Are Non Return Valves "snake Oil"

[milob40]

hi all i don't want to start a debate here but i have read quite a few posts re the use of non return valves to prevent beer from flowing back to the regulator and damaging it.
what i can't figure out is how can this happen if the line is pressurised and if you dont overfill the keg the beer can't jump up into the inlet tube.
sounds like "snake oil" to me.
if you don't overfill a keg what purpose do these valves have?
i find line splitters much more usefull so you can isolate your drinking keg while pressurising you new keg.
whats your thoughts on this?

 

[brad05]

I know I feel better having them but if you are careful they aren't necessary. Mistakes can happen though so I guess it is just a little insurance. When I bought my keg system I had never seen how they work so it was a no-brainer to spend a few extra dollars.

 

[brettprevans]

Nfi how this is relating to k&k/extract....
Also not sure why this could have been asked within an existing non return valve thread

If the keg has more pressure than the reg pressure (ie u turn the reg pressure down) then the beer will go up the line.
There are also other benefits of using them. Like using them on individual lines and pressurizing kegs to differant pressures (the valve keeps them from reimposing pressures).
It's not a necessity peice of equip but it's well worth the cost as a little peice of insurance.

 

[white.grant]

If you enjoy force carbing your kegs through the beer out, they are pretty much indispensable.

cheers

grant

 

[bconnery]

If the keg has more pressure than the reg pressure (ie u turn the reg pressure down) then the beer will go up the line.

I've had this happen more than once. I was there and was able to adjust things before the beer got as far as the non return valve but if I had just connected it and walked away and not had a valve...

Again the cheap cost of one of these vs a regulator makes it a no-brainer to me.

Yes I could operate my system without one without issue but especially when I was learning how the whole kegging thing worked it was a nice piece of piece of mind...

 

[Fatgodzilla]

If you enjoy force carbing your kegs through the beer out, they are pretty much indispensable.

cheers

grant

The day I saw beer in my gas line I bought a non return valve. Thankfully no damage to the regulator, but decided that a valve was cheaper than a new reg. For the money you pay for your system, a NRV is a cheap item.

 

[brettprevans]

The day I saw beer in my gas line I bought a non return valve. Thankfully no damage to the regulator, but decided that a valve was cheaper than a new reg. For the money you pay for your system, a NRV is a cheap item.

Exactly what happened to me.
I also bought a couple more for indiv beer lines so I can have. Diff keg pressures

 

[np1962]

And no one has ever connected their gas line to a beer out post by accident have they? B)

 

[Bribie G]

I bought the 4 keg deal off Ross first and had a couple of kegs sitting there carbed up (sugar) waiting to get my kegerator. Ross and Chappo actually brought it up and set it up for me which was very generous of Ross as it was a Sat morning when he is usually flat out in the shop. The kegs were a bit of a mixture with the gas out post on two of them with that 'morningstar' moulding at the base of the post and the other two were identical looking beer and gas posts where you have to squint hard to see the 'in' and 'out' etched into the plastic shroud.

As Ross will confirm, when the system was set up and connecting the first keg he got a bit distracted by something Chappo was saying (Chappo is distraction Central as everyone would realise by now ) and accidentally popped a gas line on the beer post of an already pressurised keg of Superlandlord. And up the gas line it went, and got promptly stopped by the NRV. We disconnected, washed out the lines and popped them back together again and both agreed NRV had already paid for itself several times over.

Another way you can get beer into gas lines is when you use a carb cap and tip the bottle whilst force carbonating it. Obviously the line and headspace in the bottle are at the same pressure so a surprising amount of beer can go the wrong way up the line if you aren't careful.