looking to start kegging...good deal?

Personally I'd look on craigslist or LHBS if there is one near so you inspect the corney kegs. I've been burned on a couple of used kegs having dinged up openings that wouldn't seal properly and had to use them for parts.

 

I bought all my used kegs from an LHBS. The reason is that in any large group, some are bound to be unusable. I'd rather verify they can hold pressure before buying.

 

I've purchased from this guy in the past - fast delivery and as-advertised.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-5-gallon-...574?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417305e9a6

That that nice and shiny CO2 tank will likely be traded in for something looking like it's been through a war - unless you have a local place that does refills for you.

I did buy a basics kit from the same place you have in your link. The items are fine (decent regulator), but you may be able to get a cheaper deal if you can find the tank and kegs locally and the rest of the stuff as part of one of their smaller kits (they have a ton of configurations on Amazon.)

Funny I purchased mine with an Amazon gift from my work as well!

 

That's not a bad price, though. Good condition ball-lock kegs are around $45-50 these days. The CO2 tank will cost you $70-$80. A new set of Orings is $5. The regulator is another $45-$55, I think. You might consider spending the additional $35 you would pay for shipping as the local markup you would see at the LBHS. It would be nice to have a local contact that you can visit in person for help getting things assembled the first time.

 

That's not necessarily true. I bought a nice, shiny, new aluminum 20# CO2 tank when I started. Got it refilled a couple of times. The last time, the CO2 guy was out, so they offered to swap. He had a nice, shiny, aluminum tank among the others, so he gave me that one. The steel tanks he had for swapping were in pretty decent cosmetic shape -- like new from a looks perspective. Obviously, ymmv.

That said, if I was going to do it over again, I'd skip the nice, shiny, new Aluminum CO2 tank in favor of steel. It's functionally identical, and I'll never suffer the heartbreak of swapping it for a war relic!


To the OP: Watch Craigslist for CO2 tanks. You can frequently get one cheap from an estate sale, for example. Or a homebrewer recovering from his obsession. You also might check your brewclub. You'd be surprised at how generous these people can be. Our club is toying with the idea of starting an ongoing, informal equipment swap (everybody has bought things they never use)

 

You'll probably have a good feel for how big you want your setup to be by the time you get to kegging. I made the mistake of not buying a duel pressure regulator for 2 pressures across one CO2 tank. I had to buy 2 regulators because of it and I'm happy with my second purchase. Decide how many kegs you want to do and how many pressures you want to set before you buy anything.

 

Two different pressures require two regulators, regardless of whether you buy the second one now or after you discover you need two different pressures.

 

OP: You just tell us what you're looking to do with your kegerator or keezer. Post what you want, and what you're going to buy. Mike will say "yes" or "no" that's going to work. He'll chime in on what you'll need to add on.

Tag, you're it.

 

I think he meant going from a single to a dual, and his was not expandable (easily?).

 

There's this:
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draf...emium_two_product_co2_regulator_battery.shtml

versus this:
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draf...premium_double_gauge_beer_co2_regulator.shtml
plus this:
http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/regulator/single/641-ADDON.shtml

The price for doing it all up front is $152. Adding the second regulator later, the total is $141 (interesting pricing, to say the least). And it's just like attaching the primary to the tank.