Low Budget Taps

[greywolf]

I upgraded my old keezer with a taller collar. Now fits 6 pinlocks. Room for a storage shelf inside. I built permanent bases for some picnis taps out of 1/2" cpvc fittings.
1 You will need some of these. ^* cents at Home Depot.
.
2. Drill 1/2" hole thru back.

3.Paint em. I used carbon black.

4. Trim the tap so that it looks like this. I used a utility knife to score it and snapped it off.

5. Carve a small notch in the fitting. This keeps the tap from rotating in the fitting.

6. It goes together like this.

7. Drill !/2" hole in collar, attach beer line and mount em up.

8. Looks like this when finished.

So far, the friction of the line thru the collar is holding them in place. Could always glue them in , but, I wanted to be able to easily replace them. The are just cheap picnis taps after all.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Well... you can't argue with results. Very good creative solution.

 

[greywolf]

Some bling would have been nice. For about 4 bucks each I'm OK with them.



A real upgrade is coming someday.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

How do you know what's what?

 

[Redpappy]

how did you attach your lines to your taps? are you able to pull your taps out and change them? I like the idea.... it defiantly beats lifting a lid every time for a pour.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Thats, erm...., pretty......

 

[day_trippr]

I think that's a clever idea! It appears the beer lines simply connect to the picnic faucets in the standard fashion with the pvc bits holding the works in place.

Cheers!

 

[greywolf]

I just heated the lines in boiling water and pushed them on. 3/16 lines. I can pull them out if needed and change them. They work great. I jammed some slivers of cedar shims in the back to hold the lines a little firmer. Not enough to deform to lines. My friends really like the upgrade. They can pour one without opening the lid. I should get less condensation, too. They wouldn't know the difference or be impressed by the shiny chrome anyway.

 

[greywolf]

Just poured one.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I've been struggling all through this health crisis to justify outfitting my keezer with four taps, acquiring them one-by-one, since each one ends up costing about $100 with shank, faucet, fittings, etc. and now I feel foolish. You have come up with an easy, awesome and cheap way to have it all. And that is a purrrty pour.

 

[greywolf]

yeah, I wanted the bling too ,but , can't justify it right now. Function wins this time. Its nice when the cheaper solution works out.

 

[DVCNick]

Definitely high points for creativity and major cost effectiveness, but (and maybe this is unfounded?) how much pressure is the picnic tap designed to hold, and for how long? I'd have visions of getting out of bed in the morning someday and finding a nice keg full of beer soaking into the floor.

I'm sure many others here have been much further down this road than I, but I recently got the full Intertap kit mostly because I wanted the ball lock and growler filler attachments, but also my Perlick faucet has been getting a little finicky lately and needed a certain amount of pressure to ensure it would stay closed. The cheaper Intertap, at least at this juncture when it is new, has a much more positive open and close, and that is without the spring even in it, which is on standby if ever needed. I think including shank you can get into the basic unit for 50 bucks or maybe slightly more if you need a longer shank.
Definitely more money, but still a lot less than $100/each also, and based on my limited experience with it so far, a better overall product than the Perlick in addition to being cheaper.

 

[greywolf]

They are fine with serving pressure. I unhook them if force carbing. Been using them loose in the keezer for years with no issues.

 

[BarryBrews]

Been using them loose in the keezer for years with no issues.

I'm dreading the day when a picnic tap gets pinched by the closing door and my next pour is a scoop! The design seems unlikely to fail otherwise, but I have replaced a bunch where the trigger lever pivot spike things have bent.

Has anyone ever lost a keg of beer to a failed picnic tap?

 

[day_trippr]

Has anyone ever lost a keg of beer to a failed picnic tap?

Yup. "As Seen On HBT" over the years I've seen kegs fill keezer bottoms and floors in front of fridges with puddles.
So there's that...

Cheers!

 

[bracconiere]

Has anyone ever lost a keg of beer to a failed picnic tap?

no...i have lost kegs to failed poppets though, thankfully i use a fridge for my kegs, and the crisper drawers catch it when it does happen....it's been a long time, though. not really since i learned to replace my poppets.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

Lost one to a bad ball lock connector (off brand), but never lost any to a bad picnic tap. When mine break it is the pins on the handle. but it stays sealed. I have read multiple stories about family pets pulling a standard faucet. And I also use these with soda, at 25 psi. That is probably about the practical limit though, when I pressure tested the crimps I noticed they lift off just above 40 psi.

 

[CaptMogul]

Had two lifetime Perlicks, leaking all the time. New o rings one day leaking the next. Sent them back to Perlick for their opinion, have never heard back from them. Shxt backup.

 

[bkboiler]

If the beer comes out and tastes good, then you've achieved your result. Well done sir!