Regulators found

[bikefoolery]

I'm beginning to piece together a kegging system.

I came across these regulators, that supposedly came off a soda system at some time around 6+ years ago. I cleaned them up a little and took pictures. Are these sufficient for for a kegging system? Would I need to daisy chain two of them together to get proper pressures? 0-300 psi may be a bit steep.

There was also some very old tubing, and 4 connectors that look like they should connect to a keg. (I plan on tossing the tubing, but connectors may be useful to someone. I attempted to match the connectors to other pictures but could not place them.

Thanks,

the fool

 

[PhlyanPan]

The reading on a gauge has almost nothing to do with what pressures the regulator is capable of handling or producing. A regulator can be fitted with any gauge a person wants whether or not the regulator is rated for those pressures.

"Daisy chaining" them together to get proper pressures may or may not accomplish what you're looking for depending on the regulators that you have. Generally a regulator is rated to handle a certain maximum input pressure and give a range of output pressures. Let's say for instance that your regulator is rated for a maximum input of 2000 psi and output pressures in the range of 0-300 psi as its gauge indicates. The regulator can produce anywhere from 0-300 psi. That said, it's not optimized for extreme precision anywhere in that range. So if you wanted better control you would want a regulator that was optimized for a smaller range (0-30psi is pretty common). This regulator with its very high maximum input pressure would be considered a primary regulator. The regulator with a smaller output range would be considered a secondary regulator and would generally have a much lower maximum input pressure (probably 150 or 200 psi, I'm not entirely sure...I come from compressed air not bottled gasses), and would need the pressure to be stepped down from bottle pressure to be used.

Now...on to the pieces that you have. The two greenish colored ones look to me to be primary regulators of some sort, whereas the bronzish colored one looks to me like a secondary regulator. That said, if it were me, I would look very carefully into exactly what those units are designed for both in terms of the gas they're designed to use and the pressure they're designed to handle. Also, they look pretty old, they may need repair depending on the condition of the seals/diaphrams/etc (assuming that's the style of regulator they are...like I said, I'm a compressed air guy, not a bottled gas guy).

For most scenarios, starting out you probably only need a primary regulator. As long as you can get it within a psi or two of where you want to be, you're probably ok. A secondary regulator is really handy when you wish to have multiple carbonation levels, or multiple serving pressures. Or for instance, if you wanted to be able to quick-carbonate something at a high pressure, while still being able to serve something else.


And last but not least....the disclaimer...these are just my opinions and the way I do things. Some people may disagree or do things differently. That's fine.

Hope some of that rambling helps.

 

[bad coffee]

The connector looks like a pin lock. If your kegs are pin lock you can use it, if your kegs are ball lock, trade it.

The first pic, the primary reg has a flare fitting on it. I can't tell the input on the secondary reg. The secondary looks like it has a T on the output, so you could potentially have three hoses coming off the reg.

You need a hose that goes from the output of the primary to the input of the secondary. I'm guessing you can get a flare fitting at HD or Lowes.

I'd buy three check-valves for the primary output and put that T to use.

hope this helps.
B