Tricky Thread

[livo]

Here is a photograph of the "Beer Out" bushing on a very nice 10 Gallon Keg I now own. It has a corny keg lid with a built-in pressure gauge as well as the PRV. The "Gas In" bush on the other side takes a standard corny keg post. The thread on this bush is proving very difficult, and no amount of searching has yielded a result, let alone me being able to find a ball lock fitting for it. I pre-emptively bought a 5/8" post but it is not even close.

The thread appears to be a tapered thread of around 16 mm or 5/8" at the low end and around 15.5 mm or 39/64" at the top. However, it is a very fine thread for the diameter with a pitch of around 1mm (measured using a 1.0 mm Metric thread gauge with good fit) or that would be 24 to 25 TPI. The only thread I can find any reference to is a 16 X 1 metric, but it is a pretty rare thing and all I have seen is a die used for cutting that thread on eBay.

The standard dip tube fits inside the bush and I believe this is one of 6 kegs the same. This one is numbered 4.

Is anybody familiar with kegs using this unusual thread for "Beer Out"?

Edit: Or, it could be "Gas In" as the Input and Output are only marked on the keg with stick-on labels.

 

[MHB]

I think it might be an old Taylor ice cream/soaft serv flavour keg.
Look up Taylor kegs, or post a picture of the keg.

 

[livo]

A few pics and more info.

This is not a "Racecourse" keg. I have 2 of those at 22 litres branded Schweppes for Syrup. The lids are different shape and the seals are also different. The "Racecourse" lid seals are soft and spongy, like foam rubber. Not solid O-Rings like Corny keg. The 2 Racecourse kegs I have use standard posts. (I think! I'll have to go check now.) Edit: The Schweppes kegs are spiral welded. This one is a tube with cap and base.

A standard Corny keg lid fits this keg. I read (Wikipeadia) that Cornelius kegs do come in 10 gallon, but I can't find any anywhere.
Edit: New ones sell for between US $600 and $800 which makes this good value at AUS $40.

The lid has a PRV (unusual design) and a Pressure Gauge. The lid is marked (stamped) 5 Bar / 40L (picture is a bit blurry).

The wall thickness of this keg is considerably thicker that a standard corny. I'd estimate it at 2.5 mm at least. It is quite heavy. It is the same height as a 5 gallon / 19 litre corny and will take a standard out dip tube. The one in it has been cut off by about 50 mm which makes me think it was used as a FV.

Pic 1 Whole keg
Pic 2 Top
Pic 3 Lid
Pic 4 Corny lid fitted.

 

[livo]

The guy I bought it from supplied me with a standard corny post / bulkhead fitting combo. He informed me I'd need to get it welded in. I think, as a last resort, that may be the case, but before that I'd just cut the existing bush off, tidy up the hole to fit the 1/4" bulkhead and use the supplied O-ring and nut to pull it closed through the top of the keg. I'd rather find a post with the correct thread to fit as the preferred option.

Table of Corny sizes from Wikipeadia

Capacity	Ball lock kegs	Pin lock kegs
Diameter	Height	Diameter	Height
9 litres (2.38 US gal; 1.98 imp gal)	8.25 in (210 mm)	15 in (380 mm)
3 US gal (11.4 L; 2.5 imp gal)	8.5 in (220 mm)	17 in (430 mm)	9 in (230 mm)	16 in (410 mm)
4.75 US gal (18.0 L; 3.96 imp gal)			9 in (230 mm)	22 in (560 mm)
5 US gal (19 L; 4.2 imp gal)	8.5 in (220 mm)	24.75 in (629 mm)	9 in (230 mm)	23 in (580 mm)
10 US gal (38 L; 8.3 imp gal)	12.25 in (311 mm)	24.75 in (629 mm)

 

[MHB]

OK
Not a keg I recognise. You are making some assumptions about kegs and O-Rings that aren’t quite the way it works.
The kegs were produced by various manufacturers for customers, In Australia Rheem made lots, both what people call Coke, Pepsi, Schweppes, even the RAAF for mobile eye washing... A range of turrets were made by RR Taylor Pty Ltd to suit customer’s requirements. In Australia the "race track" hatch was standard. There were and are a bunch of different hatch O-Rings available to.
Same applied in the rest of the world; Cornelius and Firestone were big in the US. There were also makers in Europe and Asia, still are.
In every case they were made for customers to match the customer’s requirements, in fact race track type kegs still are by STPV in Melbourne.
So over the years there have been plenty of versions of kegs and it can be hard to pin down exactly what you have (good luck).
I would recommend if worst come to worst get a new thread welded in. Make sure the welder knows his **** and works to food grade standards. Anything screwed into a keg has a bad habit of leaking at some point.
Good luck, it might be cheaper and easier to park this one in the mañana bay and just buy another keg, but what works for you.
Mark

Just for interest

 

[livo]

I live 10 minutes away from Somersby NSW.

Edit: I'm not sure what assumptions I've made Mark, but I thank you for your replies. I'll head up the hill and see what RR TAYLOR Pty Ltd can tell me about it.

 

[MHB]

Im not even sure they are still in business.
In the attatchment there are the thread sizes for some posts, might be helpfull
Mark

 

[livo]

Yeah. All pretty standard threads and definately not what I have here. Apparently still operating from the same premises. Whether they can assist or not is not known. I'm familiar with threads and metal fabrication. I don't know what this could be other than 16 x 1 metric, but it's tapered. Very odd thread for this fitting.