Intertap beer faucets

[augiedoggy]

Perlicks may be made in china but the production and quality on the intertaps is far worse. (I think mine were made in Taiwan ? but I can't remember)

intertap, left perlick525ss right by glamisduner, on Flickr
perlick on the right.

intertap by glamisduner, on Flickr
Rough casting on the interior and rough threads on the intertap.

2016-09-11_07-30-58 by glamisduner, on Flickr
Splines are not machined on the intertap (right). This allowed them to spin on the shanks while I tightened them (had to hold the faucet to keep the splines from slipping while tightening)


I almost think the stainless intertaps are chrome dipped instead of polished, The threads almost appear to have a poor plating job on them and the inside was rough compared to the perlick. I had to remove all the (shavings) from the ruffly machined threads after breaking them down. If you do get intertaps, be sure to take them fully apart to remove the left over metal shavings before using them.

The perlick flow controls I picked up to replace the intertaps, reek of sulfer after soaking in starsan. They have their own issues! Going to try the Passivization Cook on them and sounds like it will solve my problems (Still ridiculous but hopefully fixable). No stout option though, other than a dedicated faucet (Hey I guess I'll just go with that).

unless they are stainless you dont want to soak them in starsan from Ive been told. I dont mean to sound skeptical but is it possible the complaints you have of the intertaps are either not common problems or are something that most would work around by holding the faucet while tightening? Its just that after reading this thread and all the people loving them your the only one I rememeber see who returned them.... everyone else seems to like them better than their perlicks. I know we all have different expectations and some are more particular than others, I understand that.

I dont expect the inside of my taps to be a work of art but they do have to function the way they were designed to. the tpas I have now will spin when tightening as well so I hold them vertical when doing so... they also stick terribly and thats my complaint with them.

 

[Justintoxicated]

unless they are stainless you dont want to soak them in starsan from Ive been told. I dont mean to sound skeptical but is it possible the complaints you have of the intertaps are either not common problems or are something that most would work around by holding the faucet while tightening? Its just that after reading this thread and all the people loving them your the only one I rememeber see who returned them.... everyone else seems to like them better than their perlicks. I know we all have different expectations and some are more particular than others, I understand that.

I dont expect the inside of my taps to be a work of art but they do have to function the way they were designed to. the tpas I have now will spin when tightening as well so I hold them vertical when doing so... they also stick terribly and thats my complaint with them.

Yea my perlicks are stainless. My soak was not for a long length of time, just dropped them in to sanatize them before installing. The sulfur problem is a known issues and I think perlicks intends to fix it in the future. Currently I have some homemade LaCroix on one of them and I have to dump the first couple oz on every fill because it smells strongly of sulfur. Not too happy with these either! But hoping to fix them this weekend. The Intertaps beat Perlick hands down here, they had no sulfur smell at all!

I'm not the only one who has returned them, but I did speak to Williams brewing rep hoping that mine were exceptions and just from a bad batch. I was going to have them replaced. He told me that they all had similar splines and suggested I not get the same thing if I was not happy with them. He suggested I might be happier with the perlicks. He told me that the faucets I returned could not spin on the splines, even cut the way they were, but I certainly have no reason to make things up!
Williams brewing had great customer service BTW.

I Mention the inside of the intertaps because they are supposed to be polished and deliver a beautiful laminar flow but I found my flow control version had a ruff, choppy and turbulent flow in comparison to the pearls (note my flow control 650ss are not as bad as intertaps but still not as laminar as my 525ss unless flow is restricted). Maybe it's just an issue with the flow control version IDK...

The spline thing bugged me, but if you don't care about that they should treat you well. Just the machining on them felt low quality and cheap to me. When I thread things together I like a nice smooth action not a ruff coarse connection, I hate working with cheap low cost hardware and threads on anything. Like a nice well machined flashlight, vs something you pickup for a buck at harbor freight.

I also thought they should have put the o-ring on the nozzels, instead of having to stick the o-ring into the faucet then try to thread on the nozzel without pinching it etc. Or at least captured it in the faucet so it wouldn't just fall out when removing the spout. One more thing to lose or worry about with the current design.

Good luck with your decisions and if you do get them, post some pictures to verify or disprove my findings! I had a very small sample of only 2!

 

[tootal]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attach...nt.php?attachmentid=371857&stc=1&d=1475171700


Here's a couple of shots of the last of the Vent-matics. You can see the machined teeth and the smooth bore along with the nice threads. True quality. Truly a shame they are defunct. It seems that they could find a used CNC Lathe and build a holding fixture and mass produce them at a reasonable cost. They would need a supplier for the castings though, which may have been the problem. With a CNC mill they might have been able to make billet ones! That would have been cool. Might not look as slick but to me the machining would have made it look more Modern. Might be a fun project to make my own billet faucet. Hmmm...

 

[Justintoxicated]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attach...nt.php?attachmentid=371857&stc=1&d=1475171700


Here's a couple of shots of the last of the Vent-matics. You can see the machined teeth and the smooth bore along with the nice threads. True quality. Truly a shame they are defunct. It seems that they could find a used CNC Lathe and build a holding fixture and mass produce them at a reasonable cost. They would need a supplier for the castings though, which may have been the problem. With a CNC mill they might have been able to make billet ones! That would have been cool. Might not look as slick but to me the machining would have made it look more Modern. Might be a fun project to make my own billet faucet. Hmmm...

Beautiful! The O-ring is on the spout too, instead of going between the spout and faucet

 

[user 204491]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attach...nt.php?attachmentid=371857&stc=1&d=1475171700


Here's a couple of shots of the last of the Vent-matics. You can see the machined teeth and the smooth bore along with the nice threads. True quality. Truly a shame they are defunct. It seems that they could find a used CNC Lathe and build a holding fixture and mass produce them at a reasonable cost. They would need a supplier for the castings though, which may have been the problem. With a CNC mill they might have been able to make billet ones! That would have been cool. Might not look as slick but to me the machining would have made it look more Modern. Might be a fun project to make my own billet faucet. Hmmm...

I don't see Ultra-Flo V under the Vent-matic name on your faucets. The last Ventmatics look like this:

Unless they changed something right at the very end. My 6 were delivered right before they stopped answering email and their site went down.

 

[augiedoggy]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attach...nt.php?attachmentid=371857&stc=1&d=1475171700


Here's a couple of shots of the last of the Vent-matics. You can see the machined teeth and the smooth bore along with the nice threads. True quality. Truly a shame they are defunct. It seems that they could find a used CNC Lathe and build a holding fixture and mass produce them at a reasonable cost. They would need a supplier for the castings though, which may have been the problem. With a CNC mill they might have been able to make billet ones! That would have been cool. Might not look as slick but to me the machining would have made it look more Modern. Might be a fun project to make my own billet faucet. Hmmm...

my understanding was perlick shut them down for violating patents or was that another company?

 

[tootal]

I don't see Ultra-Flo V under the Vent-matic name on your faucets. The last Ventmatics look like this:

Unless they changed something right at the very end. My 6 were delivered right before they stopped answering email and their site went down.

Very interesting! Just curious, does the upper seal have a heavy orange o-ring seal on the bottom with a teflon bushing on top of the ball and then a black o-ring that puts pressure on the teflon bushing on top? Mine looks exactly like yours without the Ultra-Flo V stamp. Even the flats on the tap handle nut are the same.

 

[tootal]

I did just see a difference, you have the wire brushed finish or satin finish, whatever they called it. Mine are polished. That's all I can see different. Would like to know if the internals are the same.

 

[user 204491]

my understanding was perlick shut them down for violating patents or was that another company?

There's a lot of history on Vent-Matics, patents, and who sued who in this thread.

It's probably not worth re-hashing at this point.

 

[user 204491]

I did just see a difference, you have the wire brushed finish or satin finish, whatever they called it. Mine are polished. That's all I can see different. Would like to know if the internals are the same.

Keen eye, you are correct. I did order the "full brushed" option.

So carry on!

Unfortunately I've not taken mine apart, so I can't answer the question on the internals.

Edited to say I thought I'd found a photo that matched yours, but it was the opposite, it said Ultra-Flow, but not Ventmatic.

Having a hard time tracking down any other photos.

 

[tootal]

The Ultra Flow ones might have been the ones CHI was selling. I had one and should have kept it but I threw it away so who knows. Oh well, I'm glad I got the ones I did. I have one working and will be finishing the project sometime this Winter. Thanks for the info!

 

[user 204491]

Yeah, I could not be happier with the 6 I got. They just feel and behave like quality products.

I was waiting forever to replace the Perlicks on my kegerators at work, but when it looked like Vent-Matic was gone for good I pulled the trigger on 4 of the Intertaps.

They're very nice, I like them better than the Perlicks, but they are not as high quality as the Vent-Matics were.

 

[okiedog]

Well, my beer tubing and clothes pin faucets work just fine. No patent issues, and they're cheap too! Just joking. Sometimes I'd sure like to simplify things, though.

 

[imasickboy]

So I've had my Intertaps since January, (bought them the first time Williams had them, before someone whined about possible patent issues). I've had zero issues with the stainless, non-flow control faucets. No leaks, no flow problems, nothing undesirable to report at all.

I finally decided to get the springs. I piggybacked a friend's order, and got them. He dropped them off today. I was shocked at their appearance. They are MUCH larger than I expected. They measured 2.38 inches long. I couldn't imagine that they would fit. But they did. They squeezed in nicely. (Non-Intertap shanks, BTW.)

The end result is self closing taps that snap shut quickly. I think it's well worth the $2 per tap for these.

In addition, while I had my faucets off, I looked at the interior surfaces, and didn't see any of the ****ty casting or machining that some people have experienced with theirs.

 

[Justintoxicated]

So I've had my Intertaps since January, (bought them the first time Williams had them, before someone whined about possible patent issues). I've had zero issues with the stainless, non-flow control faucets. No leaks, no flow problems, nothing undesirable to report at all.

I finally decided to get the springs. I piggybacked a friend's order, and got them. He dropped them off today. I was shocked at their appearance. They are MUCH larger than I expected. They measured 2.38 inches long. I couldn't imagine that they would fit. But they did. They squeezed in nicely. (Non-Intertap shanks, BTW.)

The end result is self closing taps that snap shut quickly. I think it's well worth the $2 per tap for these.

In addition, while I had my faucets off, I looked at the interior surfaces, and didn't see any of the ****ty casting or machining that some people have experienced with theirs.

They didn't look like the pictures I posted? Of course mine were flow controls, so maybe different? What did the splines look like? I'm happy they are working for you!

 

[BBBF]

So... There's an ball lock post adapter. I can't really see why I'd want one, but maybe one of you can think of something.

http://kegking.com.au/keg-couplers-and-keg-disconnects/taps/intertap-liquid-ball-lock-spout.html

 

[Justintoxicated]

So... There's an ball lock post adapter. I can't really see why I'd want one, but maybe one of you can think of something.

http://kegking.com.au/keg-couplers-and-keg-disconnects/taps/intertap-liquid-ball-lock-spout.html

For Linking Faucets together for cleaning?

 

[day_trippr]

Wow.
They tell you why you need one right on that page.
They didn't think of the cleaning potential, though (as awkward as it would seem to be )

Cheers!

 

[imasickboy]

Nothing awkward about it at all. Screw one into all but your last faucet. Hook liquid line from a keg of cleaner to your first faucet, and hook subsequent liquid lines to the prior faucet. A bucket goes under the last faucet to catch the waste. Open all the faucets, and let the lines clean themselves.

And forgot to answer this one:

What did the splines look like?

I honestly don't know. I forgot about those issues, and didn't even think to look at mine when I had them off. I can say mine didn't spin either time I've attached them.

 

[day_trippr]

Nothing awkward about it at all. Screw one into all but your last faucet. Hook liquid line from a keg of cleaner to your first faucet, and hook subsequent liquid lines to the prior faucet. A bucket goes under the last faucet to catch the waste. Open all the faucets, and let the lines clean themselves.[...]

Right. Try that with a keezer.

Anyway, while it might have made sense, think about actually pumping a cleaning solution through a daisy-chain of, say, six faucets, each with line length tuned to produce a gentle flow with let's say ~12 psi behind it.

70 feet of 3/16" ID beer line is hella restrictive.
I doubt more than a dribble would come out the discharge end...

Cheers!

 

[imasickboy]

Good point. I was thinking about my three faucets, not your six. You would certainly need to crank the CO2 for that many.

 

[milldoggy]

I daisy chain 4, runs decent with an 1/8hp pump
Over 100ft of 1/4 barrier tubing with a 10 ft vertical rise

 

[k1ngl1ves]

So... There's an ball lock post adapter. I can't really see why I'd want one, but maybe one of you can think of something.

http://kegking.com.au/keg-couplers-and-keg-disconnects/taps/intertap-liquid-ball-lock-spout.html

I like this. Now I don't need 12 feet of line for my beer gun, because I'll be using the regular serving line.


I can probably find it on ali express for half the price too. Time to start the search...

 

[day_trippr]

I daisy chain 4, runs decent with an 1/8hp pump
Over 100ft of 1/4 barrier tubing with a 10 ft vertical rise

fwiw, 1/4" tubing is 4x less restrictive than 3/16" (which is clearly why you're using it )
You'd need to run ~280 feet to have the same restriction as my ~70'...

Cheers!

 

[WI_Wino]

I like this. Now I don't need 12 feet of line for my beer gun, because I'll be using the regular serving line.


I can probably find it on ali express for half the price too. Time to start the search...

Be sure to post back if you find some. I didn't find any with some quick searching.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

Be sure to post back if you find some. I didn't find any with some quick searching.

Yeah, it appears no one has it yet. As soon as I find a good price for it, I'll definitely post back here...

 

[augiedoggy]

I like this. Now I don't need 12 feet of line for my beer gun, because I'll be using the regular serving line.


I can probably find it on ali express for half the price too. Time to start the search...

when I looked last these taps werent on there so I doubt adapters with the correct threads will be. strange because most of keg kings stuff is on there like the keg king beergun I bought which works well now that I know how to use it.

 

[milldoggy]

fwiw, 1/4" tubing is 4x less restrictive than 3/16" (which is clearly why you're using it )
You'd need to run ~280 feet to have the same restriction as my ~70'...

Cheers!

Understand, my elevation and distance is my reason for 1/4.

 

[BBBF]

I like this. Now I don't need 12 feet of line for my beer gun, because I'll be using the regular serving line.


I can probably find it on ali express for half the price too. Time to start the search...

And you can quickly shut off the faucet when the beergun stopper falls off.

 

[augiedoggy]

And you can quickly shut off the faucet when the beergun stopper falls off.

only if you have the old version of the beergun... The new blichmann beerguns are identical to the kegking guns that have been out for a while... only with the Blichmann price and name on the box