[red alder ranch]

Hello all, new member here.

About 18 years ago I got into homebrewing while living in Portland, OR, and went at it for about a year or so. A few months into it someone gave me a few soda pop kegs and a CO2 bottle and I kegged up a couple of batches, shortly before I left the city and moved out to the woods for a few years. Over the past 15 years or so, I've only brewed a couple of batches, and bottled them all. I recently dragged out all my kit, washed everything up and started brewing again. I have a pale ale that is ready to be bottled or kegged, and so I pulled out the kegs, and disassembled the valves to clean them. What I found of course was cracked and deformed o-rings everywhere from sitting for so many years, so I went by my semi-local brewshop to get parts.

The guy told me though, that I could not get parts for these valves anymore. He had a universal type of valve part that he said I should try to see if it would work, but he said that if it did not work, I should just recycle these kegs and move on. I bought a set and tried it out today, but it does not fit these valves. I'm one of those guys who has a hard time taking a piece of equipment like this to the recycling pile, so I'm trying to figure out if there is any way to replace or refit these valves with something that I can buy parts for, or if I really do need to give it up and move on.

The valves say Hansen on the side. The bit in the middle is the part that I need to replace, and what I took to the brewshop. the bit on the right is the universal replacement part that he suggested I try. When I search online for Hansen keg valves, I see a lot of different hits and links but all for the connectors, not the valves themselves. Thanks in advance for any advice that anyone can give.

[Joe Sr.]

Your post looks like a pin lock keg, which I've never dealt with.

HOWEVER, I have dealt with poppets and his recommendation to recylce the kegs because you need poppets is BS.

You ought to be able to get the right poppets on-line.  I'd try Northern Brewer, Williams, More Beer or really any of the on-line places.

They should be able to help you out if you can't find it on their website.

NB has three types, not including the universal poppet.  Maybe one of these will work: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/kegging/soda-kegs-fittings/soda-keg-repair-parts/poppet-valve-type-a-fstone-v-vi-challenger.html

You might also try some keg lube or oil on the poppet to see if that helps it seal.

[Kit B]

What does your keg say on the side?

You should be able to find replacement posts & poppets, regardless of brand.

[red alder ranch]

I have four of them, and they all say "property of coca cola" on the side. Only one has a brand that I can read, Hoover Universal. They all say Model F, and they have the pressure warnings and the NSF logo embossed into the side.

Thanks for the link, Joe Sr. I'll probably order one of those just to see if it fits. I notice that that company also has conversion valves to switch these to ball lock, but they're out of stock on one of them.

[Slowbrew]

I found a thread fro 2007 on the Northern Brewer forum asking the same question you are.  http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=44467

According to this thread, parts for the Firestone kegs worked for this guys Hoover kegs.

Paul

[Joe Sr.]

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/POPPET-VALVE-FIRESTONE-P119C78.aspx

This one looks pretty much like it.

I would encourage you to call either Williams or NB (or the vendor of your choice - there are many good ones).

I've found that their phone support can be outstanding.  They ought to know which poppet will fit your kegs.

[red alder ranch]

Thanks, all!

I'm sure I can track something down from all this. I'm bottling my pale ale tonight into some swing top growlers and old grolsch bottles and whatever else I have laying around, but it sounds like I'll be able to get my kegs squared away for the next batches. Boiling a stout right now, and have a doppelbock sitting in the fermenter already from last week.

[red alder ranch]

Joe Sr and Slowbrew, I ordered a couple of those Firestone poppets to try. Thanks for the link!

[Slowbrew]

Joe Sr and Slowbrew, I ordered a couple of those Firestone poppets to try. Thanks for the link!

Let us all know if they work for you.  It's one more question we will be able to answer.

Paul

[Joe Sr.]

I hope they work out.  Leaky poppets are a PITA.

Don't throw out the old ones just yet.  Perhaps some oil on the rubber parts will be good enough to work.

[red alder ranch]

OK, I received the new Firestone poppets from WIlliams Brewing today, and they look pretty much identical and seem to fit perfectly. I won't know *for sure* until I get around to assembling a keg and pressurizing it, but so far, it looks like the solution I needed.

$5.80 for a pair of them is certainly way cheaper than buying new kegs!

Thanks!

[Joe Sr.]

Cool.  Let us know how they work out.

Since you're just getting back into it, you might not know but keg prices have shot up wildly in the last year or so.

18 - 24 months ago I could get them locally for $30 - $35.  Now they're $65+ when you can find them (ball lock).

Pin lock kegs aren't as scarce, but they're worth hanging on to and fixing rather than tossing them.