Vent-Matic Seals Gaskets

[pmsjr]

Has anyone already fought the battle of trying to source replacement gaskets for older Vent-Matic faucets?

I think I can come up with a typical/standard o-ring replacement for the two around the lever ball, but the one on the end of the slide that actually does the forward sealing. Sort of like a gate valve washer. Has anyone come up with a replacement for that one, or perhaps a round o-ring profile that would be a suitable replacement?

Thanks!

 

[microbusbrewery]

Found on another brew forum, apparently the Perlick one fits it, https://rapidswholesale.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=8P146

 

[pmsjr]

Thanks.

Any idea if that's a proprietary gasket then? I certainly don't want to sound ungrateful, but $1.50 EACH is a bit much. You can usually get standard O-rings at a tenth of that cost.

At least I have an option!

 

[microbusbrewery]

I doubt it, should be a standard size. The HBT thread below references some McMaster part numbers. The official Perlick part number is 67933-1, but I think they're just a standard buna-70 o-ring. Looks like they can be found for around 30 - 35 cents, but most places will probably charge you at least a dollar for shipping and handling. Might be a good idea to order one official OEM seat, then order the generic and make sure they're the same size. I've ordered from McMaster before and sometimes their shipping can be a little high. I've ordered from O-rings and more too and they tend to be my go-to source for O-rings, http://www.oringsandmore.com

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=222382

 

[microbusbrewery]

P.S. If you have a good plumbing store they'll probably carry them. Lowe's and Home Depot may as well. Look for Size#204 = 3/8 ID x 5/8 OD x 1/8 CS. That's probably the easiest and cheapest way to do some test fitting.

 

[pmsjr]

microbusbrewery,

You're headed in the same direction I was. I already have bulk supplies of all the other O-rings, which were absolutely much more economical, and plenty easy to micrometer for size. Those all have the traditional round cross section, or square for the faucet to shank joint, but that plunger end seal one isn't actually round. It's almost like a beveled valve washer, or 1/2 of a D cross section, or square, with only one outer corner rounded off. I have looked quite a few places. Valve packing, end seals, etc. I can't seem to find a stock gasket with that same profile.

I suspect this might be a difference between VentMatic and Perlick. I don't have a Perlick 425 on hand to judge, and I had seen that same HBT thread, but I'm guessing Perlick used a standard o-ring to seal the slide, while VentMatic didn't.

However, I did pick up a standard round o-ring to see if that'd do the job. The only issue I might have is perhaps with sanitation. That OEM VentMatic gasket sits fully flat against the face of slide, as well as the pin that holds it in. An o-ring is going to give me a crevice between the face and the bottom of the o-ring and that center pin. No big issue to pop it off at cleaning time, especially if I have an affordable supply of 100 spares.

I'm going to test it out at some point tonight and we'll see if it holds a seal. I just figured perhaps someone else knew for sure if a cheap supply of those exact same end gaskets existed, or knew for sure that an o-ring substitute worked.

I'll report back shortly! Thanks.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Yeah, I know what you mean, they're not a perfectly round cross section.

FWIW, I have a total of seven faucets branded as Vent-matics. Three are the original good ones (circa 2005-ish) and the other four are v1.0 and v2.0 from CHI a few years ago (aka the ones that have given VM a bad name).

The ones I got from CHI were a little temperamental, but I didn't have major problems like a lot of people had. Occasionally I'd get a little seepage through the bonnet, but not enough to be a problem. That said, at one point CHI sent out some replacement front seats to resolve some leaking issues with some of the faucets. I'm pretty sure the replacement seats were a standard round o-ring. I tried them out on the 1.0s because one of the ones I had would drip if you just barely touched the tap handle.
Anyway, the round ones seemed to work fine. I had been using two of them on my five tap keezer until a couple weeks ago when I bought two Intertaps. I'll be moving all four late-model VMs to a jockey box build. BTW, the Intertaps look almost exactly like VMs, so if you're ever wanting to add more taps and you want them to match your VMs, Intertaps seem like a good option.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Here's a pic showing how they look a lot alike. Right-most is an original VM, then an Intertap, another original VM, another Intertap, and a stout faucet in the back.

View attachment 1510198860791.jpg

 

[pmsjr]

Sweet setup!

I wound up trying a "Danco #90" o-ring for the end of the plunger. 1/2" OD x 1/4" ID x 1/8" H That appears to be working out. I'm going to pick up some metric ones that are just a touch larger, M4x6, and see if those work too.

Really, I don't have any issues at the moment, but I had "finding spare parts" on my list for a while. I know at some point I'm going to need them, and I would rather have them on-hand.

I am not even sure what "vintage" my four VM faucets are. I'm not the original buyer. They have VentMatic actually cast into the valve body, not just etched on. I am no Perlick expert, but they appear to have a plunger like the 425, but the lever only has one gasket above and below the friction washers around the pivot ball, I think the Perlicks have three total, one above and perhaps two below.

Either way, here's what I have come up with (I think):

Plunger end - Danco #90, which is equivalent to a -202, and I'm going to try the M4x6 too. Round.

Lever, above and below ball friction washers - M3x8 sizes appear to work, but Danco #31 does too, which is equivalent to a -203. Round.

Faucet to Shank - -018, square. I haven't looked for a Danco or metric equivalent.

I had no idea how many o-ring options existed!