Here to tap you guys for ideas

[SilverShadow]

Hey all,

Forgive the awful pun, but hopefully its done the trick & gained your interest

Months ago, I bought a rather over-elaborate beer dispensing tap/faucet, for my kegged homebrew (see pic below)

It worked fine & delivered a nice frothy & smooth beer to enjoy. However, last time I was cleaning my kit, I decided to be 'clever' & disassemble for a long soak to cleanse/sanitise.

Since which, I've not been able to get it working properly (just hisses and spits the occasional bit of froth)

Has anyone experience of these taps at all please?


Ps, I've bought a cheap replacement, but until it arrives I'd like to get this working as back up

Many thanks for your time & help

 

[Rodcx500z]

Having never taken one apart i am guessing here but, logic tells me you must have reassembled it wrong, i know on my tap which is not flow control the spring is fitted differently

 

[Sadfield]

I'd double check all the o-rings are seated in the correct place and what needs to tightened is. It could be pulling air in as it flows, I've had a similar issue in the past where a John Guest connector wasn't fully sealed, but wasn't leaking.

 

[SilverShadow]

Thanks guys

I think you may be right about the o-ring, Sadfield, so will give that a go. I'd have thought I'd hear gas escaping, even before moving the tap lever though?


The metal conical part is shown the wrong way around in the pic. It has various 'dimples' in it, so I could try selecting a different one of those. If not that then the end screw by the tap might need adjusting - I wasn't sure how much to tighten it.

With so few moving parts it must be something simple. But I'd guess its has to be finely adjusted to work properly

 

[Buffers brewery]

just hisses and spits the occasional bit of froth

Doesn’t sound right to me. Your tap is connected to your beer line, right? Have you checked there is beer in your beer line, i.e. enough pressure in your keg to deliver the beer? “Hissing” would suggest an empty beer line or empty keg?

 

[YeastFace]

When reinstalling are you making sure the small "bobble" part of the lever is sitting inside the machined out "dimple" of the conical flow restrictor?

 

[SilverShadow]

Thanks for your interest

There is definitely beer going through the liquid connector, because it fountains like trafalgar square without the tap on

The tap won't fit together without the bobble in place, but as there are 4 bobble holes then maybe I've assembled it in the wrong dimple

 

[Buffers brewery]

If you remove the tap ( after disconnecting the beer line from the keg obvs ) does the conical part move in/out and rotate back and forth as you move the flow control lever?

 

[sgmbrewer]

I have this exact tap and regularly dismantle to soak and clean - here you go mate

Trick is to line up part 1 so that the hole in is at the top before you insert into the tap body - so that when you slide in part 2 you can use part 2 to hold part 1 straight as you screw in part 3

the other tricky bit is lining up the hole in the side of the cone (part 4) with the small jutting out part of the flow control barrel with the two o rings (part 5) - I like to attach the flow control lever (part 7) to part 5 to make it easier to manoeuvre - and then you should be able to test that turning the flow control lever moves the cone section around - then remove the handle (part 7) - add the retaining nut (part 6) and add the handle (part 7) back again.

the rest should come together easily enough!

good luck hopefully that actually makes sense although reading it back I fear I may have made this whole scenario even more confusing!

 

[SilverShadow]

If you remove the tap ( after disconnecting the beer line from the keg obvs ) does the conical part move in/out and rotate back and forth as you move the flow control lever?

I'll double check. Seem to recall it making slight movement, but not more than say 1mm

Have to take another gander at it & confirm

 

[SilverShadow]

I have this exact tap and regularly dismantle to soak and clean - here you go mateView attachment 62324
Trick is to line up part 1 so that the hole in is at the top before you insert into the tap body - so that when you slide in part 2 you can use part 2 to hold part 1 straight as you screw in part 3

the other tricky bit is lining up the hole in the side of the cone (part 4) with the small jutting out part of the flow control barrel with the two o rings (part 5) - I like to attach the flow control lever (part 7) to part 5 to make it easier to manoeuvre - and then you should be able to test that turning the flow control lever moves the cone section around - then remove the handle (part 7) - add the retaining nut (part 6) and add the handle (part 7) back again.

the rest should come together easily enough!

good luck hopefully that actually makes sense although reading it back I fear I may have made this whole scenario even more confusing!

Brilliant response, exactly the sort of thing I was after

It seems to read fine, but I'll be having a muck around with it this weekend. So will know for sure when I get around to it.

Thanks for your response. And if I may, contact you directly if I have any further questions or problems?

 

[sgmbrewer]

Brilliant response, exactly the sort of thing I was after

It seems to read fine, but I'll be having a muck around with it this weekend. So will know for sure when I get around to it.

Thanks for your response. And if I may, contact you directly if I have any further questions or problems?

By all means! At last my misspent youth of dismantling and trying to reassemble a variety of objects might prove useful to someone

 

[SilverShadow]

Same here - I spent much of mine pulling apart things trying to 'improve' them