Kegland Flow Control Keg Ball Locks?

[JustusLiebig]

I would have thought there would be some discussion around the forums about these, but I was unable to find them so...
What do people think of them? They look to have a lot of pros over FC faucets.

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/-Ke...-Ball-Lock-Threaded-P4747.aspx?ItemId=9413255

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

I recently changed to them on my 3 tap kegerator and love them.

For various reason the setup i have in my kegerator uses 1/4" line - so i needed like 40 feet of line to balance the system. That worked fine for about 2 years, but it meant a lot of beer was in the lines, and i had foaming every once in a while due to dirty lines.

Cleaning or replacing the lines fixed the foaming, but clearly 40 foot lines cost more to replace than say 2 ft.

Which brings me to the FC ball locks - i changed to them and now use 2 foot lines, which is so short that rather than clean i just replace (have not had to yet).

There is no ore balancing needed, each keg can be set individually - if needed that is - i have them all about the same.

They are a good thing in my experience - oh and i also have intertap FC taps, they worked OK for fine balancing with the previosu setup (40ft lines) but using just the intertap FC taps i tried 2 ft lines and there's no way that works. The ball lock FC fittings talke about head pressure and why FC is better at the keg end than the tap end - i don;t really understand it but it works.

 

[JustusLiebig]

I recently changed to them on my 3 tap kegerator and love them.

For various reason the setup i have in my kegerator uses 1/4" line - so i needed like 40 feet of line to balance the system. That worked fine for about 2 years, but it meant a lot of beer was in the lines, and i had foaming every once in a while due to dirty lines.

Cleaning or replacing the lines fixed the foaming, but clearly 40 foot lines cost more to replace than say 2 ft.

Which brings me to the FC ball locks - i changed to them and now use 2 foot lines, which is so short that rather than clean i just replace (have not had to yet).

There is no ore balancing needed, each keg can be set individually - if needed that is - i have them all about the same.

They are a good thing in my experience - oh and i also have intertap FC taps, they worked OK for fine balancing with the previosu setup (40ft lines) but using just the intertap FC taps i tried 2 ft lines and there's no way that works. The ball lock FC fittings talke about head pressure and why FC is better at the keg end than the tap end - i don;t really understand it but it works.

This is what Iw as thinking. Glad to hear a testimonial. Kegland states that the FC faucets are at room temperature, thereby adding more thermal mass with a FC makes your beer warm up and CO2 is less soluble in warmer solutions, while the ball locks are chilled. From what I understand, the ball locks still cause turbulence, but if I were to guess, I'd say that causing more turbulence has less of a CO2 scrubbing affect because of the higher pressure at the ball lock keeps the CO2 in solution, whereas there is nothing holding it in solution at the tap.

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

.........the FC faucets are at room temperature, thereby adding more thermal mass with a FC makes your beer warm up and CO2 is less soluble in warmer solutions.......

Oh i should mention, i have the "normal" issue of the first pour having more foam (but not unmanageable) than the rest for this reason, the first pour cools the faucet. That has not changed between the FC and normal ball locks though and i wouldn't expect it to.

I'll tell you a funny extra advantage i have found too - if i want to pour while the keg is force carbing at higher than serving pressure, i just turn the FC ball lock down a bit. works great.

And another thing - the first one i tried i had high hopes and then thought i had been sucked in or something, because it foamed at any setting. Turned out i had a leaky o ring on that keg! So if you disturb your setup in order to fit these, bear in mind you may disturb something else so don't blame these straight away.

 

[h22lude]

I have one but yet to use it. I bought it to get samples from my pressurized keg during fermentation.

Is down closed and up all the way open?

Oh i should mention, i have the "normal" issue of the first pour having more foam (but not unmanageable) than the rest for this reason, the first pour cools the faucet. That has not changed between the FC and normal ball locks though and i wouldn;t expect it to.

My guess is that foam is coming from the beer that was in sitting in the line. If you had a cold empty line, you might not get any foam.

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

Is down closed and up all the way open?

Yes indeed.

My guess is that foam is coming from the beer that was in sitting in the line. If you had a cold empty line, you might not get any foam.

I thought it would be the ware tap body, either way, there's not much to do about it - how do you have an empty line between pours, or how do you pre cool a kegerator (not tower) tap? It's a small amount of foam, it's not a problem.

 

[day_trippr]

Obviously, one won't have a chilled, empty line often. And I'm not sure that would make any positive difference, as the issue actually is the relative warmth of the big hunk of metal called a faucet (and to a lesser extent, the shank it's screwed to)...

Cheers!

 

[SanPancho]

So you can put a faucet right on the ball lock and dial the flow to serve properly?

I wish i new what the video says, there was no sound. Seems like you can pour right from the keg with a faucet tho, yes?

 

[kiwipen]

I'm curious about the inside, can someone please take some pictures of it and its individual parts?

 

[JustusLiebig]

So you can put a faucet right on the ball lock and dial the flow to serve properly?

I wish i new what the video says, there was no sound. Seems like you can pour right from the keg with a faucet tho, yes?

From what I've seen on around you'll still need about 2' of line.

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

From what I've seen on around you'll still need about 2' of line.

I just tried this out since I had the spare parts - it works, but is quite sensitive on the adjustment. Oddly, just a foot and a half or more of 1/4" line helps a lot and makes the adjustment a lot less sensitive, I can get from fast (<10sec) to slow (>20sec) pours with no foam but with no line I had to get the adjustment of the FC ball lock just right. So it's possible, but fiddly with no line.

 

[pocketmon]

I'm curious about the inside, can someone please take some pictures of it and its individual parts?

I just got one and am preparing to clean.

 

[JustusLiebig]

Yep, definitely ordering a full set of these as soon as the new tower comes in!
One of the other benefits is that I can get regular SS perlicks with room for a return spring! Also, guests won't fiddle with the side FC arm or require a short lesson before pouring.

 

[pocketmon]

They are a good thing in my experience - oh and i also have intertap FC taps, they worked OK for fine balancing with the previosu setup (40ft lines) but using just the intertap FC taps i tried 2 ft lines and there's no way that works. The ball lock FC fittings talke about head pressure and why FC is better at the keg end than the tap end - i don;t really understand it but it works.

Image running water through a garden hose. You can pinch/squeeze the middle or the outlet of the hose to reduce the flow, but you will get different result. Try it if you don't know what I am talking about.

 

[helterscelter]

I replaced all of my ball lock connectors with these. I got tired of goofing with my intertap flow control faucets. These things work great.

Only issue I have is that they are touchy. And sharp as f#ck inside. I cut the crap out of myself on the threads inside.

I have 4 on my keezer with 20ft lines, and I have 2 on my jockeybox with 2ft lines. I can dial both in very easily. You do have to deal with warm faucets causing foam but that usually works it's way out quickly.

I would have thought there would be some discussion around the forums about these, but I was unable to find them so...
What do people think of them? They look to have a lot of pros over FC faucets.

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/-Ke...-Ball-Lock-Threaded-P4747.aspx?ItemId=9413255

 

[day_trippr]

I think I can see why the flow rate with these adjustable QDs can be touchy: that compensator is quite small, certainly when compared to that on a Perlick FC faucet (and maybe the Intertap FC as well, don't know much about those). There's not a lot of taper to play with...

Cheers!

 

[Nagorg]

FWIW, I do not have flow control anything and my ~10 ft 3/16 lines have always seemed perfect with my Perlick 630SS faucets. Pretty much set and forget; no fiddling. Yes, initial foam until the faucet cools but good to go from there.

 

[day_trippr]

I also have relied on proper line length with my six pack of first gen 525ss faucets - along with an "anti-stratification fan" and a tower cooler - to provide reliable pours from my keezer. But I recognize there are other potential solutions...

Cheers!

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

Agree with nagorg and day_trippr - the correct line setup means these are not needed.

As I mentioned above, in my case the kegerator hardware I have is all 1/4” fittings so these mean I don’t need 40 feet of line x 3 taps!

When I did have that setup, I never had an issue - these things mean for very little money I can change the lines to a more reasonable length and still pour nicely.

They are a good tool to have available but not a necessity for everyone.

 

[JustusLiebig]

I'm not sure what the range of adjustability is on the fellas, so I'm wondering what a healthy length of hose should be. If I'm using accuflex ultra, anybody recommend a safe length to cut my lines with the FC ball locks?

 

[johngg123]

I'm not sure what the range of adjustability is on the fellas, so I'm wondering what a healthy length of hose should be. If I'm using accuflex ultra, anybody recommend a safe length to cut my lines with the FC ball locks?

The only way to know is for someone here to start with around 15’ and report back. I’d suggest push fit fittings so you can test and trim from there. I’m using bev seal ultra. Same same.

 

[AnotherKiwiBrewer]

The only way to know is for someone here to start with around 15’ and report back. I’d suggest push fit fittings so you can test and trim from there. I’m using bev seal ultra. Same same.

See further up the thread - 0 feet works but is touchy to adjust, 2 feet of vinyl 1/4” which is basically no resistance (maybe 1.5 psi) works fine for me and of course you need some line anyway to get from the keg to tap in a kegerator.

 

[Laphroaig]

Seems like there may be some variation to these things.
With a tap directly on the dang thing, and full open, mine trickled out. I ground down the flare fitting so that I could open it up further.. now granted, this comes with the risk of potentially some dude unscrewing it all the way and causing a beer shower, but at least my beer pours at a decent rate now.

 

[SanPancho]

Seems like there may be some variation to these things.
With a tap directly on the dang thing, and full open, mine trickled out. I ground down the flare fitting so that I could open it up further.. now granted, this comes with the risk of potentially some dude unscrewing it all the way and causing a beer shower, but at least my beer pours at a decent rate now.

Share a pic?

 

[Laphroaig]

Share a pic?

 

[LittleRiver]

...They look to have a lot of pros over FC faucets...

That would depend on the application. For normal day to day serving from my keezer, I want my flow control adjustment at the faucet. No way would I want to have to open the lid to adjust flow.

For the first pour I will often throttle down the flow control for the first couple of ounces into the glass. That cools the faucet without excess foaming in the glass. For the rest of the pour I will open up the flow. This works really well. After a pour I completely shut off the flow control as an insurance policy against my cat bumping a tap handle when I'm not there.

Regarding the argument that flow control faucets have more mass so they cool down more slowly, I'd have to see some test results before I'd make too much of that argument. I'm sure there is a difference, but I'm skeptical that it's enough to make any practical impact. The argument seems to be predicated on the assumption that the entire mass of the faucet (including things like the flow control lever) must be chilled before it will make a good pour. That's not a good assumption.

I could see ball lock flow controls being very handy for certain applications. I may get one to have on hand for adjusting the flow to a picnic tap, when taking a small keg to an party, etc. But for day to day use I want the flow control at the faucet.

 

[day_trippr]

I agree if flow control is desired it's handier to be at the faucet than the keg, but there are some towers that aren't amenable to FC faucets due to too tight spacing (mostly t-towers). As well, an FC compensator is a small hunk of metal compared to the net mass of the typical faucet, I doubt it's a significant contributor to break-out...

Cheers!

 

[odie]

These would be great if you are always changing beers styles. Serving at different pressures. say going from a stout to a hefe on the same tap.

wish I had seen these before I ordered new EVA barrier and fittings to balance my system

 

[mikekng]

Message deleted.

 

[doogie]

Seems like there may be some variation to these things.
With a tap directly on the dang thing, and full open, mine trickled out. I ground down the flare fitting so that I could open it up further.. now granted, this comes with the risk of potentially some dude unscrewing it all the way and causing a beer shower, but at least my beer pours at a decent rate now.

I'm not quite that bad, but with it fully open at 30 psi and 2' of hose I get a 1/8" stream at best, I guess I'll try grinding it down too. Thanks! Any tips/cautions?