# Leaking Quick Disconnects



## christmas (27/4/12)

I just bought three new sets of stainless steel quick disconnects from a homebrew store.

I've found that all of them leak, particularly under pressure (ie. output of march pump). The leak is definitely from inside the QD itself, not from the thread. The female connections have a silicon o-ring inside.

Has anyone else had issues with this? Any tips to stop it happening? 

They cost a pretty penny, so this is a huge disappointment!


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## Dazza88 (27/4/12)

Take em back.


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## matho (27/4/12)

christmas said:


> I just bought three new sets of stainless steel quick disconnects from a homebrew store.
> 
> I've found that all of them leak, particularly under pressure (ie. output of march pump). The leak is definitely from inside the QD itself, not from the thread. The female connections have a silicon o-ring inside.
> 
> ...



I have bought about four and had one that leaked like that, when compared to the others the locking ball bearings was drilled about 1.5mm closer to the front
took it back to my homebrew shop and he replaced it for me. Hopefully your HB shop will do the same as it is not performing too the spec as sold, if you do get a replacement look through the stock and find ones that fit will

cheers steve


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## TidalPete (27/4/12)

christmas said:


> I just bought three new sets of stainless steel quick disconnects from a homebrew store.
> 
> I've found that all of them leak, particularly under pressure (ie. output of march pump). The leak is definitely from inside the QD itself, not from the thread. The female connections have a silicon o-ring inside.
> 
> ...



You & me both mate! I've found that there's no hassle with the male QD's but it's the female ones that are the problem. In my case it's the barbed QD's that leak.
Thankfully CraftBrewer are happy to replace any bodgie QD's returned when they get new stock which will be hopefully soon?
Mind you, it pays to be absolutely sure that the female QD's all have double seals inserted & that you change the female QD's around to be certain of leaks before complaining. Try pulling them apart & re-assembling them again with the seals in the correct place just to be certain.
IMHO some of the female QD's are marginally longer than normal & thus do not seal to the male counterpart as they're supposed to hence the leaks.

TP


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## Brewman_ (27/4/12)

All of mine are this sort.

I would take em back too. But if you need to use one, here is what I would do. I actually do this to my disconnects periodically anyway, both gas and liquid.

Take a butter knife on the back of the dissconnect and carefully undo the top.
You'll see the silicon O - ring, this should still look nice and flat - if it does keep it that way and put in somewhere safe, if it does not your propbably stuffed.
Pull the popit out of the centre, and apply a thin but thorough lick of inox food grade greese - make sure the black rubber o-ring is covered. Then put in back in.
Then carefully put the top back on with the silicon o-ring. I don't normally lubricate this part, although some might. Then tighten up firmly but not hard with the back of the butter knife.

Then pressurise the disconnect and test in water, it should be OK. I just find the popits stick, and have never had a problem with the silicon o-ring.

Hope it helps,

Edit: Goes without saying I suppose - but clean / sanitise everything before greesing and assembling.

Fear_n_loath


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## christmas (27/4/12)

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Pete, you mentioned double seals - I can only see the red silicon o-ring. Steve, you mentioned a black one as well - where should this be?

I'd like to take the females apart as you guys say, but I really have no idea how to go about this. Any further instructions on how to do so?


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## TidalPete (27/4/12)

christmas said:


> Thanks for the advice everyone.
> 
> Pete, you mentioned double seals - I can only see the red silicon o-ring. Steve, you mentioned a black one as well - where should this be?
> 
> I'd like to take the females apart as you guys say, but I really have no idea how to go about this. Any further instructions on how to do so?



christmas,
For disassembly I'm happy to guide you to fear_n_loth's Post below.
On the issue of double (black) seals I can only say that that's the way I get them from CraftBrewer. No red silicone "O" rings (presumably you may have those heat-proof buggers used for replacing the olive in Imperial 1\2" BSP compression fittings?) in my ss QD's, only 2 x black seals moulded in the shape of a normal compression olive seat. It all seems to depend where you got them from?
Good luck.

TP


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## Brewman_ (28/4/12)

Just to clarify, I was refering to keg quick disconnects for Corny kegs.

Was the OP referring to disconnects for the serving taps?

Fear


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## christmas (28/4/12)

fear_n_loath said:


> Just to clarify, I was refering to keg quick disconnects for Corny kegs.
> 
> Was the OP referring to disconnects for the serving taps?
> 
> Fear



Yeah sorry, I'm talking about SS liquid QDs for my brew rig. Now I see why you guys were talking olives and compression fittings.


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## matho (28/4/12)

do they look like These if so they were the one's i was takling about as i said the reason for one of mine leaking was the position of the holes that hold the 3 ball bearings that hold the male fitting in place when inserted. I looked that it to see if I could fix it but I decided that I couldn't so I returned them to my LHBS which had no qualms in replacing it. If you can get the defective ones and compare them to the other ones in the shop you should be able to see the difference. I believe that mine were sourced from keg king because they sell them in their catalogue, they should be commended for getting equipment that we homebrewers want, they just need to get some quality control going. If you are going to mail order this fittings I would strongly recommend getting to owner to check the fittings before sending, which can be hard because of that yellow grease that covers them when you get them. I hope things sort out for you because at $15 a pop their not something you want to throw out.

cheers steve


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## ben_sa (28/4/12)

christmas said:


> I'd like to take the females apart as you guys say, but I really have no idea how to go about this.



Surely this bloke has all the answers you need


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## christmas (28/4/12)

Matho, yeah they look like those. Mine were actually $29 a pop so yeah it's a huge disappointment that they leak. I'm gonna go take them back now.



> Surely this bloke has all the answers you need




hahahahahah


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## TidalPete (28/4/12)

christmas said:


> Yeah sorry, I'm talking about SS liquid QDs for my brew rig.



Me too! Sorry for the confusion fellas.

TP


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## quadbox (28/4/12)

I'd remember to check your QD post o-rings as well, as has been brought back to me right now by discovering that 9 out of 10 of mine are perished to shit, whilst cleaning them all. If whilst stretching them any cracks appear then they're fucked. Ditto if any black shit comes off them when wet


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## andymickbill (16/3/14)

Hey folks, my brew rig has unfortunately got one of those leaking stainless female quick disconnects from keg king with the black gasket. It's leaked ever since i bought it, but up until now i've made do by having a cup underneath to collect any leaking work. I've found a few sites that sell replacement gaskets, but... does anyone know how to pull the QDs apart? I'd really appreciate some help; the combination of leaking seals and HERMS is not particularly awesome! :unsure:


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## QldKev (16/3/14)

andymickbill said:


> Hey folks, my brew rig has unfortunately got one of those leaking stainless female quick disconnects from keg king with the black gasket. It's leaked ever since i bought it, but up until now i've made do by having a cup underneath to collect any leaking work. I've found a few sites that sell replacement gaskets, but... does anyone know how to pull the QDs apart? I'd really appreciate some help; the combination of leaking seals and HERMS is not particularly awesome! :unsure:



my 2 c, piss that keg king shit off and buy some decent parts. Imagine that post leaking worse and coming home to a keg emptied out, it's not worth it. Decent CMB or genuine Corny disconnects will last you many years. I've got some CMB ones that are over 10 years old and still going strong.


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## NewtownClown (16/3/14)

QldKev said:


> my 2 c, piss that keg king shit off and buy some decent parts. Imagine that post leaking worse and coming home to a keg emptied out, it's not worth it. Decent CMB or genuine Corny disconnects will last you many years. I've got some CMB ones that are over 10 years old and still going strong.


The discussion above is not about KEG QD's


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## dr K (16/3/14)

My entire brewery uses the stainless spring collar disco's
Two females on the mash tun (liquor out and recirc in) two females on the RIMS pipe, two females on the mag drive pump, two females on the boiler (wort out whirlpool in), two females on the beer mag pump (for pumping from the boiler to the fermentor) and one on the fermentor dome. By my counts thats 11. I have various lengths of heavy silicone hose with the males inserted.
If they leaked I would have a big problem, they don't though.
You do have to make sure that the gasket (s) are seated correctly and that you (obviously) make a proper connection by sliding collar rght back, seating then sliding the collar to it locks.
I would not be without them, I know other brewers who use the same type, sourced from Keg King, with no problems.
If they do leak then your supplier should, at the very least give you new gaskets , or just replace the whole unit.

K


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## pat_00 (17/3/14)

+1 on the kegking QDs. But the seals that are installed are crappy, When I bought mine KK supplied them with the replacement red o rings which fixes the problem.


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## Truman42 (17/3/14)

I thought this was going to be another thread about the crappy KK keg quick disconnects. 

I have at least 6 of their stainless quick disconnects on my brew rig and none of them leak. But as pat_00 said you need to make sure you have the red O rings inserted. They used to give you the red O rings when you brought them now they have already inserted them into the QD as I brought a female QD there today.


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## Camo6 (17/3/14)

NewtownClown said:


> The discussion above is not about KEG QD's


Although I had to read the thread a few times to be certain of this!


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## HBHB (17/3/14)

Christmas, if they have e semicircular nitrile seals, they'll leak like a sieve regardless when they are put under pressure. Someone already said to use 2 seals, which is a reasonable temp fix if you have them. There is a 2.5mm high temp and high pressure seal available. If your LHBS can't help, yell out by PM and i'll arrange a fix for you gratis.

Martin


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## O-beer-wan-kenobi (17/3/14)

Im assuming christmas bought them from a LHBS in Perth? I bought some in Perth that leaked, took them back and was given replacement "O" rings and some spares. It was a dodgy batch and the pattern on the female collar that was different to the rest were loose and leaked.
I think the ones that leaked had a much smaller "O" ring than the others, but with replacements they fit nice and tight


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