23 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

I used to have the double tower on top of a small fridge. If for some reason one of my tap handles was loose, crooked or whatever, I had the clearance so I could just turn it clockwise and tighten it or line it back up. Now I have 4 taps on the wall and many people seem to loosen them or make them crooked when they open & shut the tap. Also, many of my homemade handles will not clear the wall unless the faucet is open... so I will tap the beer and while the glass is filling, twist the handle & tighten it and/or straighten it. I have been to other homebrewer's houses where their taps are doing the same thing. Is there some way to fix this? Some of my handles have the large, threaded insert in the base of the handle and some have the stainless ferrule instead. The handles with the ferrules seem to be the most problematic. I have some guests in the house and at this moment, all 4 of the handles are loose. Do the faucets have a tightening mechanism down where that thumbwheel is located? Cheers.Ps. If I have a straight, up & down handle, they stay tight. Mine have a "panel" where it's easy to twist it if you don't pull it straight forward.

[jayb151]

Ken, I know you're not the most handy guy, what with making your own tap handles and attaching them to a wall, but couldn't you simply drill and tap a small screw into the side of the insert? That might mess up the screw on tap though...What about putting another nut between the tap and the handle? You could align the handle exactly where you want it, and just tighten the nut. This should keep tension and would be an easy solution...as long as there is enough room to add another nut.

[gnef]

can you post a picture of what you are talking about? I am trying to visualize it, but having some difficulties. I don't use fancy handles though, just the standard black ones that clear the freezer section of the fridge I use for my kegerator.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

I used to have the double tower on top of a small fridge. If for some reason one of my tap handles was loose, crooked or whatever, I had the clearance so I could just turn it clockwise and tighten it or line it back up. Now I have 4 taps on the wall and many people seem to loosen them or make them crooked when they open & shut the tap. Also, many of my homemade handles will not clear the wall unless the faucet is open... so I will tap the beer and while the glass is filling, twist the handle & tighten it and/or straighten it. I have been to other homebrewer's houses where their taps are doing the same thing. Is there some way to fix this? Some of my handles have the large, threaded insert in the base of the handle and some have the stainless ferrule instead. The handles with the ferrules seem to be the most problematic. I have some guests in the house and at this moment, all 4 of the handles are loose. Do the faucets have a tightening mechanism down where that thumbwheel is located? Cheers.Ps. If I have a straight, up & down handle, they stay tight. Mine have a "panel" where it's easy to twist it if you don't pull it straight forward.

You must have a bunch of lefties drinking beer.

[Big Nake]

So here is a pic...In this shot, tap handles 1, 2 and 4 are mine. #3 I had made for me. Some people will grab the handle and it will twist at the spot where it connects to the faucet. When the handle is just a straight-up design (envision a baseball bat or something), it won't happen because you can't really "twist" the handle. But with my other designs, you could pull on the right or left of the handle and make it loose or crooked. Am I explaining this clearly? Thanks guys.

[MyaCullen]

So here is a pic...In this shot, tap handles 1, 2 and 4 are mine. #3 I had made for me. Some people will grab the handle and it will twist at the spot where it connects to the faucet. When the handle is just a straight-up design (envision a baseball bat or something), it won't happen because you can't really "twist" the handle. But with my other designs, you could pull on the right or left of the handle and make it loose or crooked. Am I explaining this clearly? Thanks guys.

might I suggest

[gnef]

What I'd recommend is to get the tap handles oriented how you like, then get a wrench (you might need two) and tighten the ferrule against the tap handle bottom - as if you were taking the ferrule off of the threaded part. This is the same idea of using two nuts tightened against each other to lock them in place on a screw.You will need to hold the tap handle in place, and may need a second wrench to hold it in place.This should lock the tap handle in place, at least for a while.You may want to use rubber bands around the ferrule to keep it from marring.

[davelew]

I like the idea of figuring out how to double-nut the handle onto the shaft. Torque the nuts hard enough, and you won't have any problems.

[chuck_d]

So wait, the nut that is already on the faucet that screws up to meet the tap handle isn't holding them already? There should already be a little screw nut on the handle that you can twist so it moves upwards and seals firmly against the tap handle. Also, I might be understanding the way people are pulling on it, but I would teach them to pull the tap handle at its base, not up high near the panels that display the name of the beer.In the cut-outs at the bottom of the page I think the parts I'm talking about are piece 2 in the standard faucet and piece 8 in the ventless.https://draughtquality.org/FaucetOr, better yet...Edit: BTW, sweet looking new setup.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Would teaching people to grab the tap handle near the bottom like they should solve the problem? I know it's enticing to grab the top and have a nice long throw when opening the tap up but that's not really proper form in my opinion.

[tag]

First check that the lock nuts are tight at the base of the handle. This will lock the handle to the faucet lever.But it could also be due to the design of the faucet lever. The faucet lever on the 525's has a ball on the lower end so there isn't anything to keep it from rotating.Some levers have more of a flat surface that fits into a notch which will keep the tap handle from rotating. https://www.wholesal...ame=1821.jpgNot sure if these would fit in a 525.

[tag]

Oops. The 525 doesn't even have a shaft to fit into, so there isn't anything to keep it from rotating. Hmmm.

[Big Nake]

Here's a Ventmatic faucet similar to mine. What does the nut do and what does the grooved "thumbwheel" do? I took a wrench to the thumbwheel thinking that it would keep the tap handle in a tight position. There are a couple of issues that I need to address in my tap handle construction but this issue that I'm having has more to do with the fact that my handles want to spin. When I went to a bud's house (who has his faucets coming out the front of his fridge door), I noticed they were very loose. They could not be spun while the faucet was closed because they would hit the fridge so he had a similar problem. This was before I had my taps set up on my wall so I said, "Whoa, these handles are really loose, Buddy" and he shrugged and said, "they keep coming loose... not sure how to fix that". I do have some straight up & down vanilla handles that work well but then you don't know what beer you're drinking.

[tag]

Oh, 425s. Check out this parts diagram. https://www.perlick....essories.pdfThe handle lever #7 will tighten the lever down to the body. The collar #10 will lock the handle lever to the handle. (Turn it up until it is tight against the bottom of the handle.)Inside, #7 fits into #2. If #7 has a flat end to it (like in the drawing) it shouldn't rotate. But if it is round there won't be any way to stop it from rotating.

[chuck_d]

Here's a Ventmatic faucet similar to mine. What does the nut do and what does the grooved "thumbwheel" do? I took a wrench to the thumbwheel thinking that it would keep the tap handle in a tight position. There are a couple of issues that I need to address in my tap handle construction but this issue that I'm having has more to do with the fact that my handles want to spin. When I went to a bud's house (who has his faucets coming out the front of his fridge door), I noticed they were very loose. They could not be spun while the faucet was closed because they would hit the fridge so he had a similar problem. This was before I had my taps set up on my wall so I said, "Whoa, these handles are really loose, Buddy" and he shrugged and said, "they keep coming loose... not sure how to fix that". I do have some straight up & down vanilla handles that work well but then you don't know what beer you're drinking.

Ok, you see the nut at the top, with the screw coming out of it. You twist on your tap handle, and then face it properly, and then twist the nut up to meet the tap handle. Tighten the handle against the nut and it should be pretty firm. Does that make sense, or are you already doing that?2 is what you twist up to meet your handle.1 is a compression bonnet that seals the faucet

[chuck_d]

Word, since video editing is so easy for me now... I just made a video, might be better than my words. The hard part was actually holding my phone with no hands to make the video.https://dieseldrafts.com/journal/2010/07/installing-a-tap-handle/

Edited by chuck_d, 31 July 2010 - 11:18 AM.

[Big Nake]

Chuck: Nice work, Amigo. No, I am not doing that. I am just screwing it on there, straightening it and then it comes loose. As for the #1 part (compression bonnet)... what does it do? I have tightened those down quite tightly thinking that they would help with the tap handles. How should those be adjusted? Thanks for the video. Ken

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Chuck: Nice work, Amigo. No, I am not doing that. I am just screwing it on there, straightening it and then it comes loose. As for the #1 part (compression bonnet)... what does it do? I have tightened those down quite tightly thinking that they would help with the tap handles. How should those be adjusted? Thanks for the video. Ken

you want to tighten down #1 all the way. It's sealing the faucet up.

[chuck_d]

Chuck: Nice work, Amigo. No, I am not doing that. I am just screwing it on there, straightening it and then it comes loose. As for the #1 part (compression bonnet)... what does it do? I have tightened those down quite tightly thinking that they would help with the tap handles. How should those be adjusted? Thanks for the video. Ken

You don't need to touch those except for when you want to completely breakdown the faucet for a thorough cleaning. As zymo said, it's sealing the faucet, basically prevents leaks at the area where the lever goes inside the faucet. This page has an exploded diagram at the bottom...https://draughtquality.org/FaucetYou can see how 8 is what you adjust to anchor the tap handle. 7 is the compression thing you are trying to tighten, both of those come down over the screw for the tap handle along with the o-ring part 2 which rest on 5;6 and 7 tightens the o-ring onto 5;6. 8 is the only thing you need to use to adjust the tap handle.I'm glad the photos & video helped. So yeah, I just screw the handle all the way down, but often then it's not facing properly. Screw it out a touch to face the handle. Then twist that nut up to hug the handle firmly. You might need to tighten it once a week or every couple days, but whatever.

[chuck_d]

Then twist that nut up to hug the handle firmly.

Wait what? Pretend I didn't say it like that...