Is there a better quality CO2 regulator?

[Whistledown]

I find Kegland CO2 regulators to be of poor quality and either the dials stick or stop reading. Is there a better alternative?

 

[Neil Buttriss]

Harris very good well made and reliable.
https://www.kegking.com.au/regulator-harris-601-twin-gauge-0-400kpa.html

 

[djebel]

In all my time brewing I've never heard any complaints about Micromatic regulators.

https://www.micro-matic.com/en/products/beverage-dispense-equipment/regulators

 

[Vic]

I find Kegland CO2 regulators to be of poor quality and either the dials stick or stop reading. Is there a better alternative?

Harris 601

 

[sp0rk]

Another vote for the Harris 601
I used an old Harris 821 for years, only got a new 601 because the 821 got moved to my portable setup
I've used micromatics for setups for mates and they work perfectly fine too, I just like the Harris regulators
I'd never touch a KK or KL regulator though, I've seen way too many fail in friend's setups

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I find Kegland CO2 regulators to be of poor quality and either the dials stick or stop reading. Is there a better alternative?

https://www.kegland.com.au/products...l-gauge-multi-gas-includes-8mm-x-ffl-duotight

Which model of regulator did you have? Is it the one in the link above? KegLand has a 5 year warranty which is longer than the Harris and Micro-Matic and as kegland is only 6 years old we almost every regulator sold will still be under warranty so if you have an issue I don't know why you wouldn't contact us.

We supply tons of our regulators commercially across several different industries and they are well regarded and are seen to be reliable. We have had regulators back for repairs before with a return rate of well under 0.5%. With the ones that have been returned we have taken quite a lot of the apart and the failures have approximately been:

1. Liquid going back into the regulator 65%
- This type of failure mode can be prevented by using a check valve. We are considering using a check valve in our new MK5 model and just building it into the regulator as standard. The only small issue with this is that if you build the check valve into the regulator then the PRV will not work to release pressure from the other side of the check valve downstream. With that said I think so many home brewers in particular either accidentally fill kegs too high or force carbonate and then suck beer up into the regulator that this might be a necessary change to the design. Generally speaking when liquid gets into the regulator it can cause the diaphragm to get sticky and it also accelerates brass corrosion internally and this generally ends up presenting itself with pressure creep. A very cheap check valve also eliminates this issue:
https://www.kegland.com.au/products...ale-x-8mm-5-16-female-one-way-check-valve-gas

2. Damage to the gauges (normally due to being dropped) 20%
- This is really easy to eliminate as an issue if you just purchase the gauge guard. Irrespective of the brand of regulator Harris, Micro-Matic, or KegLand if the cylinder falls over it will almost certainly damage the gauges. I really think for $16.95 you would be far better of spending your money on this rather than looking for some other expensive brand.
https://www.kegland.com.au/products/stainless-steel-gauge-guard-for-mk4-regulator-bump-guard

3. Other damage caused by contamination under the seat cap 10%
This ends up with another pressure creep situation and this can come from loose brass internally in the regulator or comes from contamination from the CO2 cylinder as many cylinders have small amounts of rust or other particulates in the cylinders. For large industrial cylinders they are almost always handled and transported upright but for home brewers it's much more common for cylinders to be transported sideways or even upside down and when this happens you have a much higher chance of contamination migrating from the cylinder, out of the valve and to the regulator.

4. Other issues that have not been well documented 5%.

Obviously I am biased but if you want a reliable option I would go with the MK4 model of regulator that we sell but just purchase the check valve and gauge guard. At the end of the day if we had a high failure rate of our regulators we wouldn't be able to offer a 5 year warranty.

I will also note that issues 1 and 2 will be exactly the same irrespective of the regulator brand so these same failures would also happen with the Micro Matic and Harris.

 

[Eddy Monsoon]

I find Kegland CO2 regulators to be of poor quality and either the dials stick or stop reading. Is there a better alternative?

Which one are you referring to? or have you tried many ?

https://www.kegland.com.au/collecti...for-refillable-tanks?sort_by=price-descending

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Which one are you referring to? or have you tried many ?

https://www.kegland.com.au/collecti...for-refillable-tanks?sort_by=price-descending

I find Kegland CO2 regulators to be of poor quality and either the dials stick or stop reading. Is there a better alternative?

Also we will happily pay for the return postage. Can you please send us your order number and we will get the regulator back to us for diagnosis and then we will post the results on the forum. If the regulator is actually faulty then we will replace it or repair it for free.

 

[clickeral]

https://www.kegland.com.au/products...l-gauge-multi-gas-includes-8mm-x-ffl-duotight

Which model of regulator did you have? Is it the one in the link above? KegLand has a 5 year warranty which is longer than the Harris and Micro-Matic and as kegland is only 6 years old we almost every regulator sold will still be under warranty so if you have an issue I don't know why you wouldn't contact us.

We supply tons of our regulators commercially across several different industries and they are well regarded and are seen to be reliable. We have had regulators back for repairs before with a return rate of well under 0.5%. With the ones that have been returned we have taken quite a lot of the apart and the failures have approximately been:

1. Liquid going back into the regulator 65%
- This type of failure mode can be prevented by using a check valve. We are considering using a check valve in our new MK5 model and just building it into the regulator as standard. The only small issue with this is that if you build the check valve into the regulator then the PRV will not work to release pressure from the other side of the check valve downstream. With that said I think so many home brewers in particular either accidentally fill kegs too high or force carbonate and then suck beer up into the regulator that this might be a necessary change to the design. Generally speaking when liquid gets into the regulator it can cause the diaphragm to get sticky and it also accelerates brass corrosion internally and this generally ends up presenting itself with pressure creep. A very cheap check valve also eliminates this issue:
https://www.kegland.com.au/products...ale-x-8mm-5-16-female-one-way-check-valve-gas

2. Damage to the gauges (normally due to being dropped) 20%
- This is really easy to eliminate as an issue if you just purchase the gauge guard. Irrespective of the brand of regulator Harris, Micro-Matic, or KegLand if the cylinder falls over it will almost certainly damage the gauges. I really think for $16.95 you would be far better of spending your money on this rather than looking for some other expensive brand.
https://www.kegland.com.au/products/stainless-steel-gauge-guard-for-mk4-regulator-bump-guard

3. Other damage caused by contamination under the seat cap 10%
This ends up with another pressure creep situation and this can come from loose brass internally in the regulator or comes from contamination from the CO2 cylinder as many cylinders have small amounts of rust or other particulates in the cylinders. For large industrial cylinders they are almost always handled and transported upright but for home brewers it's much more common for cylinders to be transported sideways or even upside down and when this happens you have a much higher chance of contamination migrating from the cylinder, out of the valve and to the regulator.

4. Other issues that have not been well documented 5%.

Obviously I am biased but if you want a reliable option I would go with the MK4 model of regulator that we sell but just purchase the check valve and gauge guard. At the end of the day if we had a high failure rate of our regulators we wouldn't be able to offer a 5 year warranty.

I will also note that issues 1 and 2 will be exactly the same irrespective of the regulator brand so these same failures would also happen with the Micro Matic and Harris.

I didn't realize they had a 5year warrenty and brought a replacement for one I have that had the main screw seize on me and the knob snap

I threw the broken part and kept the bottom as spares

Note mine has always been in a regulator guard and had a one way valve on the output

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I didn't realize they had a 5year warrenty and brought a replacement for one I have that had the main screw seize on me and the knob snap

I threw the broken part and kept the bottom as spares

Note mine has always been in a regulator guard and had a one way valve on the output

If you have thrown away the bonnet and adjustment knob on the front of the regulator this does make it difficult for us to assist you.

Can you send us your order number? Did you contact our customer service team about this at the time?