Ok moderators, i know this is not the right section, but this area gets more action.
What regulator is best: chudnow, taprite, or Cornelius? I have a chudnow and i think the diaphragm is a bit on the cheap side and i think it shows.
Please only comment on if you have real experience. Also, i don’t care about the damn screw vs knob pressure adjuster. To me that is not a deal breaker and i care more about the regulators ability to handle low pressure as well as no pressure creep.
Thanks,
Mike
Victor. You’ll have to change the outlet, but they’re made for industrial use and available at any welding supply.
That sounds like a bit of work; what’s involved? Are the victor regulators reasonable in price?
I think all will work, how much you are willing to work to get it to fit you application is what you need to decide. I would say cornelius is the most user friendly, but you pay for friendlyness.
I don’t want to pay a fortune, but i want something that i can trust to be accurate throughout the pressure ranges. Of course I want it to last more than a week or two.
I have a chudnow and I really questioning the accuracy and reliability, but the manufacturer sent me a new internal part that they say will fix my issues. I’ll replace the part and see if it changes things, but if things don’t change, I could be in the market again.
I didn’t put a lot of research into my regulator when I moved to kegging and ended up with this Micro Matic dual gauge, dual keg
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-pid-642-2.html
set up. I’ve had it about five years and all I can say about it is that I’ve never had to think about it (in fact I had to go look at it to figure out what I bought 
). Changing out tanks is easy and it holds psi where I set it.
So… no problems in 5 years and its nice to be able to shut off each line as needed. I don’t know how it compares to others but it does what it’s supposed to do
I have both a Cornielious and a Taprite and have never had a problem with either. The Taprite is easier and quicker to adjust because of the knob, no need to use a screwdriver.
I have owned and operated 7 regulators in the last 2 years. Reason being is, I have built 5 kegerators for my buddies. I used each of them for a good amount of time while they were in my possession. I can say that I didn’t notice a whole lot of difference between the ones that were newer. I can also say that I am still in possession of one cornelius brand that I like and another cornelius brand that I don’t like as much. My favorite is probably a Grundy brand one, not really sure why I even like it the best though? Maybe it just seems the most accurate, the smoothest as well. One thing I can tell you without a doubt though, is that the pressure gauges vary widely. I have said it before on another post, but the difference between the pressure gauges from one gauge to the next was shocking. I did an expirement with 5 different gauges, some 0-30, 0-60, and 0-160 types and was amazed at how each of them were so different. Some were accurate, some were precise, some were both, and some were neither. I think the gauge is really the true key to a good reg, as long as the guts are new enough. good luck.
I’d only add that the gauge showing tank level is useless since the CO2 is liquid in the tank. You only know its getting low when the liquid runs out and all thats left is gas. I’m considering putting a second outlet fitting in that hole so I could carb two kegs at once.
