out I'm just going to let my craigslist ad ride and pick up sankey kegs whenever I can.

 

[BrewLou]

A month ago when I had never done anything with a sankey keg other than tap it and choke down the miller lite contained within, I thought they were "mysterious". Now that I bought an empty and have played with it, they're pretty simple. The spear comes out really easy, and if you're a little more bold, you can even take the spear apart and end up with a setup that lets you use a standard carboy-sized stopper to use one as a fermenter...

Hell, I'm done buying glass. From here on out I'm just going to let my craigslist ad ride and pick up sankey kegs whenever I can.

Necro time for this thread . I just read this and was curious if there was any way you could take some pics of this and do a quick write up?

I am going to pick up some pin lock kegs tomorrow from my local home brew store. My brother also works for Coke, so I have scouring the centers for any remaining cornies they may have. Depending on his results, I may go the Sankey route as well. I would love to see a write up on the above though... my fiance gets a bit annoyed when I keep bugging her to use her wine fermenter and carboy for my stuff . Anything I can do to utilize equipment that is not hers would bring even more peace into my life lol.

 

[Calman2k]

Sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else. If i'm thinking of the connection correctly, the balls are inside the female side of the connection. Pull the outside sleeve back and the balls retract allowing you to push the fitting over the male side. When you release the sleeve the balls are forced outward, locking the fitting down.

 

[wickman6]

Sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else. If i'm thinking of the connection correctly, the balls are inside the female side of the connection. Pull the outside sleeve back and the balls retract allowing you to push the fitting over the male side. When you release the sleeve the balls are forced outward, locking the fitting down.

Exactly.

 

[stpug]

Maybe this helps?