Extra tall ball lock posts or connectors?

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Hah. Actually what Mac mentioned in I guess post 25, which I mentioned that I would need to buy for the pin lock + adapting post… yeah it might very well work on that ball lock post with flare fitting which I already have. The additional angle might do the trick.

Hopefully it isn’t weak. I’ll go ahead and order it and find out if it gives enough tilt to do the job.

I actually do a ton of work with a machine shop for my day job and yes have thought about a custom ball lock post. They’d probably be $100 a pop, easy. I might still ask at some point.

 

[beren]

thought about a custom ball lock post.

I bet a threaded extender would be far cheaper. Wonder if there’s enough meat left on the post that it can just have threads cut on top. Then screw another post to it

How much room do you have above the keg? Maybe you can make a mini tower to attach to the handles.

 

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I’ve searched but never found a threaded extender. It would be perfect but I don’t think they exist.

I have hmm maybe 10” above the kegs, I’d have to measure (currently out of town). These are 3 gallon kegs, I can fit 5 gallon with about an inch to spare but very rarely use them and will know I’ll have lines and picnic taps when I do.

 

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I mocked up "if I had an adaptor" to add the Nukatap to a standard ball lock post adapter, and I'm sure it'd clear. It tilts the Nukatap back a bit but I could live with it.

I stumbled across something, and I'll have to ping @Bobby_M here to verify - would the following combo, stacked, effectively "raise" my tap up?

This goes onto the keg, after of course I place the dip tube and O-ring: 19/32'' -18 Keg Thread to 1/4'' MFL Male Flare Adapter

Next, this goes on top of it: 1/4'' FFL Female Flare to 19/32'' -18 Keg Post Adapter

Would this act as an extender of sorts, for that keg connection?

That might allow me to carry on as desired. Which is to place this as normal: Liquid Side Ball Lock Keg Post (19/32'' - 18 thread) with Universal Poppet

Where lastly I can place this:

 

[mac_1103]

This goes onto the keg, after of course I place the dip tube and O-ring: 19/32'' -18 Keg Thread to 1/4'' MFL Male Flare Adapter

You know, I scoured Brewhardware.com several times while following this thread but somehow missed that part.

I think it should work, but I'm not sure exactly how much height it will add. Don't forget the flare washer.

 

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Good point, I'd need to order 1 to try before I order a couple more. If Bobby has a moment and sees this he might be able to guesstimate how much higher the combo would be. I'll also have to actually measure what I'm hoping for to compare.

 

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And an alternative, also mostly from Bobby:

This: Female 19/32 (corny keg thread) to 1/4'' Male NPT Adapter

Next something like this in between: McMaster-Carr

And lastly: NPT Male, 1/4'' to Keg Post Adapter 19/32'' -18 Thread

 

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Height needed. I'd bet that.4" would do, just over 3/8 of course. Half inch 1/2 would be certain to do it.

Hmm sorry about the pic size - not sure how to shrink it.

 

[mac_1103]

Didn't realize you were that close. If a half an inch will definitely do it, then what you describe in #34 should add more than enough height.

 

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I think so too. I don't want to pester Bobby for piddly little stuff like this but I do hope he might see it and take a quick look. I'm ready to buy a few sets!

 

[beren]

And an alternative, also mostly from Bobby:

This: Female 19/32 (corny keg thread) to 1/4'' Male NPT Adapter

Next something like this in between: McMaster-Carr

And lastly: NPT Male, 1/4'' to Keg Post Adapter 19/32'' -18 Thread

Great find!

 

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I ordered a couple each of the smaller ones. Fingers crossed.

 

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Got the parts, but I'm not thrilled with them.

1) It's a non standard O-ring for dip tubes. I can get over this fact, but will have to figure out what size it is and order some. I tried the normal O-rings for this area and they are much too big.
2) My posts bottom out, metal to metal, before the O-ring comes into play. I think I'll try sanding down the bottom of the posts to "shorten" them and get the O-ring to do its job. But I shouldn't need to go through this work.

There was actually an "extra" O-ring, black, on them when they arrived, not shown in the picture on the website. I thought it might be a bonus O-ring for the post itself, but it's too thin. I also thought it might be another way, or perhaps "the" way to create a seal, but don't really think so. There would b no reason then for the orange one, and also when the post is screwed on it just makes this additional O-ring squirm out of the way and not seal anyhow. Not sure what that's about. Yet.

 

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I knocked my posts down just a touch in height, chucked them on a lathe and hit them just enough at the bottom (where the flats are) to give some daylight between them and the adapter itself. The idea was to allow the post to go on far enough that the O-ring would do it's job.

I'm not sure that will be the case, though - the stainless part of the adapter above the O-ring hits the inside of the post now, and I don't think the O-ring is actually accomplishing a seal. Sigh.

BrewHardware did contact me and suggested to leave the additional O-ring in place. I will give that another go soon, last time it squirmed around but I can try some keg lube. And actually now that I shortened up the posts a bit, they're actually flatter on the bottom as well. Might stay in place this time.

 

[beren]

I knocked my posts down just a touch in height, chucked them on a lathe and hit them just enough at the bottom (where the flats are) to give some daylight between them and the adapter itself. The idea was to allow the post to go on far enough that the O-ring would do it's job.

I'm not sure that will be the case, though - the stainless part of the adapter above the O-ring hits the inside of the post now, and I don't think the O-ring is actually accomplishing a seal. Sigh.

BrewHardware did contact me and suggested to leave the additional O-ring in place. I will give that another go soon, last time it squirmed around but I can try some keg lube. And actually now that I shortened up the posts a bit, they're actually flatter on the bottom as well. Might stay in place this time.

So they leak? The o-ring on the new piece works different than a normal post and you still need the dip tube for that seal…

 

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... you still need the dip tube for that seal…

Right. The dip tube sits under the adapter that converts from 19/32 to FFL. The O-ring on the dip tube gets smushed down, spreads out, and makes a seal with that fitting. So far, so good.

Then you put a little plastic flare washer on, and the next fitting (with the orange O-ring) converts it back to 19/32. Still sealing and still working well.

Next you put the standard keg post on. But that metal lip around the fitting with the orange O-ring) collides with the post itself and you get a metal-to-metal seal there. The orange O-ring sits underneath, not actually doing anything. I didn't actually put everything on the keg, that kind of seal is historically not good so I stopped for the moment to see what I might be missing. Maybe that adapter is intended for a different keg post, shaped differently inside? I shouldn't have needed to cut the post down either, also maybe indicating a different post is intended. I started to wonder if it was for the "Firestone" kegs, the posts that have the wide, skinny area for the wrench, but I think those are different threads (very similar but different, and hmm I can't be 100% sure this particular fitting doesn't actually have those threads).

I'm sort of documenting the work in a way, at this point I'm ready to give up. I may raise the keg a half foot and have the taps sitting one over top of the other, there should still be room to get a glass in there. Or have a tap on one keg and the other with classical tubing.

 

[beren]

Did you ever contact Bobby? The item page says it works with the keg posts they sell. I know there’s multiple different styles of posts maybe you have the wrong one. Also that’s not a dip tube so it Would be unlikely to use a dip tube O-ring.

 

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I did, the reply was to use the 2nd o-ring as a backup plan. It would probably work, almost certainly, but I wasn't thrilled with how the O-rings squirmed and wrinkled and generally not using the fittings as they were designed.

I have considered getting posts from there, I did see differences in the ones I have. I was going to write and see what his posts looked like, but didn't want to bug him too much. Also I may have found another solution which is to not have the taps poke out between the 2 handles, but finagle them to actually just manage to fit *over* a handle. I'd need to add a picture for that. If it works, I'm done, and don't have to bug him nor buy any more parts. I still need to try it and see.

For the posts, see below. The left side post hits the new adapter fitting, and the o-ring at the top doesn't seal to the post. The right side post is shaped perfectly for it that new adapter. And yeah if he's got posts like the right side in stock, I do bet it works. I'd assumed a post was a post, pin locks excluded of course, but - I guess not. Different times, companies, sellers, etc. - different products.

Eh since I have paint up, here's the idea for skipping this altogether. The tap seems that it can be rotated so that it actually just fits over the handle, if lined up just right.

 

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I've ordered some fittings from BrewHardware, great customer service! I did propose this question and got a reply right away that their fittings are more like the right side of the picture, that could actually make use of the fitting in the way the fitting was intended. I'd imagine that this kind of keg post is the "right way" to do it. I can see where it makes more sense with the standard dip tube arrangement, to have that little bit of vertical wall contacting the O-ring. If things look good with the new fittings (I got one of each, gas and liquid) I'll order a bunch more and possibly ditch the cheap stuff I have now that's threaded up to the very end.

Even though I'd still swap and upgrade (in my eyes) the posts, it turns out I may no longer care about this little project. There is a 2nd spot that the taps will fit, they barely make it but do actually work like this.

 

[beren]

Always the way. Finally get a solution and it’s moot.

 

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A couple posts up, #48 it seems, I had the picture of the bad and good posts. The bad ones are similar from a variety of sources, Amazon but also others (I don't recall which specifically any more). The style on the right is what Brew Hardware sells. They are better. Even if you aren't trying to use an adapter like I was which kicked this all off, you'd still benefit from checking out your posts. 1) A flat in this section will help get a better seal against the dip tube O-ring than does being fully threaded all the way to the end. And 2) Their particular fittings are just a tiny bit shorter than some others, and so this means they don't bottom out on the surface of the keg, leading you to think that you have compressed the dip tube O-ring when really you barely actually have at all. This latter point may be keg dependent - some old 5 gallons I have are fine but some 3 gallons have this issue.

I'll be getting more of these posts from BrewHardware. It may open me up to using this adapter fitting after all, but it'll definitely help me solve some minor random leaks I had never understood until now.

I'll try the adapters again, even though I managed a way without them, I would still like the 2 taps to come to the middle of the open space between the kegs, it'll be easier to fill a glass.

 

[mac_1103]

A couple posts up, #48 it seems, I had the picture of the bad and good posts. The bad ones are similar from a variety of sources, Amazon but also others (I don't recall which specifically any more).

I've got a few of the bad ones that I bought long before I realized that "universal" posts aren't really universal at all. I've had mixed results with doubling up the dip tube o-rings. But after looking at you pictures I'm wondering if putting the second o-ring on top of the dip tube might work better.