Perl Faucet Problem-Help!

[FreebootersBrewing]

Hi all,

I just received my new Perl faucets in the mail today. I got them because I've lost a few internal parts on my Ventmatics over the years and I can't find parts for them anymore.

Anyway, I disconnected my lines to put my new faucets on and found that the Perls don't fit onto the teeth of my shanks, like the shank diameter is too big for the Perl. Because of the this the faucets don't seat against the shank at all and leave a pretty big gap for beer to spew out of at the collar....trust me, I know

Has anyone else had a problem out there? I have a generic 3-tap chrome tower I bought a few years ago. Can I change the shanks on them? If I can, I don't want to order new shanks and find the same problem.

It sucks not being able to use these really nice new faucets, any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[P-J]

Hi all,

I just received my new Perl faucets in the mail today. I got them because I've lost a few internal parts on my Ventmatics over the years and I can't find parts for them anymore. ...

I've done a lot of research on the Vent-Matic parts issue and hope this help you.

Rapids Wholesale Equipment Company- Faucet Parts

Standard faucet (real seal) Shaft seal - Code: 110032 Price: $1.09 Each

Coupling Gasket (between faucet and shank) - Code: 110036 Price: $0.85 Each

Ball Washer (above and below ball on handle) - Code: 150055 Price: $0.99 Each

Friction Washer (above and below ball washer) - Code: 110015 Price: $0.93 Each

Ace Hardware - Danco O-Ring - # 31 (9/16 OD X 5/16 ID X 1/8 wall)

Perlick (Vent-Matic) Shaft Seat (front seal) - Code: 8P146 Price: $1.19 Each

From Ace Hardware:

Vent-Matic Spout Washer - Ace Hardware - Danco O-Ring - # 21 (5/8 OD X 15/32 ID X 3/64 wall)

Edit: The tower shank that I'd recommend is a SS unit from Micro Matic

 

[FreebootersBrewing]

Hey that's great info thanks! I can use that to repair my Ventmatics to use as spares.

But since I already have the new Perls in hand I'd like to figure out why they don't fit on the shanks. Otherwise they're $25 worth of paperweights

 

[P-J]

Hey that's great info thanks! I can use that to repair my Ventmatics to use as spares.

But since I already have the new Perls in hand I'd like to figure out why they don't fit on the shanks. Otherwise they're $25 worth of paperweights

I realized that I forgot to mention the shank issue. I edited my post and guess you didn't see it. Now I see that the shanks I recommended are fairly pricey compared to the faucet price. The reason you are having issues is the Perlicks are manufactured to close tolerances. The chrome plated shanks are not so much. The chrome plating on the spline makes it really tight. You can fix them by carefully filing each notch in the shank. When I had the same issue, I replaced them with the Micro Matics.

 

[FreebootersBrewing]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on a new tower last night. I found a pretty good deal on it.

And if the facuets still don't fit on the shanks of the new tower, at least it will be much easier to change the them. It was always a huge pain to attach lines within the little 3" space of my current tower. It might help with airflow too.

 

[shortyjacobs]

At the faucet ends of my shanks, there is a snap ring in a groove. There are two grooves, (I can't find a good picture of this...). Try moving the snap ring into the groove farthest from the faucet, and you should get a good seal. The shanks I first got had the snap ring on the closest grove, and yes, they wouldn't seal tightly...

Edit, it's "A" in this pic:

That shank only shows 1 groove for the snap ring, but my shanks have two, and the ring needs to be on the grove farthest from the faucet.

 

[TheKern]

FreeBooters,

I have the same issue with the Perlick Perl, the groves on the faucet don't line up with the grove on the shanks, were you ever able to resolve the issue on the original shanks or did you buy new shanks? I don't want to resort to filing down the groves.
Any insight you can provide would be great

 

[FreebootersBrewing]

I ended up buying a new tower. The shanks that came on it worked with the new Perls. I'm sure I could have just changed the shanks but it would have been a pain trying work inside my old 3" tower. Grinding down the teeth on the faucets or the shank sounds like a huge pain in the butt, but that's me.

I bought a new 3-tap "T-style" tower, and I love it. It's got plenty of room to install/remove draft lines. Plus my new faucets work with it.

 

[TheKern]

I believe I (with a lot of help from Mike at DIY Brewing Supply) figured out the issue with the Perlick Perls. The backside of the Perls only have 32 groves, which differs from the 64 grove industry standard. Why would they change the number of groves on the faucet, who knows? And they didn't provide much of an explanation to it other then it "should" fit a standard shank.
The shanks I own are not Stainless Steal (well, not anymore). It seems that the Perls only fit SS shanks. I previously owned plated shanks and I could not make a proper connection between the faucet and shank, you could see the groves didn't line up and were not fitting snug.
I went to DIY and tested these on a SS Shank, fit perfectly. I think the coating on the plated shanks decrease the size of the groves just enough (fraction of a fraction) but enough so that the faucet will not connect to the groves on the shank.
Needless to say I was forced into upgrading to SS Shanks but at least I can enjoy the new Perlicks now
Hope this helps anyone with future problems.