A little while back I lost a tank of CO2 because one of my corny keg disconnects wasn’t sealing quite right and all the gas leaked out. I just took the disconnect apart and put it back together and it was fine. But I’m curious if there would be less potential for issues if I switched things out with stainless steel disconnects. Has anyone found that stainless steel disconnects are less finicky than plastic ones? I wouldn’t think so, but just wondering if the change would be worth it.
I think manufacture is much more important than material. The genuine CMB plastic QDs are of high quality and I’ve never had a problem. Knockoffs (especially the Kegland ones) are to be prone to fitting poorly and leaking. Likewise, I and others have found the Kegland stainless ones to be hit or miss. I do have a couple of the stainless ones made by Bobby at Brew Hardware and they are of outstanding quality, design and workmanship – way overengineered actually, but for just a couple bucks more than Kegland, worth it if you really want stainless. So the upshot is, IME, if you want bling, buy Brew Hardware stainless. But you can get plastic ones that are just as reliable. Just make sure to get genuine OEM parts. And no matter what, watch for deterioration or damage in the internal rubber washer.
[quote]I just took the disconnect apart and put it back together and it was fine.
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There’s the reason for your leaking CO2… dirty parts. Make it a point to maintain your equipment on a regular schedule and you can avoid such expensive losses in the future.
The heft and feel of the SS disconnects is nice. I won a pair in a judging raffle.
There’s the reason for your leaking CO2… dirty parts. Make it a point to maintain your equipment on a regular schedule and you can avoid such expensive losses in the future.
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Definitely sound advise. What would be a recommended cleaning/maintenance schedule for gas disconnects? I completely disassemble and clean the beer side every time I change out a keg. I can’t say it ever crossed my mind to clean the gas disconnect.
I am curious about the cleaning process on the gas side as well. At the risk of being laughed at, I’ll admit that after 2 plus years of using a dual tap kegerator I have never cleaned the gas side of my system. I clean the liquid side every keg change. I guess it never entered my mind.
I only clean the gas side for two reasons:
1) I know beer has been pushed back up into the beer line
2) I’m completely breaking the whole system down and replacing all the tubing.
Other than that, I’ve never felt the need to clean gas connections. No real problems in 15 years of kegging.
Paul