Mystery Perlick Faucet - Help Identify

[Cogswell]

I got a Perlick T-tower that has six of these faucets. The tower was salvaged from a bar that went out of business.

I attempted to identify the tower on the Perlick website but didn't find an exact match. I suspect the tower is very old. Same with the faucets.

This faucet came straight off the tower so please excuse the filth. Don't want to bother cleaning until I know rebuild kits are available and that the faucet isn't junk.

Right Side (faucet is mounted on extension)

Left Side (faucet is mounted on extension)

Top - looking down on lever (faucet is mounted on extension)

Bottom (faucet is mounted on extension)

Exploded!

Looks like a 425 except for the the plunger and lever. Every picture I've seen of the 425 shows a ball and socket joint for the plunger and lever. I don't know what to call these but they're not ball and socket.

Additional pictures in case they might be helpful.

 

[day_trippr]

Correct, the ovaled slot is atypical, but still it's almost certainly a version of their 425 faucet.
It may have been an attempt to dodge specific aspects of the Vent Matic patent portfolio.
Might contact Perlick directly with the pictures to see if they have any comments...

Cheers!

 

[Cogswell]

Correct, the ovaled slot is atypical, but still it's almost certainly a version of their 425 faucet.
It may have been an attempt to dodge specific aspects of the Vent Matic patent portfolio.

Interesting...

Might contact Perlick directly with the pictures to see if they have any comments...

Done. We'll see if they bother answering some random Homebrewer's questions about a discontinued faucet.

 

[Cogswell]

This thread looks to be asking about the same model but it doesn't end in a positive ID other than "some kind of 425."

Will a "regular" 425 rebuild kit with the ball and socket style plunger/lever work on my faucets?

 

[day_trippr]

Unfortunately I cannot say one way or the other. If you have a full set of the original O-rings I would use a micrometer to determine their specifications as a start. Then look on the web for 425 rebuild kits and pick one kit up and see how far you get with it...

Bradford G. Amidzich (the man behind the Vent Matic company) had an apparently "colorful" relationship with Perlick wrt the 425 faucet. Lots of on again/off again history there But he has a bunch of patents related to forward-sealing faucets, specifically using shuttles.
And in one of them one can discern a slotted shuttle. Go figure

Cheers!

 

[Jayjay1976]

That old Perlick design looks suspiciously similar to Intertap's "new" design, right down to the detachable spout.

 

[Cogswell]

If you have a full set of the original O-rings I would use a micrometer to determine their specifications as a start. Then look on the web for 425 rebuild kits and pick one kit up and see how far you get with it...

All six faucets have all of their internal o-rings, gaskets, washers, and bearing cups intact. I know I can hit up McMaster for the o-rings, gaskets, and washers. Don't know about the bearing cups though.

KegWorks has the most complete 425 rebuild kit I've found and it's less than $6.

It's out of stock or I'd have one on the way.

 

[day_trippr]

That old Perlick design looks suspiciously similar to Intertap's "new" design, right down to the detachable spout.

Yeah, there's a lot of legal tape involving Brad behind that, too

It's out of stock or I'd have one on the way.

Be careful about waiting for something that will never be restocked - they haven't made that faucet in nearly 15 years
Might want to expand your search 'til you find a kit on a shelf somewhere...

Cheers!

 

[Cogswell]

Upon closer inspection some of the o-rings have degraded into black smears on metal. Check out the 7th picture under "additional pictures" in my first post.

Can anyone tell if my faucet is stainless or chrome from the pics? I don't know what to look for to tell the difference.


No luck on finding in-stock kits but Chicompany sells many parts for the Perlick 425 individually.

Check out the kits under #15. They come in four different variants. Stainless steel or plastic w/ a collar in chrome or brass. What's the first thing in the kit that's stainless or plastic?

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Those early Perlick faucets are very good. I own 4 of them. The design was later changed due to copyright infringement issues.

 

[day_trippr]

Look inside the body of the faucet and see if there's any exposed brass. If not there's a better than even chance it is stainless steel as it doesn't take all that much usage for a chromed faucet to lose the interior plating.

Also, you might actually give Matt a call at chicompany.net. He's been in the business for as long as I've been brewing (at least) which goes back to the years that the 425 faucets were sold. He might have some insight into available parts that will work...

Cheers!

 

[Cogswell]

Nobody ever told me PBW does alchemy. A thirty minute soak in hot PBW transmuted my brass faucet to stainless steel.

Seriously, I would have sworn the inside of that faucet was brass. I remember reading that beer stone looks like brass here on the forums but I didn't quite believe someone could mistake it for brass for real.

After cleaning, I don't see a lick of anything that looks remotely similar to brass anywhere inside or on the main faucet body. I'm going to give the other five faucets the PBW treatment before I declare them to be stainless though.

 

[Oleson M.D.]

I think all Perlick products are 100% stainless steel, not brass. We have 3 generations of Perlick taps, all of them are SS.

 

[day_trippr]

Well, no, that would ignore the equally long lines of chromed brass faucets, which are still available today.
They're denoted with the "PC" suffix...

Cheers!

 

[Oleson M.D.]

Okay, I stand corrected. I see on their website that brass (tarnish free) faucets are available, as are chrome plated versions.

Mine are all SS, 425, 525, and 630. I guess we have a collection of these.

 

[Cogswell]

Do Intertap Return Springs work on these 425's?

 

[day_trippr]

Good question. The 425's shuttle changes the geometry so much from my 525's I can't even picture how they fit, yet they fit the Intertaps obviously.
That said, I have read there are constraints on the particular shanks used with the Intertaps and return spring combination, presumably requiring more depth than a "normal" shank...

Cheers!