Cornie keg set up

[greengrass]

Hi all, has anybody used Keg Kingdom in Halesowen Birmingham, I have been on their web site and they do a 3 Cornie keg set up,

3 x Cornie Keg ball lock (coca cola)
3 x standard beer faucet
2 mtrs of Co2 tubing per keg
2 mtrs of beer tubing per keg
3 way John Guest splitter
3 pairs of disconnects (both beer and Co2)
All above for £280, with out gas or 320 with a 2kg bottle of gas.
I like the idea of getting all the kit in one hit, is this a good deal or not?.
Your thoughts please.
Cheers all
GG

[Kev888]

I've not used them myself so can't comment on the seller/company. Corny prices are all over the place these days, but I'd have estimated vaguely around £250 for a 3x used corny setup including a new (proper beer) CO2 regulator and 3x new dalex taps, new line and all the connectors. With possible reductions from private and forum type used sales (and of course choosing cheaper parts). Much also depends on the taps, as they can be say £12-£15 each to £yikes!.

I couldn't find the package you mentioned, but if the quality and after-sales support is reasonable £280 therefore doesn't immediately sound ridiculous (if it includes the regulator). With shopping around etc you could find savings and/or could make slightly cheaper choices, but of course if this is new to you that may be a false economy.

Be careful to check out the gas cylinder options, especially if you aren't local to the seller. You will be wanting to get it refilled at some point, doing it by post can be costly and and not many local places will re-fill cylinders which aren't their own. this is a perennial pain, but if you can find a local supplier/re-filler that doesn't charge any/high rental on their cylinders (a deposit is typical) it may cost quite a bit less over time. That said, treating a 2kg cylinder as disposable (e.g. whilst you look around for alternatives) may still be cheaper than some methods of buying CO2 (such as bulbs or perhaps s30 types)

[greengrass]

Thanks Kev, I have the option of using a local supplier of gas, and they are quite reasonable, also the Keg Kingdom is not far away from where my son lives so I might check it out next time I am there. What is the normal size gas cylinder you would use for home brew, as I take it 2kg is not that big. Also if you go on to Keg Kingdom web site and look for Kegerator conversion kit, you will see the one I am on about, (they do them in single, double, or triple set ups)
Regards
GG

[Kev888]

The most common sized CO2 cylinders people use are around 6.5Kg, but thats largely because its a standard pub size and so tends to be more readily available and better value for refills. That would be my preferred choice, but 2kg is still a sensible size if you have a need for something more compact; they are available with the normal full size regulator fitting, and refills (whilst a bit more expensive per kg) are usually still reasonably priced; much cheaper per kg than say soda-stream or s30 cylinders. They probably use the same cylinder (with a different fitting) as some of the small commercial fire extinguishers you may have seen.

I bought 2kg cylinders initially, myself. Unfortunately there were a series of problems with the valves leaking on mine - these were cheap jobs compared to the normal pub type valves - made more annoying having bought them outright (rather than just on a deposit or rental). This is one reason I prefer the proper pub types, which are designed for heavy commercial use. Mine weren't from keg kingdom however, so theirs may well be fine for all I know. Certainly the size was okay, lasted me two or three months between refills.

That keggerator conversion kit looks fine to me, judging by their list and picture. The taps aren't the cheapest and the regulator says it measures psi (not litres/min as some cheap welding gas ones do) so overall seems fairly typical for retail prices. Its probably worth checking out their reputation for after sales (in case anything goes wrong) and if possible picking the kegs up in person so you can check them over first. Many/most used cornies have had a few decades of industrial wear and tear so tend to be less cosmetically nice than many expect, but some are worse than others - possibly having poorly done welded repairs or dings to the neck that make sealing unreliable at low beer type pressures.