Firestone poppets - not all the same???

[tonymark]

I picked up some poppets for my old Firestone kegs at my LHBS yesterday and I went to use them today and they do not fit. My kegs are Firestone Steel Products Spartenburg, SC. 5 GALLON MODEL F.

Here is what my old poppets look like. Where can I get replacements? What are they called?

 

[LLBeanJ]

That looks like a old Firestone pin-lock poppet. Austin Homebrew has them...

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_40_271_560&products_id=10016

 

[tonymark]

I looked at a few more of my kegs and 2 have Hoover Universal Dyersburg, TN. What are those? I have one keg from an ex-brewer friend that just has embossed "Property of Coca-Cola". Most of the post have "Hansen" engraved on them. All these kegs were acquired in the early 1990's if that helps. I have one keg that the poppets will not remove even with a lot of force. What poppets would that be? Can they be replaced?

Thanks

 

[zman]

why not just get some universal ones? http://www.bvrgelements.com/product/Universal-Poppet/

 

[tonymark]

I have been tempted by those, but it seems that there exist a proper poppet for the kegs I have. Have you used these? Have you used these with my type of keg? I hesitate when I read this on NB website:
"Note that since it is a universal part, it will be easier to use on some keg designs than others. It is not ideal as a complete replacement of a missing part, but it is great for temporary fixes."

 

[thargrav]

I have been tempted by those, but it seems that there exist a proper poppet for the kegs I have. Have you used these? Have you used these with my type of keg? I hesitate when I read this on NB website:
"Note that since it is a universal part, it will be easier to use on some keg designs than others. It is not ideal as a complete replacement of a missing part, but it is great for temporary fixes."

Most homebrewers don't realize that except for the poppets AEB is manufacturing in Italy for their own kegs, all original poppets for sale are new-old-stock and none have been manufactured for many years. This means that the original replacement poppet valves being sold by homebrew shops across the country may be just as old as the poppet valves you want to replace! And rubber & plastic parts age with time as well as with use. In many cases you would be better off with universal replacements because the rubber seals on the universal replacements are new.

And BTW, don't blame the homebrew shops - they don't know any better - they are just selling replacement parts.

 

[Cbaddad]

Check out midwest brewing. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/searchspring/result/?cat=&q=Poppets

I got some for mine from them. I actually grabbed a couple of each design to have on hand. I have 10 cornies of various styles. I figured if I was paying shipping, might as well grab a couple of each.
Regarding your keg, my buddy had the same thing and the LHBS sold him a universal. It worked but not well. It was a tight fit and very hard to snap on and off. He came over to my place and swapped it out from my collection. Forget which one we ended up using. I think it was the yellow spartenburg one. Can never have too many extra keg parts. Good luck

 

[TwoGunz]

The universal ones seem to have two different manufacturers. If you look at the pics online some have more coils and are therefore longer. I bought a bunch of the longer ones because I liked that they had true o-rings that could be replaced and the seal is much stronger. I ended up not being able to use them in conjunction with a few of my quick connects though because they wouldn't push in enough. Its too bad because I felt more comfortable with then knowing my keg wasn't going to leak

 

[E-Mursed]

First thing I do when I buy a used keg is replace all the gaskets...and then I swap out the poppets with a new set of universals.

Universals have better springs and gaskets.
I have never had a poppet failure when using a universal poppet.

 

[Cbaddad]

TwoGunz: yeah, that was how my friend's was. Couldn't push the QDs down. I am sure they are good to have on hand in a pinch.