Ball Lock Post Query

[Foley]

New into kegging and this is my first post. I bought 3 refurbished corny kegs as my starter into kegging and my quick disconnects aren't fitting properly. I'm about to test them out but thought I'd ask quickly to see if I'm missing something obvious. The ball lock posts on the kegs I bought have two o-rings.

My quick disconnects don't click on when the two are in place and can be pulled off. When I take an o-ring off so I'm left with just one, the Quick Disconnects do lock on and can't be removed without lifting the release but it's not a tight fit and I thought there'd be less movement/wobble. Just wondering why my posts look different to pictures of others that I've seen.

Thanks in advance.

 

[thepatchworkdoll]

Hi there
Ive got 11 corny kegs and none of them have double O rings on the posts. In fact Ive never seen a fitting like that before. Not much help Im afraid.
Regards
Patch

 

[Matt_W]

I bought a couple of these ones from BrewKegTap about a year ago and did wonder the same.

normal disconnects do fit mine but they did need a good push before I get a click.
It’s almost impossible to do it single handed when the keg is in a fridge.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm new to kegging too. When I tried mine out some force was required, and it seems to be the case having watched a number of videos on cornies. Lifting the release collar when fitting may help?

 

[Foley]

Thanks everyone- "give it some welly" was the solution. They go on nice and firmly with a really strong push. I'm always afraid to break something if it's not going on properly but sometimes force is the answer.

Got some lager that I really need to get out of my FV so appreciate the quick responses.

 

[Brew_DD2]

One of mine from Brewkegtap has the double o-ring. I guessed it was just for a better deal.

 

[ChilledGecko]

I've got a mix of singles and doubles with my kegs.
Both types seem to be faultless so far.
I'm not sure if the rings are the same for both or perhaps the double rings are thinner?
I guess I'll find out in time...

 

[stan.distortion]

The only thing I can think of with the double o-rings is the posts have been machined to take backing rings. They're often used with high pressures, a PTFE ring behind the o-ring for a tighter fit, they stop the o-ring failing from being forced into the gap left by a clearance fit. Keg pressures are much lower than they'd usually be used at but it's probably a mild case of overengineering, double o-rings are never used and are a bit of a liability but they seem to be working fine here. EDIT: Backing rings come in all sorts of sizes but are usually about half the thickness of the o-ring so in this case 2 would be used, one either side which might explain the extra force needed and loose fit with just a single ring.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Thanks everyone- "give it some welly" was the solution. They go on nice and firmly with a really strong push. I'm always afraid to break something if it's not going on properly but sometimes force is the answer.

I know what you mean. I felt like I was about to break the disconnect, but as you say, force is, on this occasion, probably the right answer!
I hope the kegging goes well. I need to get something in the FV to fill my keg for the first time.

 

[Edison]

I’ve got four corny kegs of different ages and manufacturers and they all have single black ‘o’ rings, I’ve not seen those double white ones before.

Yes, lift the collar up when pushing the disconnects on and they fit more easily. A tiny bit of keg lube on the ‘o’ rings will help too.

Don‘t get the grey gas in and black product out disconnects swapped over, if you force the wrong one on the wrong post you can damage them!

Happy kegging, you’ll never look back!

 

[Thatscold]

This came up before. Apparently the OEM size post o-rings are difficult to get hold of so BKT supply them in this two ring configuration instead.

 

[MartinF]

There's a slight "warning" attached to the double O ring posts: I bought a couple of refurbed Cornies recently - one is marked as an AEB keg, the other a Safer, but both manufactured by Safer - and have had endless problems with them losing pressure. In the end, I bought two pairs of new, single O ring posts to replace the ones fitted. They turned out to be a mistake because they are completely incompatible: they're taller, and the internal bore depth at the lower end is much deeper, so they don't mate with the dip tubes. So back to square one.

When i tried to get replacement poppet valves for the double O ring posts, I couldn't find any on any website in the UK that would fit. Eventually, the dealer I bought the kegs from managed to get a couple of the correct type of poppets from his supplier and my kegs now seal. But it's been an ordeal (I lost a brand new, entire CO2 cylinder overnight), and I will go to great lengths to ensure I don't buy kegs with these posts again.