So I've noticed with my kegerator, if I don't pour a beer for a few days, the taps can get very sticky. So sticky sometimes that it actually takes a scary amount of force to pull the tap open to start to dispense beer. My taps are pretty standard ones that came with my tower, something like this:
Is there any kind of special grease I can buy or precautions I can follow as to keep my taps from getting stuck after a few days of no use?
The issue with this kind of faucet is that the seal is at the rear of the assembly (see 10 below).
After dispensing, everything post-seal (pretty much all of 9, parts of 6, and the inside of the tap body) will be coated in beer. Being open to the air this will soon dry out and gum up the works.
Best solution is to flush out the inside of the tap with water or no-rinse sanitizer after using it, to rinse away the beer. Just get a nice strong spray bottle, or anything capable of jetting some water up in there. It would be good to do this every time, but especially if you know it won't be used for a while.
If that doesn't work, pick up some food-grade lubricant and lightly coat the moving parts.
Failing everything, you can upgrade to a modern front-sealing tap.
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