Intertap beer faucets

Williams 728
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okiedog said:
I'd really like to see pictures of the different set ups you guys have for daisy chaining and cleaning your tap lines.
Click to expand...

I do have one Intertap, but currently run four Perlick 425s in my setup. Maybe being an owner of one Intertap will count. ;) Here's a pic of my cleaning setup.

Tap%20Cleaner%2001_zpssypgz0lf.jpg




I had a spare 3 port manifold, so that's what I use. A whole lot better than the old pump sprayer mod I had doing one tap at a time. After seeing Day_trippr's PVC manifold, I may consider an upgrade, especially if I decide to upgrade to a 5-6 tap tower.
 
Lookin' Good, Yesfan. Thanks for the pics. How do you like the pour from the Intertaps compared to the Perlicks? I've heard that the Perlick 425s are a lot like the Vent-Matics, and some people say they like them better than the 525s.
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I think Ethanol is often more than 1% of the hobby. (My 2 C)
 
okiedog said:
Lookin' Good, Yesfan. Thanks for the pics. How do you like the pour from the Intertaps compared to the Perlicks? I've heard that the Perlick 425s are a lot like the Vent-Matics, and some people say they like them better than the 525s.....
Click to expand...



I've not used the Intertap yet. I bought mine to use as a stout faucet. I do have the the regular tip to it, so I plan on using it for the next beer that gets kegged as it will be a while before I can get a nitro setup going.


I've had both 525 and 425. My 525s never leaked. I like the screw on tip of the 425s, so I bought a set of them used to replace the 525.
 
Got my new Intertaps.
2016-09-07_10-55-05 by glamisduner, on Flickr

The perlick 630 growler filling feels like it fits perfectly! Chose this over the intertap version since it uses smaller tubing.

new intertap by glamisduner, on Flickr

Got excited to try the stout attachment so I tossed it on my stout :) Stout was at 12psi with 12 foot line, I was using my secondary regulator to carb up some IPA, and did not put the stout back on at a lower pressure. I got tons of foam out of the tap no matter what I set the flow control to, but thats probably due to the high carbonation.

Unfortunately my dry Stout Keg blew (of course it did I finally have a stout tap!), so I'll have to test again later. I guess I know what I am brewing next!

The quality seems pretty good, but they are much more beastly than my Perlick 525ss's, they are not quite as pretty but not bad either, and the pull off them is a bit scratchy in comparison (maybe they will wear in?) I got excited and just hooked the one up, should I lube some O-rings up?

As far as drips I have no comment yet, the stout tap was full of foam and dripped allot, I can say that they stick out farther than my perlicks especially with the stout nozzel, my drip tray was just barley catching the drips (but it still catches them).

I thought the flow control worked great, but I have 12 foot lines already, still nice to be able to slow down the flow a bit more

How can I tell if they are stainless? They are supposed to be stainless but the look plated to me, at least on the outside, the cast area looks like stainless though so they must be stainless right? They do attract a hard drive magnet, but so do my SS perlicks.

I took them apart and snapped a few more pics if anyone is interested in seeing them let me know.

All in all they seem nice, but not quite as nice as my perlicks in terms of quality. The perlicks are stainless and look like stainless, it almost looks like the Intertaps are chrome plated stainless to me which is weird. Almost like instead of polishing them they get them close enough then dip them in chrome...perlicks are certainly smoothed better before the final process, they are more refined in every way.

Some of the casting inside the intertap is not polished but raw cast right after the sealing mechanism, the polished part of the interior is not perlick smooth either, and since the anvil inside has to slide along the non-perfectly polished inside this create the slight bit of grind I was feeling.

Perlicks float inside so they operate very smooth.

The forward sealing mechanism might be better, but honestly I'm not fully convinced that it's a major improveent, and it does have it's downsides as well. There's allot more nylon parts in the intertap than my 525s (none) and the intertap bonnect seals at the top like the perlick 630 instead of on an oring on top of the bearing cup. Not sure if this is better or worse but I read the 630's were a downgrade in this regard? Or is that how perlick fixed the leak problem, because I don't see much else as far as changes?

The perlick sulfer smell problem would still make me gravitate towards these for flow controls, even if they don't all suffer from it! (Who wants to gamble with their money? Why hasn't perlick fixed this!) I doubt the finish inside is really going to make a drastic difference, plus with these I can change the spout. :)

If you don't need to change spouts, or use the flow control, then I think the perlick 630's might be better. (MIGHT BE) they will at least look and operate smoother.
 
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update. I cannot for the life of me seem to get a decent pour out of my intertaps with flow control. Lots of glasses of foam. I moved my IPA over to the intertap since I was re-vamping my keezer and well, it was pouring perfect with my 525 perlick. 3/4" head in a 12 oz pour.

With the intertap I'm getting nothing but foam, no matter how I set the flow control. However it seems if I set it to free flow I end up with less foam.

Maybe someone can give me some tips cause as of right now I am not pleased with it at all. Flow control is worthless if your only controlling the flow of foam.

Also, I replaced all my lines today, while pushing PBW and star-san though them and letting my taps pour into a bucket, I noticed the perlicks have a nice consistent round stream while the intertaps stream was all over the place, like comparing your sink faucet pour with the screen on, vs removing the faucet screen. I'm just thinking the design may be flawed for the flow control. I'm going to call Williams brewing and see what they say. I don't know if they will let me return them or not.

Not very happy right now...

12PSI, 12 foot line, + intertap flow control =
intertap foam! by glamisduner, on Flickr

5 th tap added by glamisduner, on Flickr

Are you guys having issues like this with your non-flow control intertaps?
 
You said you just replaced the lines
When I put new lines in I had foam for a week or so till they "broke in"
And that was before the intertaps
Maybe it's something simple like that
 
I don't have the flow controls but with 10ft. lines I have zero issues... Sorry - probably not much help. :-(
 
After reading several posts about balancing serving lines, I realized that I hadn't given it much thought. It would be nice to have different beer styles carbed at their appropriate level, while still getting a good pour at the faucet. I had considered adding a couple of secondary regulators. It would be nice to have 2 or 3 different CO2 settings for different beer styles. But then, I suppose having flow control faucets would limit need.
 
lawless317 said:
You said you just replaced the lines
When I put new lines in I had foam for a week or so till they "broke in"
And that was before the intertaps
Maybe it's something simple like that
Click to expand...

I did not change the IPA line yesterday, I had changed that one a couple weeks ago,and no foam from my perlick 525SS.

I think it is due to the huge amount of turbulence I get when I pour.

"The Intertap SS model is polished 304 stainless steel with a smooth bore to aid a completely laminar flow and foam free dispensing of beer." Hah!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pecScHVShs0[/ame]

My pours do not look like that, neither does the stream coming out of the tap. Maybe I need to use 20 foot lines with flow control intertaps? Kind of defeats the purpose in having them doesn't it?
 
I can't speak for the flow control faucets, because I have the regular ones, but I have zero problems with my pours.

There is a difference between a flow control intertap and a regular perlick, so maybe expecting them to pour identically with the same lines and pressures is just not going to happen. I'm sure if provided with the right combination of variables, the intertap would work just as you wanted. :mug:
 
imasickboy said:
I can't speak for the flow control faucets, because I have the regular ones, but I have zero problems with my pours.

There is a difference between a flow control intertap and a regular perlick, so maybe expecting them to pour identically with the same lines and pressures is just not going to happen. I'm sure if provided with the right combination of variables, the intertap would work just as you wanted. :mug:
Click to expand...

Should I go longer on the tubing then? Say 20 ft? Or should I shorten it up, maybe 8 feet? When pushing cleaner out the perlicks the stream was smooth and consistent even when I had the keg at over 30 PSI, with the intertaps it didn't smooth out until the cleaner was at a trickle, my guess would be around 5 psi. I think the flow control mechanism is creating the turbulence in the pours but I don't have a regular intertap to compare it with. Maybe I'll try sending them back for the regular version. (if they will take them) Otherwise I'm not sure I want to gamble again and will replace them with perlick 630s.

I wanted to like this more than my perlicks, I mean I just dropped a few hundred dollars into this rebhuild... I bought my perlicks, then soon after the flaw was discovered in the 525ss's and perlick would not replace them with the 630ss or do anything really, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. But after trying the flow control intertaps, my perlicks are night and day better than my flow control intertaps! I have gotten better pours from cheap $10 faucets.

hopefully someone else has these taps, but I'd hate to see others with the same issues later on so my suggestion would be to stray away from them for now.

Then again, maybe there is something wrong with mine. I will try swapping it to my other intertap faucet, and will also take it apart later today to see if I can find something wrong with it.
 
Justintoxicated said:
Should I go longer on the tubing then? Say 20 ft? Or should I shorten it up, maybe 8 feet? When pushing cleaner out the perlicks the stream was smooth and consistent even when I had the keg at over 30 PSI, with the intertaps it didn't smooth out until the cleaner was at a trickle, my guess would be around 5 psi. I think the flow control mechanism is creating the turbulence in the pours but I don't have a regular intertap to compare it with. Maybe I'll try sending them back for the regular version. (if they will take them) Otherwise I'm not sure I want to gamble again and will replace them with perlick 630s.

I wanted to like this more than my perlicks, I mean I just dropped a few hundred dollars into this rebhuild... I bought my perlicks, then soon after the flaw was discovered in the 525ss's and perlick would not replace them with the 630ss or do anything really, so that kinda rubbed me the wrong way. But after trying the flow control intertaps, my perlicks are night and day better than my flow control intertaps! I have gotten better pours from cheap $10 faucets.

hopefully someone else has these taps, but I'd hate to see others with the same issues later on so my suggestion would be to stray away from them for now.
Click to expand...

I don't know what's happening for you. I actually installed shorter lines with my flow control intertaps, and have no issues. All 4 of my lines are between 4' and 5' of 3/16" ID tubing. They all used to be 10.5' at 12psi when I used Perlick 525's.

I get great pours every time once adjusted.
 
Ok so to eliminate the problem of it just being a defective tap....
Flow control number 2 tested. This is a new 13 foot line, and new CMB ball lock connector. I dumped the first 4 oz of foam to ensure no starsan etc was in the line and the tap was cold etc. This is then the pour that resulted with the flow control on it's lowest setting:

intertap flow control test by glamisduner, on Flickr

Here is a pour from the tap opened up all the way. This pour was immediately after the low setting pour.
intertap flow control test by glamisduner, on Flickr

Both of my flow controls taps are working equally as poorly...
 
I have three regs for 6 taps
And one for carbing in another fridge
Funny part is all regs are set the same right now
 
Do you have all of the rings? Two of my three were missing part 13 in the linked drawing. This caused beer to flow into the flow knob and made lots of foam. Also, did you apply lube to all of the rings? Lube not only lubricates, it helps seal as well.

I ended up getting similar rings from granger, but they are a hair small. Works better, but I will be trying again with slightly thicker rings.

http://www.intertap.beer/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Intertap-8633.pdf
 
Justintoxicated said:
Ok so to eliminate the problem of it just being a defective tap....
Flow control number 2 tested. This is a new 13 foot line, and new CMB ball lock connector. I dumped the first 4 oz of foam to ensure no starsan etc was in the line and the tap was cold etc. This is then the pour that resulted with the flow control on it's lowest setting:

intertap flow control test by glamisduner, on Flickr

Here is a pour from the tap opened up all the way. This pour was immediately after the low setting pour.
intertap flow control test by glamisduner, on Flickr

Both of my flow controls taps are working equally as poorly...
Click to expand...

That's crazy. If I turn the flow control to all the way to the up (or down) flow stops entirely. That's for all 4 of my intertaps.

Something's amiss. You're missing parts probably...

Gotta love China!
 
okiedog said:
Justintoxicated, what is your psi? You have 3/16 ID lines?
Click to expand...
12psi
yes 3/16th"
I have tried both 12 and 13 foot lines so far, I might try a 20 but then I'll be dumping nearly the first 4 oz every time I grab a beer. I was hoping to reduce line length with flow controls and maybe get some better tubing.

I'm going to go pull the tap off and take apart he flow control to check for that O-ring, thanks for the link and idea skatz!
 
So I took one of the taps apart, lots of metal shavings along the bonnet washer, and inside the flow control. I did have the #13 o-ring. I have noticed while installing and uninstalling these taps that you have to hold the tap or else it will rotate on the shank, The splines are not cut correctly and there is enough play in them to let the tap slip while tensioning.

I cleaned everything up on the one and lubed all the o-rings but I was still getting crazy foam. However this time I pulled the line up and noticed theres air/gas in the line as well, so now I'm thinking the problem is something else. I replaced the o-ring on the keg post but no dice. Perhaps the beer is frozen in the keg? It could be since I had the lid up such a long time yesterday while working on the keezer. I have had this happen once or twice before, and I believe the result is sucking up air in the line and excessive foam.

My other taps are currently a cider and blackberry sage mead, so they would not be great candidates for testing. I think I'll pull the keg and check it for ice, and postpone further testing.

Pic of some of the shavings:
2016-09-11_07-30-07 by glamisduner, on Flickr

Should I be worried about these splines being done so poorly?
2016-09-11_07-30-58 by glamisduner, on Flickr

Perlick is on the left for comparison.

Everything is screaming lack of quality to me. From the metal shavings, to the ruff threads, to the improperly cut splines.

k1ngl1ves said:
That's crazy. If I turn the flow control to all the way to the up (or down) flow stops entirely. That's for all 4 of my intertaps.

Something's amiss. You're missing parts probably...

Gotta love China!
Click to expand...

both of mine still have a slow trickle of beer which closed off as much as possible.
 
Sounds like you got a bad batch. Williams has great customer service - give them a call in the morning.
 
Checked the keg for ice and didn't find anything inside it that was icy. I did find my faucet leaking at the connection to the shank.

So now my faucet will not attach to the shank without leaking, I tried 3 times and it seems to leak no matter what... I had to disconnect it. I think I'm going to see if I can return everything. I have a feeling the faucet damaged the splines on my shank too when it rotated due to the crappy splines on the faucet.

I'm so tired of dealing with these I would't recommend them to anyone at this point...

Going to contact Williams brewing tomorrow, and I already contacted keg king, hopefully williams brewing can help. Maybe I'll buy a dedicated stout faucet and some perlick 630's, order some new shanks and call everything done.

Anyone have an intertap handy that can double check for me if the splines are supposed to be this shallow by design?

I really think something is up with my beer that is causing the foam, but i'm still not happy that my intertap stripped/rounded out my new shank's splines because the splines on the intertap are not deep enough. They seem like a great design with shoddy execution. If this is normal I'm going to go back to perlick, but if mine are just defective I think I'll try to have them replaced first.
 
mintyice said:
I have 6ft lines with fc without pouring issues on properly carbed beer.
Click to expand...

I think what happened is I over carbed my beer (Keg was getting frozen so the lower temp helped witht hat), and when I lowered the serving pressure to 12 PSI I think the CO2 started coming out of the beer solution. Usually this does not happen but I don't know what else could cause it. I ended up putting the keg back on the perlick for now so I will pour a taster when I get home tonight. Although at this point it's not a great test...

I still want to return my intertaps because the splines are so loose on the shank. How are the splines on yours? Do they look the same as my picture?
 
I have 9 12 and 15 foot lines on my setup
2 lines per regulator
And they are all currently set to 9 and pour great but they pour perfectly on my two intertaps
I will be getting four more
 
Justintoxitated... I'm 'glad' it's not just me... I have 3 flow control Intertaps and while they work okay with regular carbed beers (i.e. 1.5-2.5 vols), mine are awful with anything above that. All I get is foam... I've tried all sorts of things and I'm pretty much convinced now that it's the faucets. I'll know for sure when I replace one of them with a Perlick FC on my one tap that's carbed at 3 vols. I'll report back at the weekend.
 
Justintoxicated said:
I think what happened is I over carbed my beer (Keg was getting frozen so the lower temp helped witht hat), and when I lowered the serving pressure to 12 PSI I think the CO2 started coming out of the beer solution. Usually this does not happen but I don't know what else could cause it. I ended up putting the keg back on the perlick for now so I will pour a taster when I get home tonight. Although at this point it's not a great test...

I still want to return my intertaps because the splines are so loose on the shank. How are the splines on yours? Do they look the same as my picture?
Click to expand...

I'll check next time I take them apart to clean the lines.
 
I returned everything to Williams Brewing and hope to hear back from them soon, hopefully it's just a bad batch, or maybe I should stick with the non flow controls. My beer still seems foamy out of the perlick but not as bad, but I'm convinced that part of the problem (at least as far as foam) was the beer (something must have happened while working on the keezer). I'm worried about the splines being bad if I get another set of intertap flow control or even the standard faucets. But if I start buying new perlicks, I'll end up wanting to replace all my 525s so they will match lol. Completely different faucets is ok, but 90% the same will bug me even more hah. I guess perlick 650's might work for me although I worry about the sulfur thing, and I would need to buy a dedicated stout faucet as well (which wouldn't be so bad I guess)

Looks like tapright makes a decent all stainless stout faucet.
 
I'll prolly be selling my stout faucet soon
Seeing that I don't like stouts and I have the intertaps if I develop a taste for them
 
Justintoxicated said:
I returned everything to Williams Brewing and hope to hear back from them soon, hopefully it's just a bad batch, or maybe I should stick with the non flow controls. My beer still seems foamy out of the perlick but not as bad, but I'm convinced that part of the problem (at least as far as foam) was the beer (something must have happened while working on the keezer). I'm worried about the splines being bad if I get another set of intertap flow control or even the standard faucets. But if I start buying new perlicks, I'll end up wanting to replace all my 525s so they will match lol. Completely different faucets is ok, but 90% the same will bug me even more hah. I guess perlick 650's might work for me although I worry about the sulfur thing, and I would need to buy a dedicated stout faucet as well (which wouldn't be so bad I guess)

Looks like tapright makes a decent all stainless stout faucet.
Click to expand...

How many more 525s do you need? I have two and one flow of that series that I have replaced with intertap faucets. Just sitting in a drawer.
 
Dolomieu said:
How many more 525s do you need? I have two and one flow of that series that I have replaced with intertap faucets. Just sitting in a drawer.
Click to expand...

Just need one really to have all matching. How much do ya want it's stainless right? Am I crazy for getting another 525ss?

Williams said there was nothing wrong with my intertaps, and the splines are the same on all of the ones they have. They also said once screwed in the tap will not rotate on the shank, but I know for a fact it could because I tested it right before I put it in the box, heck even the splines were rounded on one of the shanks from when I installed it and it rotated. They did admit they had some play on the shanks though. So there is that. I doubt they tested for leaks, and I couldn't find anything wrong when examining the one tap either, but it sure did leak even when screwed down all the way... Their support was good though, I'm getting a full refund. I'm still torn on trying them again, but I'm not happy about the splines or metal shavings. Perlick quality just seems superior for me, but I wish they had the intertap modularity and design.

Not sure what to do now, I think I might just have to stick with perlicks because my experiences with intertaps is that they are made pretty poorly and apparently they all have loose cast splines (which for most people I guess, is not that big pf a deal, heck the 400 series perlicks has cast splines too, but and maybe the new ones but at least the new ones look machined).. I really want a good set of intertaps though, the design is better, but the implementation of that design was just isn't carried out to the level I wish it was :(

Maybe I should order a couple perlick 650ss's? I liked the idea of slowing the flow for growler fills still, I'd just have to buy a separate stout faucet, but that might be a good idea anyways...

Maybe I'm just too picky, it's just a faucet right? I guess I take beer too seriously.

lawless317 said:
I'll prolly be selling my stout faucet soon
Seeing that I don't like stouts and I have the intertaps if I develop a taste for them
Click to expand...

Which faucet is it that you want to sell?
 
I replaced my FC Intertaps with my old non-FC Perlicks last night and didn't really see much difference with the foaming on my big Tripel... There's air or CO2 getting in the line somewhere and I really need to figure out where but at least I know it's not the taps. That being said, I will likely put up my FC intertaps for sale as I like the Perlicks better and haven't found a use yet for the nozzle attachments (growler filler is too big and I don't have a nitro tank anymore to make use of the stout nozzle).
 
jmark said:
I replaced my FC Intertaps with my old non-FC Perlicks last night and didn't really see much difference with the foaming on my big Tripel... There's air or CO2 getting in the line somewhere and I really need to figure out where but at least I know it's not the taps. That being said, I will likely put up my FC intertaps for sale as I like the Perlicks better and haven't found a use yet for the nozzle attachments (growler filler is too big and I don't have a nitro tank anymore to make use of the stout nozzle).
Click to expand...

Yea the one thing I thought was great about the intertap flow control and stout nozzel combo. Going back to pearls, I'll have to change both the line to something like 22ft and the faucet. where as with the intertap, in theory, all I would need to do is screw on the stout nozzel.

Makes me think maybe I should just order one again and deal with the splines being loose, but for the rest go with perlicks? I dunno...I seem to be the only person having problems with getting a smooth flow and noticing the loose splines...
 
My taps (all of them) will rotate a bit on the shank if I don't have the nut on the inside of the tower cranked down really quite hard... is that maybe your issue? I know it's a stupid question, but sometimes the obvious never gets asked?
 
lawless317 said:
I agree with jmark
I monster tightened them from the start
Click to expand...

I agree too, but after the splines get rounded it won't matter, the splines are just not cut very well, but tightening the sh** out of them helps. I just don't think you should have to hold the tap while tightening to prevent slip and I shouldn't have to over-tighten either.

I mean I would really have to crank them down hard to the point where having no splines wouldn't even matter. Maybe if I put an extension on my collar wrench it would be easier, but then once the threads bottom the whole shank assembly thing just rotates anyways if you turn hard enough, unless you also monster tighten the nut. I know from messing with my intertaps lol.

Thing is my 525ss's don't have this problem, I just slip them on the shank and snug up the collar and done!
 
Not sure we're talking about the same things... I'm talking about the nut INSIDE the tower, not the bit on the outside that you screw the faucet into. If I don't have that really tight, the whole shank assembly including the tap rotates.
 
jmark said:
Not sure we're talking about the same things... I'm talking about the nut INSIDE the tower, not the bit on the outside that you screw the faucet into. If I don't have that really tight, the whole shank assembly including the tap rotates.
Click to expand...

Your right, I was talking about my faucets rotating on the sank itself due to the loose splines rounding out when it slipped while I was tightening it. after comparing it to my perlick I could see the splines were not machined, and were too short. Now one of my intertaps would only slip a bit before fully tightened but the other one turned and after installing it and uninstalling it a few times the threads on my shank were screwed up due to the slippage. I was also no longer able to get a good seal on that faucet for some reason and it leaked where the rear rubber washer is supposed to seal. Could be something happened due to the other issues I guess.


I posted a picture of the spline difference on the previous page. Now technically I guess the splines are not all that important, and the keg to faucet adapters don't even have splines on them, but still it's the quality overall and the splines were just one example. I still feel like the intertaps are just chromed instead of polished stainless. Like they chrome the stainless because it cheaper than machining and polishing. But the threads, splines, interior etc did not have the finish of a perlic. The ruff cast potion of the intertap in by the bend looked like unfinished stainless though.

Anyways, just ordered a couple some 650SS to try out. They have their own issues I guess, and the whole flow control (so I don't have to change my lines, and tap for a stout on beer gas) is out the window now. Thank goodness for 12cent a foot line on amazon and dedicated stout taps. :)
 

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