John Guest or Barbed on New Kegerator

[BeerSwiller]

Hi All,

I am making up a new kegerator (keg king series 3) to replace my old kelvinator fridge that my dad has now taken and wont give back and was wondering if I should use JG fittings like I have been using or the barbed type.. I have heard of a couple of people that have gone to the barbed type as they have had problems with the JG fittings failing and ending up with a hell of a mess :/

Just wondering on opinions?

Also with the KegKing fridge, I was thinking of just having a pluto gun inside the fridge so 1- I dont end up with any foaming from a warm tap and 2- So i dont have to plumb a cooling fan to continually chill the font as I believe this would put a fair strain on the compressor (depending on ambient temp)

My old fridge had a couple of Celli Taps in the door but always had a problem in the warm weather of foaming up until the tap chilled.

Any help would be great, I've never used a Kegerator with a font assembly so I dont really have any experience, just surmising i guess.

Thanks all

 

[Wolfy]

JG fittings - no problems with them here and they make things so much easier.

 

[barls]

so long as you use the john guest one and not the cheap copies your fine.

 

[Florian]

Have JG fittings in one of my keg fridge and had some trouble with leaky connections, lost a few bottles etc.

Have downgraded to barbs for my second kegerator and had no trouble so far.

EDIT: All original JG that failed on me. Not a lot but enough to annoy me repeatedly.

 

[mikec]

Even the proper JG ones can leak gas if you're not careful.
So be careful!

OK OK, I'll elaborate.
When removing the hoses, if you don't have the little clamp fully released, the hose can be scratched as you pull it out. This scratch creates a nice little hole for CO2 to escape from when you next have it pushed in to the JG fitting.

Just something to be mindful of. If you do happen to scratch it, just cut a cm off and bingo, good as new.

 

[NickB]

Proper JG fittings with the appropriate hose (flex master II is the best) have zero problems with leaking. It's when you combine the generic JG style fittings with correct hose, or incorrect (ie:cheaper) hose with genuine JG fittings you have problems. Also, make sure the hoses are pushed all the way in. The click twice in my experience - once past the collet, and once into the base of the fitting.

Cheers

 

[Truman42]

JG fittings - no problems with them here and they make things so much easier.

Are we talking proper JG fittings or KK knock offs that you've had no problems with Wolfy? I scored two taps at last nights brew club meeting so want to mount them in my fridge door and am considering which fittings to use on the back end.

EDIT: Okay Barls just answered my question..

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

If your hose/tube is not to spec even JG will leak.
only seen one JG fail due to manufacture fitting fault.
Nev

 

[BeerSwiller]

Yep, I have always used Flexmaster II with the geniune GJ Fittings and had no problems but was just curious, especially since I am going to be keeping this keg fridge inside and would wasnt a big co2 leak from my 6.8Kg cylinder........ Yes I know, probably a safe bet to just turn the gas off.

Im not going to need to swap connections at all so being a quick disconnect really doesnt matter, just after the connection that will be the most 'fail safe'

Thanks everyone for their feedback... appreciated.

 

[Florian]

Im not going to need to swap connections at all so being a quick disconnect really doesnt matter, just after the connection that will be the most 'fail safe'

That's exactly how I saw it when fitting out the kegerator in the kitchen. As most fail safe i'd consider barbs and heaps of boiling water, force and swearing to push those lines all the way over the barbs.

I've only ever used Flexmaster II and genuine JG fittings, too, but found that they don't seal well under stress, eg a bent gas line. As space is tight in a keg fridge (especially the ones you're installing) I found the barbs to be safer.

I've also had two JG splitters that leaked in any configuration (new lines, no stress, pushed all the way in, used locking pins to keep the gray ring away from the fitting, etc, etc.), and at least one (possibly two, can't remember exactly) joiner where the little gray ring became brittle and broke. Seems to be the minority but it does happen.

 

[BeerSwiller]

Florian, do you use flex master II with the barbed fittings or PVC, PVC would be more flexible and easier to manage in a confined space, I know with my current setup it's quite a rigid hose, especially when sitting at 0c

 

[kegs23]

you can all was hook up a font with a tap and use that if your going to have a drinking session and if you only going to have one or two after work just use the gun inside the fridge,,i run quick release fittings(JG) and other fittting just for the ease of pulling apart to clean,.just turn off the gas after each use and you should never have to much of a problem\

 

[kahlerisms]

Bought some KegKing JG style adapters for my gas disconnects on the weekend. Audible leaks with two of them if I apply the slightest bit of downward/sideways pressure on the line near the disconnect. Quite annoyed, have converted half my fridge back to barbs and I'll get around to the other half when I have more than two kegs full.

 

[Florian]

Should've added a few bucks and gone with the original or even better, stayed with barbs.

 

[Bribie G]

I've had a couple of JG fittings fail, mostly T pieces when they have been under stress and "doing the splits" in the kegmate where things can get very crowded. "Keg Tetris" as Chappo used to refer to it.

I replaced a failed JG equal T with a barbed eight dollar T from a motor parts shop and it works brilliantly. Just don't use them in places where you may need to change your configuration as once they are connected, they are in there for good. I just lost a bottle of gas in only 4 months so I'll need to check things out again.

Of course it could be a faulty post or PRV but I wouldn't discount that second JG which is "downstream" from the barbed joiner.

 

[barls]

Get a manifold bribie. Works so much better
Never had a John guest fitting fail in my keg fridge but have had them fail on work equipment.
I find that it's movement that will kill them as they aren't designed to handle a huge amount of flex in the fittings
Also I find that the collet tool helps in getting a really good seal on the tube

 

[hsb]

JG fittings are purpose made for beverage dispensing/gas, so they shouldn't fail if you use the right lines and treat them right.

That said, I can see how things can go awry if you try and shoehorn the wrong size line in there or put them in a high stress location.
I think they're great, prove so useful around the brewery, can chop and change things to bottle/keg/transfer etc. but ymmv it seems.
You can also use corners and those snap in fittings to help secure them more and eliminate movement from any particular area. And definitely Manifold FTW.

 

[kahlerisms]

Should've added a few bucks and gone with the original or even better, stayed with barbs.

I've learnt that, now!

 

[Jazman]

My system i have had the jg lines and connections to my perlicks and so far no problems

 

[stux]

I have more problems with bung poppets than JG connections.

Setting up a new fridge with all JG is such a breeze compared to barbs.

The good thing with the barbs though is you *know* its good once you've got it setup, whereas with the JG's you're constantly worried that perhaps some movement has made a leak...

BUT considering I rip down my lines with impunity now, chopping and changing things whenever I like its worth having the JGs.