Jockey Box Conversion: Using push-to-connect adapters

A couple of years ago I built a jockey box as part of a portable bar intended for camping. The beauty of it is that no power is needed for it to function. All you need is a supply of ice, so this works for any type of car camping. While I still occasionally backpack, these days my camping is as an RV’er, so this unit rides along with my travel trailer. I built this jockey box in two stages, first as a two-tap unit, then I added on another set of taps. The extra taps were always part of the plans but I had to wait to purchase the additional parts. Four kegs fit on the lower shelf of the portable bar, but due to its compact size, taller ball-lock kegs present something of a knuckle-busting experience when putting the quick disconnects on or off.

Duotight has new ball-lock quick disconnects that are shorter and have push-to-connect (PTC) adapters. The shelf on my portable bar was a tight fit for ball-lock kegs and getting at the quick disconnects (QDs) was proving to be difficult as mentioned. Meanwhile, the beverage lines were connected to the jockey box using wing nuts screwed onto shanks that pass through the cooler walls. Although the wing nuts were meant to be removable they were still bulky and occasionally would stick . . . not my ideal connector. Once the beer is in the cooler, the lines are connected to the heat exchange coils that cool the beer down.

Basically I was looking for a nearly complete overhaul of the connections and soft tubing found in the jockey box. I opted for EVABarrier tubing for both beverage and gas lines due to its performance, limited CO₂ loss, and oxygen ingression. This tubing also has the benefit of connecting directly to the Duotight QDs without any additional hardware needs. Neither the stainless steel heat exchange coils, the faucets, or the shanks needed to be replaced, but everything that connected the carbon dioxide regulator and Corny kegs to the faucet shanks was scheduled to be replaced.

By design, a jockey box is meant to be portable and is not typically going to be in continuous use. This four-tap box is on the heavier side for one person to carry, with the beverage lines being somewhat awkward. Since I originally built my jockey box many new options have become available, which I took advantage of. In this project write-up, I will cover the required changes needed to create the ultimate PTC, version three of my camping jockey box. Obviously if you pour at homebrew fests and use a jockey box, this is a great upgrade to make all fittings easy to connect and disconnect for cleaning and sanitation purposes. The PTC fittings also allow you to create a draft cleaning system such as this one: https://byo.com/project/tap-cleaning-system/

Tools and Materials

• EVABarrier tubing 8-mm x 5-mm x 26 ft. (8 m)
• EVABarrier tubing 8-mm x 4-mm x 26 ft. (8 m)
• (8) 5⁄8-in. BSP x 8-mm tubing adapters
• (5) 1⁄4-in. flare x 8-mm tubing adapters
• (4) 8-mm PTC (push-to-connect) couplings
• (4) Duotight ball-lock beverage quick disconnect (gas-in)
• (4) Duotight ball-lock beverage quick disconnect (beverage-out)
• Shutoff check valve with ¼-in. flare threads
• 8-mm tubing locking clips
• 4-way gas manifold (Komos)