I have a collection of Perlick taps, going back at least 3 generations. They all leak. Drip, drip, drip,…or even a continuous stream. They are all hyper clean, so that is not the issue.
They have all been replaced by my older taps from Tap-Rite. Never (NEVER) had any leaking issues with Tap-Rite. Other than each tap must be exercised daily to prevent sticking.
6 taps in our personal home bar, with dual taps in the outdoor kitchen.
Am I the Lone Ranger with this problem? Any thoughts?
We do like Perlick taps as they do not stick. But the leaking issue is insane.
If Perlicks are kept clean, assembled properly and the main sealing O rings replaced when they lose their resiliency, they don’t leak. The O rings last a long time if you use a bit of keg lube on them when reassembling after cleaning. I started kegging with a couple of 525 SS faucets and they’re still going strong after about 12 years. I’ve only replaced the seals once.
Like anything else mechanical, they need to be maintained.
They are disassembled for a thorough cleaning, and then correctly reassembled.
The O-Ring is at the very back of the faucet, where it screws onto the tower. Those do not leak, never have.
The issue is they simply won’t stop flowing. And/or dripping, from the faucet. The forward seal feature is not working at all.
A very small O-Ring is internally located, at the forward part of the faucet.
As of now, my dozen or so Perlick faucets (3 generations) are put away in a box, with my Tap-Rite faucets on the front line.
Those of you who warmly gush over your Perlicks, good for you!
What is the best source for replacement parts / front seat O-Rings?
The O ring I mention is the small diameter fat one that the ball seats against. I found them at Great Fermentations after searching several other sites.
A friend of mine who works for a chain of restaurants gave me a rebuild kit to replace all seals a few years back that fixed my only tap that leaked. No problems since….
I don’t know why, but when I put my draft system together and had a choice of faucets, I chose Ventmatic which I believe is no longer made or was gobbled up by another company, etc. I have four Ventmatic faucets with 8mm spouts that my friend (a metalist) made in his shop. The very end of the spout is slightly flared out so that when you turn off the faucet there is more beer at the tip of the spout and the weight of that beer causes the spout to empty so that there isn’t a dribble of beer 10 seconds later. The faucets are fantastic and the spouts create the perfect pour. Two of the faucets are called “Ultraflo” models which I believe are older. I think I had some Perlicks at one point and just did not care for them but it’s been so long I don’t remember why but I DO know the Perlick threads (for the spout) are different than the Ventmatics because my bud made a bunch of spouts and had to make two versions. I take them for granted but should probably tell my Ventmatics how much I love them. :D I do take them apart and clean them but more often than not they just get hot Oxi solution run through them and then Starsan or Iodophor which I allow to sit in the lines and faucets for 20-30 minutes before I flush them out. I have never replaced a part on these faucets.
I have 6 Perlick faucets here and have never had a leaking problem. The secret is to keep them clean. I CIP mine with caustic about once a month or so and that has worked well for me. Although I have never disassembled one, I plan to do that sometime in the near future to inspect everything inside.
If you take them apart and inspect them, my guess is that you’ll be surprised at how clean they are. I always expect to see something unsavory but never do.
Mine get cleaned every 30 to 45 days. And there might be some crud in there, that is harmless, but looks most unappealing! Normally a simple cleaning will solve any leaking issue, but not now.
My 400 series Perlicks are a direct copy of the early Ventmatic faucets. A major lawsuit was involved, as Ventmatic claimed a copyright issue on their design.
Note these are the taps that the spout is removable, for easy cleaning. And you have easy access to the inner parts, including the forward seal O-Ring, that comes out with the plunger.
As of today, never replaced any parts on my Perlicks. They vary in age from 8 to 4 (+/-) years old. 525SS, 630SS, and the early (Ventmatic) 400 stainless series.
Concerning your question about freshness, and number of taps, we have never had a beer that we brewed go bad. We do give away a lot of beer, most often in keg form. Some times we will give the neighbors a growler or two, as they are big fans of craft beer.
The only beers that have gone bad in the keg came from:
Anhueser-Busch
Boston Beer Company
Hofbrau Brewery
The beers always stay fresh. They may change in character a little bit but almost always for the better. Remember that I make a lot of smooth lagers and they just get better, clearer, smoother, generally. The beer being in contact with CO2 (as opposed to O2 as it would when you buy a keg of beer at a liquor store) ensures the beer’s longevity. When I started with draft beer I had a single tower on a fridge in the basement. Then I bought a double tower. Then I envisioned taps on the wall and expanded to four. Yes, there were many friends, family members and/or neighbors at our house and I figured that if I’m doing it, I’m going to expand a little. Someone I knew on a board had 10 taps, I think. I knew one person who owned 90 kegs. 90! I have four taps and 10 kegs.
I wanted to mention the spout thing too: Somewhere in there some faucets had a default 12mm spout on them and you couldn’t swap them out. Some had a 12mm spout that you COULD swap (it just unscrewed from the faucet). The 12mm spouts seemed to create a “hollow pour”… does anyone remember that? It was like a balloon of beer coming out of the faucet with the middle filled with air and it would produce some foaming. It wasn’t EVERY pour but it could be the majority of pours. I talked with some local homebrewers about this and we talked about the smaller-diameter spouts but they weren’t available anymore. So my one bud Mike made some in his metal shop. The part where he slightly flared the end so there was no dribble was an even better improvement. So the Ventmatic faucets + the 8mm spouts create a great pour.
My cleaning is simple, not aggressive. I never remove the O-Rings, just clean around them with a fine brush.
Now I have coated the rings with a gasket lube, the same that is used on my kegs. Hope this fixes the problem.