So today a friend and I cleaned my kegerator and attempted to tap a new keg (Sixpoint Bolshoi Ale) and... nothing. No beer flow at all. CO2 seemed fine, so we began a lengthy, frustrating, and fruitless investigation of every part of the coupler. No dice. We gave up and switched it to the other coupler and line of the dual-tap kegerator. Same problem. Then my friend accidentally found that he could get beer flow by manually pressing down on the handle of the coupler while opening the tap handle. But the flow stops as soon as the coupler handle is released. So apparently the coupler is not extending far enough to hold the ball open on the keg. (Keg and coupler are both D-type.) So is it possible that we reassembled something incorrectly after cleaning that would cause this? Or is it more likely that we simply got a keg with a faulty seal? Working on the assumption that the problem is the latter, my friend is currently working on a makeshift apparatus to force the coupler handle down that extra fraction of an inch to allow beer flow. If it works... is there any potential downside to doing so? Thanks in advance for any advice.
The tap handle is on the tap, you mean to say the faucet. It is pretty important in this instance. Otherwise your description is really confusing. There are a few different coupler designs available. If you disassembled the handle, it looks like a yoke and it's called, wait for it... the yoke. If that is upside down it won't engage the stem all the way and penetrate the keg ball. The pin must fully click into place to hold the stem engaged. Check to see the check valve is working properly. It is that little plastic ball that you almost lost. If it is stuck, no beer. You should hear it rattling around. If it is missing, just as well. If you disassembled the gaskets then hopefully they have all been replaced properly. The seating gasket, on the bottom and it comes in contact with the keg, that has to be properly fitted or the coupler wont engage the keg properly. Do you have gas? Pull the PRV. You should hear gas. Check the tank, make sure it is on and has gas. Frozen line? Cheers.
