Home Distiller

Hello all

I recently got a sanke keg (at least I think it's a sanke - it looks right), some 2" copper pipe, and a 2" tri-clamp. Now I'm perplexed to find that the clamp is way too small to fit over the flange on the keg. It fits around the 2" pipe with plenty of wiggle room, and the 2" pipe seems to match up nicely with the opening in the top of the keg - but when I try to put the clamp around the keg opening, I get this: What's up with that? The threaded part of the clamp is too short to close the clamp around the keg opening.

I had been blithely planning to order a 2" tri-clamp gasket from Artisan Copperworks, and go ahead with my build - but obviously something is not matching up here...

To the extent you can tell by the picture and my description, did someone goof and sell me too small a clamp? Did I end up with a not-exactly-sanke keg?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

What you need to do is to post the actual dimensions of both the keg and the clamp. Outer dimension of the flange on the keg, and inner and outer dimensions of the flange. There are quite a few variations out there and not all are compatible.

Hope this sizing chart helps you. http://www.gvc.net/docs/gvc_doc_00004.pdf

i reckon it's the clamp


did the spear look like these ?

We had this discussion in the recent past (can't seem to find the link ). There are some folks on eBay (and other sites) that will sell an undersized clamp as a 2 inch. Judging from the pic you provided I agree with the assessment that the clamp is the culprit. Pick up some clamps from Brewhaus there in Canada and it should fit properly.

I think this is the one you were talking about Walkingwolf. And I'm going to say the triclamp is the problem. I do beleave there are measurements in this thread to help you.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=20569

Thanks for your help, folks.

The measurements I got are
Keg fitting:
OD 2 7/8"
ID 1 7/8"

Clamp"
OD approx 3 1/8" or 3 3/16" max (hard to tell exactly as it's adjustable)
ID approx 2 3/4" or 2 13/16" (the sides are 3/16 thick, so OD minus 3/8)

No maheel, the spear was different - the mouth of the hole is internally threaded at the top, and there was a threaded lock ring of brass or some softish metal about 1/2" high in the top. I had to drill two holes in the lock ring, use a file to expand the drilled holes, and then used the corner of a garden hoe as a giant screwdriver to unscrew the lock ring. Underneath that, all the parts of the valve and spear were just stacked loose on top of each other, rather than being one unit like the picture there.

The keg is a Guinness or maybe Harp keg (says "Guinness Brands" on it).

myles, I had a look at that PDF you posted, thanks. It looks like I've got some sort of euro keg or something - the flange is a good bit bigger than a 2" tri clamp...