Ball Lock Liquid Line Challenges

[DonnieZ]

Apparently some supernatural force is acting against me and just doesn't want me to enjoy delicious home brew on tap.

I finished my kegerator conversion yesterday - converted a single tap Nostalgia KRS-2100 to a dual tap 1 Sanke / 1 Ball lock. Got a sweet dual body regulator, double Perlick faucets, a nice stainless draft tower with a cooling system. Should be ready to keg, right? Not so fast...

I have one ball lock keg that I received for Christmas 2011.The gas line goes on fairly easily, and once I replaced the seals the keg will pressurize. The liquid line not so much. No matter what I do I can't get the liquid line to lock on to the connector. It will go on partially, but the collar will never snap down. I put two quarts of water in the keg, pressurized it to 15PSI, and nothing comes out unless I push down on the liquid line connector with my palm and it will go down about a quarter of an inch more and engage the poppit valve. Even when I push down with my palm, I can't get the collar to snap down to lock the connector in place.

I'm 99% certain I have the gas line on the gas valve and the liquid on the liquid valve. (This keg has "In" marked in the black rubber part by the gas line.) I've tried reversing the connectors to connect to the other respective valve on the keg, but then the gas line doesn't want to fit at all, and the liquid line fits no better.

Do I just have a bum connector or am I missing something really simple here?

 

[chumpsteak]

It's probably your poppit valve. Sometimes they rebuild these kegs with "universal" poppits and the springs are too big and can't compress enough for the post to push the poppit in far enough so the ring can snap in place. I had to cut a couple of my poppit springs to allow the liquid lines to engage. If the gas side works try swapping the poppit valves and see if the problem tracks with the poppit. If it does cut the spring or get a new valve that is the correct size for your keg.

 

[DonnieZ]

Ok. I took the valve off the keg.

First off, can anyone tell me if this is indeed a ball lock liquid valve?

No matter how hard I try, this is as far as I can get the liquid connector on:

The valve I took off doesn't seem to allow for additional disassembely outside of taking it off of the keg post. Others seem to allow you to get at the actual valve and spring, unless I'm missing something here:

The balls in the ball lock connector will retract, that I know for sure. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas. I have to order a new pressure relief valve for my keg, so if a new liquid valve is in order, I'll order that as well.

 

[day_trippr]

Yes, that is a ball lock liquid post. Your gas post has notches carved into it.

Can you depress the poppet with something pointy? You should at least make sure you can push it clear of the post top by an 1/8" or better without killing yourself in the offing.

The three legs supporting the poppet valve are perched on a ledge carved into the post. You can pop those legs inward and the whole thing should drop out.

Then you can try your QD on the post see if it latches properly.

Cheers!

[edit] Buy some Keg Lube. That o-ring looks dry as a bone...

 

[DonnieZ]

Thanks for the tips. The poppet valve came right out as you said, however even with the valve out the QD will not go any farther than I illustrated above. I looked in the QD and it doesn't look like there is anything foreign in there that would be obstructing it.

The poppet would depress, as I was able to get two quarts of water out through the pressurized keg if I pushed down on the QD while having the tap open.

I'm not sure what's at fault here.. The QD or the valve itself. I'm leaning toward the QD. I'll have to take them both to the LHBS and see if he still has a ball lock in stock that I can test with unless anyone else has any ideas.

So far I'm not too happy with Beverage Factory. As part of this whole "kegging kit" so far I've gotten a bum regulator and now this issue. Since it's been since Christmas 2011 they refuse to do anything (I can see their point, but unfortuantely for me this is all "new" to me still!)

 

[DonnieZ]

Oh and... any trick on getting the poppet back in place?

 

[day_trippr]

If you unscrew the plug at its top, this is what's inside the QD:

You could take yours apart, remove all the "guts", and see if it will finally snap onto the post. The only things in play at that point will be the barrel, collar and ball bearings...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Oh and... any trick on getting the poppet back in place?

Eyeball the legs and "form" them outwards just enough that when you shove the whole thing back in the legs will tend to pop back on their ledge. You may have to encourage them with a small tool, and of course the spring is working against you, but it can be done...

Cheers!

 

[DonnieZ]

Thanks. That's what I figured, but I didn't want to end up destroying the valve in the process. I didn't know if there was an easier way.

In regard to the QD, I took the "guts" out and same thing. Even took the O-ring off of the valve and still no dice. It's almost like the balls will not get over the "hump" on the valve to get down into ridge where they would lock in place. However, I can't pull the collar up farther, and I don't think that would do much good anyway.

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, I think you've gone the extra mile on this, and unless there's something seriously effed up with that post that wasn't evident in your pics, that QD is NFG...

Cheers! (<= ignore the ironic juxtaposition )

 

[DonnieZ]

Thanks for the advice.. Another trip to the LHBS is in order tomorrow!

 

[DonnieZ]

Problem solved!

When I got all this stuff from Beverage Factory, all the disconnects, hardware, and O-rings were in a ziplock bag. Apparently one of the dip tube o-rings got lodged up in the liquid disconnect. It was dark black like the QD and fit perfectly, like it was meant to be there. After taking a tenth look at it, I fished it out and the QD works great!

I have no homebrew ready for kegging, it's still got a few weeks to go, but I've made some nice carbonated water so far! Now off to find some SodaStream syrup until I get this batch kegged!

After reading online, I found a great method to get the poppet back in the valve: put it in the valve and tighten it down to the post. The poppet lined up perfectly and clicked into place.

Thanks for all the advice!