Coupler Checkball from Danby Kegerator

[barker]

Hello all, great forum, very informative. I have a couple of questions regarding my Danby Kegerator I recently purchased.

I have gone through 3 kegs of beer, and was still getting a strong odor/flavor of plastic when I let it sit without pouring for more than 15 minutes at a time.

I saw some comments here that stated that removing the check ball / retainer from the coupler would resolve this issue, so I disassembled it, removed the ball and retainer, and the retainer itself is definitely the culprit, it smells very strong of that odor.

My question is, what does this checkball do, and is removing it going to damage the coupler over time, or cause flow issues? Should I try to find a replacement made out of a different material (not sure where to look, I've read that Danby doesn't provide replacement parts)?

On a side note, I saw that "keg-meter" flow meter, and based on the video on the website, it looks impressive. Is anyone using one and if so, does it work well?

[EDIT] I just read in another thread that the checkball prevents the beer from "falling" out of the coupler from the line when you change the keg. Looks like I will need another retainer, or just drink real fast when I change the keg .
[EDIT2]
I found a retainer piece on this webpage, does anyone know if it would be standard, and would work on the couplers that come with a Danby ChillnTap DKC645BLS? My coupler has "DT" on it, and is a D System similar to the one on this page: http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-...pid-7485E.html Thanks!


Barker

[Misterworst]

personnally i wouldn't worry about the check ball, i got rid of most of mine. When i uncouple to clean or change kegs there's a small amount of beer that gets spilled but no major clean up.

[barker]

Originally Posted by Misterworst

personnally i wouldn't worry about the check ball, i got rid of most of mine. When i uncouple to clean or change kegs there's a small amount of beer that gets spilled but no major clean up.

That's good, I figure if the kegs kicked there shouldn't be much in the line going to the tap anyhow, so like you said it isn't a big deal.

I'm just going to leave it then. I called my local shop, and they laughed at me when I said I had a Danby keg system. They said they didn't have replacement parts it as it was non-US standard parts, even though it is a D-System US coupler. Oh well, I'll have to do more research next time if I have to buy another kegerator. Other than this issue it works fine, so I'm still happy with it. I just hope nothing else breaks...

[Scott Zuhse]

The "DT" coupler is notorious for this odor issue. Remove the check ball and retainer. Although it is designed to prevent back flow of the beer in the line when you uncouple the keg, in a direct draw system, not a big deal if it is removed. Be certain to wipe up any beer spill or eventually you will have a mold / yeast garden in your kegerator.