crash course in USED keg buying sought!

[Zymurgrafi]

Hey folks.

Might be buying some used corny kegs really soon (tomorrow) and I have no keg buying experience!

I think I asked good questions from what I have read. Guy said they hold pressure and the seals are good...

What else should I look at/need to know to make sure I am not buying a load of crap?

He wants $25 each which seems decent. My local LHBS sold them for that until recently now they are $32 (I was kicking myself when I discovered that) each. Any words of wisdom/caution?

Also, He has a dual gauge regulator he wants $50 for. I realize a new one ain't too much more than that (least what i have seen online) but it would be nice to get if it is any good I suppose. How can I know if it is working or in good shape?


Man, I don't have the money to spare really but, this has been the best shot I have seen and I guess I am jumpin at the bit so to speak...

Help me out. Or talk me out of it... (I know that won't happen)


If this pans out I'll be in hell. Cause I'll have everything but the gas...

And Merriam Graves is just down the hill from me too!

 

[EdWort]

Call Todd at www.kegconnection.com and you will be happy.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Call Todd at www.kegconnection.com and you will be happy.

Yah their prices are good, but it is the shipping that does it. This deal would be no shipping involved, in fact he will bring them over.

 

[Beerrific]

$25 is a good deal if it saves you shipping. If the gaskets and poppets are good and don't smell of soda then that is a good deal. If it turns out all that is bad I would probably cost you less than $10 per keg to replace.

$50 for a dual gauge regulator is OK. You could probably get one online for less but not much less including shipping. See if you can talk him down on that, tell you can get a new one for that price.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Oh, should have mentioned. He was using them for homebrew also. Though he said he already sold the ones he used primarily. These were his reserves that did not get much use.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

$25 is a good deal if it saves you shipping. If the gaskets and poppets are good and don't smell of soda then that is a good deal. If it turns out all that is bad I would probably cost you less than $10 per keg to replace.

$50 for a dual gauge regulator is OK. You could probably get one online for less but not much less including shipping. See if you can talk him down on that, tell you can get a new one for that price.

So, what do you think. Offer $30 for the regulator?

 

[Zymurgrafi]

well, siging off for the night. Please folks, keep the advice coming. I will check in the a.m. hopefully before I buy?!


Help!

 

[Beerrific]

So, what do you think. Offer $30 for the regulator?

I think $30 is reasonable.

 

[uuurang]

If you wanna go pin-lock route, I managed to pick up some nice kegs 2 weeks ago from bevconbob on ebay for $20 shipped. ClickHere

 

[skou]

The problem with Coke kegs, is they don't usually have pressure relief valves. Those ones have pressure safety valves, but you can't pull a ring and release the pressure, like Pepsi kegs do. (Yes, the lids are somewhat universal, and if you can find some pepsi lids...)

steve

 

[ScubaSteve]

If you wanna go pin-lock route, I managed to pick up some nice kegs 2 weeks ago from bevconbob on ebay for $20 shipped. ClickHere

IMHO, pin-lock is like buying a cassete instead of a CD. You're gonna have trouble finding all the parts, etc. because they're kinda dwindling in supply/availability.

 

[Jaybird]

IMHO, pin-lock is like buying a cassete instead of a CD. You're gonna have trouble finding all the parts, etc. because they're kinda dwindling in supply/availability.

and a PITA to deal with in HMO
25$ is a good price I have brought kegs back from the dead for less than 10$ in parts so that being said is 32$ from your LHBS worth it? if there rebuilt? maybe so and your supporting your LHBS and thats a good thing
JJ

 

[kinison_fan]

Though most folks get the Ball lock, Pin lock are not a pain to use. I recently got 5 off of CL for $12 each.
No problem getting parts-they are right next to the ball lock parts at the LHBS or online.
No Pressure relief valve?-push down on the gas poppet-it relieves gas.

One big advantage-You can not cross fittings-2 pin on the gas, 3 pin on the liquid, no way to mix them up.

 

[Bobby_M]

Pinlocks are not the "cassettes" of the homebrew kegging world. That analogy suggests they have some kind of inferiority in their use. They're the marginalized minority sure, but they're viable. I wouldn't go out of my way to select them by any means, but if your source has pinlocks, that's where you go. I could have dropped $250 for 10 ball locks locally or MUCH LESS for a whole pickup bed's worth of pinlocks. They all hold pressure and about 60% had manual pressure reliefs in the lid.

That said, if I had equal access to either type, I WOULD go ball lock because of the popularity and availability. If you wanted to suddenly double your number of kegs, you'd have a better chance of finding ball locks and you certainly don't want to mix and match.

 

[olllllo]

Make sure it doesn't leak and make sure he's not covering up by putting 90 psi into it.

Vent it, reseat the hatch and have him hit it with 10 psi. Then check for leaks,

 

[drunkatuw]

Not sure if you can wait, but I have a feeling brewersdiscount.com is going to have a good sale in the next few weeks. I bought 3 ball lock kegs (refurbished) from them a few months ago for around $30 shipped.

Their site says that they are on a buying trip to China, so hopefully they stock up and will have another sale like they had a few months ago where they sold 2 kegs for $32.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Make sure it doesn't leak and make sure he's not covering up by putting 90 psi into it.

Vent it, reseat the hatch and have him hit it with 10 psi. Then check for leaks,

Could you elaborate? Covering what up? I am completely clueless. I believe they are ball lock from the sound of it. I forgot to ask. He said they are presuurized and you can hear gas escape if you press the relief valve...

So, I am getting a lot of mixed info here. Sounds like $25 each is too much? Is that what folks are saying? He is going to bring them to town in a couple of hours so I guess I'll just have to wing it and hope for the best...

 

[olllllo]

A leaky keg can sometimes be masked by overpressurizing it. Normal use range would be 30 - 40 psi for soda, typically 10-15 for beer.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

A leaky keg can sometimes be masked by overpressurizing it. Normal use range would be 30 - 40 psi for soda, typically 10-15 for beer.

Hmmm. Well I do not think I will have any way of knowing that. He does not have a CO2 tank, nor do I. There are about 7 of them. I guess I would have to attach the regulator to each to test what pressure they are at?

This is starting to sound iffy I guess. The guy is selling all his brew equipment so I would like to believe he isn't selling crap but what do I know about kegs?

Oh, and I guess one more piece of info he gave that may be pertinant. He said he acquired most of these as "payment" from bars when they could not afford to pay him (he is a musician) so I suppose they aren't really "legal"

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Okay, so let me see. Let's say worst case scenario. I buy them and he has overpressureized them to cover the fact that they leak. Are they useless and I just blew a bunch of money? Or is it just a matter of replacing some parts?

 

[eriktlupus]

usually just gasket/ring replacement will get em up and running
i say go for it
my lhbs sells em for 25. bell's of kalamazoo

 

[Bobby_M]

In my opinion, they're worth about $20 each and you should get a deal if you buy all 7. The regulator, if it's in good shape, is worth $30. Any more than that and you might as well get a high end Micromatic (new) for a few bucks more.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

Well, I figured I would offer around $175 for all 7 plus the regulator. That would figuring about $20 each and $30 for the reg.

 

[abracadabra]

here's a couple of things I didn't see mentioned

What kind of pressure relief valves are they? Firestone made some out of plastic and the plastic cracks and replacement parts are hard or impossible to find.

What type of lids? are they the standard oval or the more seldom seen racetrack?

Also the price would be less if they are single handle vs dual handle

 

[uuurang]

The problem with Coke kegs, is they don't usually have pressure relief valves. Those ones have pressure safety valves, but you can't pull a ring and release the pressure, like Pepsi kegs do. (Yes, the lids are somewhat universal, and if you can find some pepsi lids...)

steve

Bevconbob sold there's with pull-style vent lids, the good kind. I did pick up 4

pin-lock kegs from homebrew shop in ohio which had no pressure relief valves, just 2

with safety valves. Found a homebrew shop strange brew, IIRC, that sold keg lids

with pull style valves for reasonable price and replaced them.

Where there's a will, there is a way.