Kegco KC LH-542 Premium Pro Series Dual Gauge Co2 Draft Beer Regulator, Chrome

Works like a charm. Better than the regulator that comes with the kegerator

This is really a good quality regulator. Much better than what I had.

I purchased this regulator to make carbonated water at home. We don't drink pop (soda for the non-midwesterners), nor beer. But my kids like H2O type water. So I use this to carbonate 2 liter pop bottles very inexpensively. The first one that I got had a bent faceplate on the low-pressure gauge. This prevented the needle from going any higher than about 30 psi. I carbonate at 40psi. So I took off the cover to that gauge and bent the metal faceplate backwards to clear the needle. It appears that the two little holes for the mounting screws were improperly located, making the faceplate higher than it should be. Then after 2 months, the pressure regulator part started not working correctly. It would keep rising pressure until the relief valve dumped pressure. I knew that this meant that it hit the limit of about 50 psi and then dumped. I emailed the company that sold the product, through the amazon contact seller link, and they apologized and sent out a replacement regulator. I received the replacement regulator within about a week, and this one seems to be working fine. Time will tell if it starts not regulating, but at least this faceplate is not bent and the needle works just fine. But for now, we love having very inexpensive carbonated water around. My estimate is upfront cost of the regulator, the hose, or the ball-lock connector, or the ball-lock 2-liter top, or the purchase of a CO2 tank (i bought a 20lb tank), totals to be about $175. This is compared to a soda stream at about $100. But with a 20-lb CO2 tank, people report they can fill somewhere between 1000 and 1500 2-liter pop bottles of water before having to recharge. Since a recharge is about $20, that brings cost per 2-liter bottle down to about $0.02 per 1.5-liters. Considering that 130-liters of sodastream charge runs about $60, that's about $0.50 per liter! Sure, mine doesn't look as pretty, and can't sit on a countertop, but it sits in our furnace room just fine. I fill about 4 2-liter bottles at a time and store them in the fridge.

Just like several other people that gave a review, the regulator knob is very hard to tun, but I solved this with a #30 wrench socket that gives me more grip (see picture). It's fairly easy to turn it by hand now (I don't need the wrench by the way). I also noticed the gauge gradually loses pressure after I close the main Co2 tank valve, which means that the gauge is slightly leaking somewhere. However, for me that's no problem because I only use it to carbonate water and soda beverages, and I close the main tank valve when I'm done. But, if you need to use continuous pressure, I have my doubts about this gauge, and I would recommend a better quality gauge and regulator.

I will directly quote another review that explains exactly what happened to me right out of the box. Do yourself a favor and buy something made in the USA for a few bucks more. This thing has cost me more CO2 than what I paid for the regulator in the first 3 months. Honesty, if I could give this thing a negative star review, it would be a -10. Review: The line pressure on this regulator creeps while you are using it. But worse, every time you close and then open the tank valve, the pressure will be wildly different from the last time it was open. This means you have to adjust the pressure control, which is very tight and has no handle. Each time I use this, I have to adjust the pressure with a wrench. So that's a big design flaw - most regulators have a handle, knowing the pressure needs to be regularly adjusted to the line. Second, the emergency relief valve randomly engages at line pressures well within the line gauge limit. When opening the tank with the regulator at 45psi, you could either get: a) normal operation, b) random spitting of air out the release valve that sounds like machine gun fire, or c) total relief of the valve and hurricane force gas coming straight out of the side of the regulator. I can't find any reason for this and the only way to get around it seems to be turning the pressure valve way down to a minimum after every single use and then turning it up to operational pressure during each use. ALL WITH A WRENCH, because of the lack of a decent handle. This product is terrible, just awful. 110% Horrible.

I'm not sure why I used a single guage for so many years. This dual guage is the only way to go. Instant read for both the CO² tank and what pressure you have into the keg. Duh..

This device has very sharp edges on the outer facing dial that you need to regulate the output pressure. I've cut my hand several times on this dial. For that reason I'm returning it. If you want to use this for a home carbonation system where you want to carbonate water, you should be aware of the fact that this is limited to around 50 PSI, despite whatever this description states is the actual safety regulator. You can bypass this by placing a zip type over the safety regulator and compressing it beyond what the factory spring uses. However this is not advisable because you can create a situation where the safety release valve does not work. If you want to achieve very high pressures, I advise you buy a kegerator regulator some of which augment the pressure into over 115 PSI. However, if you are OK with around 45 to 50 PSI for your regular carbonated beverages( which is usually around what you buy in the grocery store), then this regulator will fit you perfectly, so long as you use a wrench to turn the outer dial. Again I cannot stress enough that you must use a wrench to turn the outer dial, the outer dial itself becomes very stiff so long as any pressure is initiated into the system itself, and the edges on the outer dial are very sharp, and i have multiple cuts on my hand to prove that you should not be using your hand, no matter how strong you are and if you can actually turn the dial yourself, therefore you should use a wrench. This company does make outer dial grips on some of the regulators but this is not one that has one that is comfortable.

I've known a lot of regulators in my time but I never had a carbon dioxide regulator before. So I don't even know if they all use this system of tightening onto a gasket; and even at this point I don't even know if that gasket is one time only. I noticed that they were selling little bags of five replacement gaskets along with the regulator. Let me interrupt here to say that once you get this regulator going, with the gasket and a "refill", which is actually your first fill since they arrive empty (duh; but who knew? I fired the whole thing up and it was dead; the cylinders are shipped empty. Of course. But, who knew? You're all ready for a zesty beer and ... nothin') once you get'er goin' , you will be a happy beerdrinker. You will be very happy, but only if you've been forewarned by me that 1. The cylinder is empty and 2. The regulator needs pretty surprisingly hard tightening with a one and an eighth wrench or a big Crescent or even a slip joint pliers --- naaah, no pliers, that'd be abusive. And then spray some soap solution or even just some water on everything to check for leaks. You'll be happy. It's soooo worth it. I used this rig to convert a regular old refrigerator -- not too old, just superannuated --- to a kegerator. I should put a picture in here; it's just a refrigerator in the garage with a torpedo of draft from Pyramid. Ummmm Ummmm good.