poppet valves

[rakes]

Haven't had to replace those yet.

 

[nate456789]

I ordered several sets of the universal poppets.

Can anyone confirm that the #008 silicone orings are working well?

Thanks a bunch!

Yes that size will work with them. I ordered from Mcmaster the same day I ordered my first batch of these poppets.
They are not quite as fat as the original ones but they do fit over the shank of the poppet and seal.

 

[724b]

That's great. Thank you!

 

[724b]

I ordered several sets of these and installed them on a keg that had been leaking. They seemed to fit and the leak was fixed. Yay!

They are so tight that it's diffcult to put a quick disconnect on. In fact, I broke a qd trying to get it on.

Also, I'm wondering if these are so tight that they are decreasing flow rate. I did a keg to keg transfer and it went really slowly.

Then I drew some beer from the keg with universal poppets on it and little more than a trickle comes out.

Anyone else experience this? Maybe this keg is not compabtible with these?

Thanks!

 

[rakes]

Well, after refitting several of my kegs with the new poppets, and stopping every leak, I am having flow problems with one, as Z24B describes... I first thought it was a frozen line, and swapped it. The second QD and line worked better, and as I checked the QDs, there was a small difference between the inner plunger resistance between the two. That means to me that a QD with a weaker spring wouldn't put enough pressure on the new universal poppet to open it enough.
so what are the options?
- find all my QDs that work better, make sure they have the stronger spring etc, and use them on the kegs with the new poppets.
- maybe compress the spring on the new poppet some, just enough but not too much to eliminate its value in the first place
- use traditional/older poppets on the beer side, and the new ones on the gas post as long as they don't leak (most of my keg leaks in the past were on the gas side anyways....)

any other thoughts??

 

[FSR402]

Looks like I'm going to need to get some of these just to keep on hand.

 

[zman]

I bought 10 of them from http://bvrgelements.com/keg_accessories_keg_parts.html for $2.50 each

 

[zman]

I have noticed is that it is a PITA to get the disconnects on with them. the center part of the poppet sticks out and is not flush with the post

 

[724b]

I wonder if you could trim part of the spring off to loosen things up a bit.

So far, I have these on two kegs. One is super, super tight, the other one is perfect.

 

[pilotandy]

I did a flow test recently on one of my kegs filled with carbonated water. Three clear plastic cups were filled for 10 seconds with a universal poppet, and three were filled with the one-piece poppet. The same keg was used, the pressure was the same (~4psi), the liquid in the keg (CO2 water) was the same, the tap (10 ft 5/16" line) was the same.

The results....

Twice as much CO2 water in the cups served with the one-piece poppet. It was also better carbonated.

My thoughts...

The universal poppet is nice because the o-rings can be replaced for pennies. However, the poppet seems to be creating a restriction which is causing CO2 to come out of solution, and results in a less carbonated beverage. The poppets are very difficult to depress, making it hard to install quick disconnects.

The one-piece poppet has a small depression which helps center the pin in the quick disconnect. They are more expensive, and cannot be repaired if the gasket is damaged. The flow is better and it does a better job maintaining carbonation. Quick disconnects are easy to install.

Just my $0.02, but unless someone comes out with a better universal poppet, I will be sticking with the one-piece type.

 

[richbrew99]

My flow rate also decreased after I installed the universal poppets.

 

[JeffBham]

My kegs came with the universal poppets. I am having problems with the springs on the liquid side acting like screws and "screwing" down around the outside of the dip tube flange. This deforms the flange on the dip tube, tears up the o-ring and worst of all, my beer leaks out of the connector and onto the basement floor. Does anyone know how I can stop the spring from "screwing" out around the liquid side dip tube? And can I hammer the flange flat again or do I need to buy a new dip tube?

 

[JSomps6]

found this on an ebay list:

Ever wonder what the correct poppet to use in your keg is? With so many to choose from and you can not even be sure you have the original post on the keg it gets confusing. Universal poppets work on almost every Ball and Pin lock keg unless you have something very obscure:

-AEB
-Kegco
-O.B.Keg
-Cornelius
-Spartanburg
-Firestone
-John Wood

This poppet comes with a slightly longer spring then most Universal brand poppets. This is to allow you to replace inside posts with nylon inserts and remove the insert for good in most cases. In some installations there will be too much tension on the spring to put your disconnect on, if this happens cut off one coil from the bottom and try again. Repeat as needed

 

[724b]

The tip to cut a coil off is great.. I've thought about doing this.

I wonder what "replace inside posts with nylon inserts and remove the insert for good in most cases" means?

found this on an ebay list:

Ever wonder what the correct poppet to use in your keg is? With so many to choose from and you can not even be sure you have the original post on the keg it gets confusing. Universal poppets work on almost every Ball and Pin lock keg unless you have something very obscure:

-AEB
-Kegco
-O.B.Keg
-Cornelius
-Spartanburg
-Firestone
-John Wood

This poppet comes with a slightly longer spring then most Universal brand poppets. This is to allow you to replace inside posts with nylon inserts and remove the insert for good in most cases. In some installations there will be too much tension on the spring to put your disconnect on, if this happens cut off one coil from the bottom and try again. Repeat as needed

 

[JSomps6]

A lot of my kegs have a white plastic or "nylon" insert that sits underneath the poppet. So when you put it together you put the poppet into the post, then put the insert in, then attempt to screw the post on the keg. They come in different sizes for different kegs and overall are a major PITA.

 

[CidahMastah]

Probably late to the party here, however.... I have replaced many types with the universal poppet, including that one. And they have worked great.

 

[day_trippr]

Count me in the "Not A Fan" group wrt to universal poppets.

I have exactly one of them, and it's in the post on my DIY Line Cleaner. Twice now the poppet o-ring has come off the metal poppet piece and either wedged itself in the post hole or slid over to the side inside the post, in both cases requiring removal of the post to retrieve the o-ring and put it back in place.

No way will I use one of these on an actual keg...

Cheers!

 

[OntarioBeerKegs]

found this on an ebay list:

Ever wonder what the correct poppet to use in your keg is? With so many to choose from and you can not even be sure you have the original post on the keg it gets confusing. Universal poppets work on almost every Ball and Pin lock keg unless you have something very obscure:

-AEB
-Kegco
-O.B.Keg
-Cornelius
-Spartanburg
-Firestone
-John Wood

This poppet comes with a slightly longer spring then most Universal brand poppets. This is to allow you to replace inside posts with nylon inserts and remove the insert for good in most cases. In some installations there will be too much tension on the spring to put your disconnect on, if this happens cut off one coil from the bottom and try again. Repeat as needed

That is one of our free shipping to the states Ebay ads:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Universal-po...ultDomain_0&hash=item337200834e#ht_574wt_1135

The spring is so long because we wanted people with the nylon inserts (you know if you have one) to be able to use these. The side effect is it will cause tension in some cases and make the connect hard to put on. Cutting the spring is a better solution if needed then not having it universal at all.

Count me in the "Not A Fan" group wrt to universal poppets.

I have exactly one of them, and it's in the post on my DIY Line Cleaner. Twice now the poppet o-ring has come off the metal poppet piece and either wedged itself in the post hole or slid over to the side inside the post, in both cases requiring removal of the post to retrieve the o-ring and put it back in place.

No way will I use one of these on an actual keg...

Cheers!

That is because the common universal poppet sold at most places as shown on the left in the picture below has a design flaw with that steep angle allowing the o-ring to be lifted when snagged and removed.

The model we carry on the right has a cut out to retain the ring. I believe it is just us at www.ontariobeerkegs.com and the always helpful Jason at adventuresinhomebrewing.org in Michigan that carry the better design to date. Now that I made this public in a few months everyone well.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]
That is because the common universal poppet sold at most places as shown on the left in the picture below has a design flaw with that steep angle allowing the o-ring to be lifted when snagged and removed.

The model we carry on the right has a cut out to retain the ring. I believe it is just us at www.ontariobeerkegs.com and the always helpful Jason at adventuresinhomebrewing.org in Michigan that carry the better design to date. Now that I made this public in a few months everyone well.

Ok, I had to see for myself, and you're absolutely correct: I have the model on the left in your picture. Ironically it was a bitch to pry the ring off by hand, but there was that tapered milling clear as day.

I guess that gives me hope that when the supply of original poppets dries up some day there will be a viable solution...

Cheers! And thanks for the heads up!

 

[OntarioBeerKegs]

It's all good Day trippr. We have sold thousands of our poppets with no reported issues. If someone does have an issue with our poppet or any any other product call 1 855 KEG BEER and select 1 for technical support. We listen to customer feedback and it makes our next generation product even better. As the poppet design shows.

 

[Carlscan26]

I realize I am resurrecting an old thread but thought I'd post an update with what I've seen as I've tried different types of universal poppets and I found that the information in this thread is still relevant.

I have two different sets of kegs: Firestone Challenger VI (single metal handle) and Cornelius Spartan (single black plastic handle). I would like to have only one type of poppet that I can use with either style of keg. The keg posts are different threads and different body lengths, so maybe this won't be as easy as I hope. I also like that the universal poppets are easy to remove and clean; I just can't see them breaking like traditional poppets do and they look so much easier to clean and have a replaceable o-ring too.

So far I've tried two types: the ones sold by MoreBeer and the ones sold by Adventures in Home Brewing.

The universal poppets from MB are very firm; I had to cut the bottom coil off to get them to fit on my Challenger VI kegs. And although I cut them as closely as I could to the same length, one now feels "normal" and the other seems looser than I'd like. I would have to cut an additional 1/2 to full ring for them to fit in my Spartan kegs - without cutting them I absolutely could not fit the QDs on. I attribute this to the difference in the body heights of the two styles of posts - the Spartan ones don't have as long of a threaded body section as the Challenger ones do. I don't like having to cut them and the variability this introduces.

So I ordered another set from AIH based on the posts above that they were potentially carrying a different style. I found that these have a softer spring - and they are a perfect fit so far on the Firestone Challenger VIs without cutting. I can't try them on my Cornelius Spartan kegs as they're all now in service but based on how well they fit on the Challengers, I'm hoping they will work fine with no need to trim them on the Spartans too.

The MB type protrude a bit higher than the AIH type and definitely higher than a standard poppet head would (those would sit just barely above flush). Even the AIH style protrudes higher but not as much as the MB type. This would correlate with the picture above where you can see the one on the right does not have as much material above the shoulder where the o-ring sits. The AIH type also have a small recess in the top which I imagine helps to center the poppet head with the QD pin. The poppets for my Spartan kegs are like this, but the ones for my Challenger kegs are flat topped - at least the ones I've been using have been.

Anyway, I hope this is useful for anyone else looking at universal poppets. I will post again as I swap them around and see how flow is affected, and if they truly are universal between the two types of kegs that I have.