I currently have the standard Chrome beer Faucet. I am pondering upgrading to the Perlick Stainless Steel 525ss. If I just buy the Perlick faucets, can I use the shank from my old faucets with the New Perlicks?
I had a problem with my Perlick faucets fitting onto the old shanks. They didn't want to line up. A little manhandling got it to work. I haven't removed them since. So I don't know if I will be able to get them off or back together without leaking. So far so good though.
There were reports years ago that the machining on the Perlick faucets was not real pretty, with the result that they were sometimes difficult to attach to the shank. This was one of the more obvious visible differences between Perlick and the similar VentMatic. I haven't heard this in years, so I assumed it was no longer an issue. Maybe I assumed wrongly. Modern faucets are virtually all built to fit to a standard, generic shank. Slop in manufacturing is the only reason you're likely to have a hard time with it.
I have both the old and new style perlicks and use them interchangeably on all my shanks. I have about 8 shanks of unknown heritage, and the new perlicks fit them all with out a problem, so I think you'll be ok.
