Dual body regulators and pressure release valves

[jkatz419]

I have a single body regulator that feeds 3 kegs through a distributor and that regulator has a pressure release valve. It's primary function is for safety automatically opening at 60 psi to avoid an explosion. However I use it a lot when adjusting the set pressure. For instance if I set the outlet pressure to 15 psi and want to dial it back down to 10 psi I have to open the relief valve or else the psi gauge does not update (it stays at the high 15). It's like the relief valve "resets" the low pressure gauge.

I want to replace the regulator with a dual body one, Ideally the Taprite Dual Body (http://www.kegconnection.com/taprite-dual-body-regulator-three-gauge/) However it does not appear to have a manual pressure release valve. Has any one used this regulator and if so can you adjust the pressure up/down and the gauge reflects it without needing a manual pressure release?

The Chudnow regulator (http://www.kegconnection.com/chudnow-regulator-dual-body-three-gauge/) does have the manual release but the set method is a screwdriver. For some reason I'd rather have the knob of the Taprite. Am I crazy?

Due to my setup I'm not interested in adding a "downstream" secondary regulator. The dual body is what I need.

Thanks!
-Jon

 

[masonsjax]

Look at the premium Micromatic regulators. They are very good.

 

[jkatz419]

Yeah, the Micromatic ones do have knobs and manual pressure release, but are 50% more expensive!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Both Taprites ive owned(the single, and now double) dont reset the pressure until you basically set the regulator to 0.

I have that exact Taprite model from KegConnection and it works great.

Basically if your at 30psi, you spin it down and nothing will happen until you keep spinning it counter clockwise and eventually you hit the limit it will spin..at that point the regulator will drop to 0 PSI and then you spin it clockwise again to set the pressure.

Its not really that big of a deal, it adds another 3 seconds of work over being able to dial the gauge down a bit and see the pressure update real time. Both of my regulators have worked great.

 

[jkatz419]

Thanks! 3 seconds is better that -$50!

 

[masonsjax]

Yeah, the Micromatic ones do have knobs and manual pressure release, but are 50% more expensive!

They are well worth it. I've had other regulators including chudnow that failed and cost more in the long run. Wish I had bought the Micromatics from the start. Also, they bleed off pressure as you dial back the knob so no need to pull the release unless you want to.

You could just get the add on which hooks to your tank and then you hook your existing regulator to it, turning a single into a double simple and easy.
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-pid-641-AddOn.html

 

[jkatz419]

huh, that add-on is actually kind of cool and let's me keep using my existing regulator that I like. Decisions decisions...