Stuck Faucets

[BlueFalcon1479]

I'm new to kegging and was hoping to get some help with an issue. I have a three tap tower, only two being used with homebrew. After carbing the kegs over a weeks time at serving pressure of 10PSI, every thing was good to go. Hooked up the two kegs and both taps poured perfectly. Poured 3-4 pints off of both the first night. Came back the next day and tried to pull a pint off of both and the taps were stuck. I was able to force both of them open eventually but thought I was going to break the faucets. I took them apart thinking maybe some beer happened to dry over night and stuck the faucets. They were both clean. Once again I was able to pull 3-4 pints off of each successfully. Came back the next day and same, stuck faucets. It feels like pressure is keeping them closed. Not sure. Any help or suggestions would help before I break the faucets.

 

[day_trippr]

Welcome to the forums, @BlueFalcon1479

Are these rear sealing faucets? And what type of environment are they in - living space, basement, garage, porch?
I've never owned a rear sealing faucet but I've read plenty of stories of them gluing themselves in place - and lots of folks have snapped handles off as a result, though admittedly, overnight seems hella extreme, unless these faucets sit in simmering heat all day or something.

Pressure lock seems unlikely (mostly because I've never read of such a thing) but you could resolve that question by shutting off the gas to the keg on the locked-up faucet and release most of the head space pressure. If the handle still won't move you can check that off the list of root causes.

Generally, the tried-and-true recommendation here is to switch to forward sealing faucets. I've been using six of them for many years on my basement keezer and have never had one stick yet - even after sitting unused for two weeks while The Spousal Unit and I are on vacation somewhere. Intertap faucets are particularly economical even in full stainless steel (which I recommend) and there's the Perlick 600 series faucets as well...

Cheers!

 

[Barlow1990]

What kind of faucets are they?
Kegco?
Perlick?
Do they have a flow control knob?
I think if they are perlicks then its probably not the faucet itself because of their design and the fact they keep liquid in them.
If they are kegco or some othere rod operated design the sugars could be getting coagulated and making the faucet sticky or the faucets may just need a full disassembly and cleaning. A good soak in pbw and a good brushing should fix that.
I also recommend checking the beverage and air lines. Make sure they are not kinked somewhere inside the kegerator.

Also check your manifold/regulator . If co2 is having a problem flowing it could cause that issue.

 

[gnef]

It definitely sounds like you have rear sealing faucets. The best solution is like others said above, to replace them with forward sealing faucets. Intertap has some of the most affordable ones, and many have great experiences with them.

I have had the full range of faucets, starting with rear sealing, and then moving to the first available forward sealing faucet - ventmatic, and I now have a full complement of Perlick 650ss faucets. I have had a great experience with all of the different iterations of forward sealing faucets.

As a stopgap measure, you can try spraying some star san up into the faucet after you are done for the day to clear out any leftover beer in there. You can also use specific plugs with or without a brush tip to also help.