Homemade Sankey Keg Washer

[BrocksHomebrew]

I needed a solution to wash and sanitize sankey kegs for closed system pressurized fermentation and pulling the spears between every batch was a hassle I didn't want to deal with. So I set out to build a keg washer, below is what I came up with along with an item list and theoretical cost.

First, the finished product:

I had a lot of the parts lying around and I tried to use stuff I stock in my shop for most of it, but for the sake of usefulness I'll do my best to price this if you had to buy it all. I'm sure you could cut the cost down by shopping around and using stuff you already have. To build this I used:

5 - 8'x2"x4" $3.24 ea - $16.20
30' - 1/2" ID Vinyl Tubing $0.45 ea - $13.50
1 - Sankey Coupler $29.99
3 - 5/16" tailpieces $1.99 ea - $5.97
3 - Keg Shank Hex Nut $1.30 ea - $3.90
3 - Keg Shank Washer $0.32 ea - $0.96
4' - 5/16" Red Gas Line $0.79 ea - $3.16
1 - Dual Gauge Regulator $59.99
1 - 20# CO2 Tank $149.99
10 - Brass Weldless Cooler Conversion Kits $19.99 ea - $199.99
10 - 1/2" MPT Nipples 1 1/2" long $3.20 ea - $32.00
1 - 1/2" MPT x 5/16" Barb $3.76
2 - 1/2" FPT Brass Cross $17.65 ea - $35.30
1 - 1/2" FPT Brass Tee $7.83
1 - 1/2" FPT to 1/2" Barb $5.08
1 - March High Temp Pump $159.99
2 - 13.5 gallon trash cans $13.97 ea - $27.94
1 - 1# Box 2 1/2" Outdoor Screws
19 - 5/8" Easy Turn Hose Clamp $0.99 ea - $18.81
1 - 1/2" barb to 3/4" Garden Hose Female - $2.99
4 - 3/4" Two Hole Pipe Strap $0.99 ea - $3.96

Total - $781.31 (glad I got most of this at wholesale)

Right now operation requires some creativity to keep the tubing from kinking, so I'll be replacing that with reinforced braided tubing soon. Also I still need to install a switch box for the pump and a heating element in the PBW container so the PBW can be retained and reheated instead of having to replace with hot water every-time it's used. Construction is pretty straight forward, assemble the manifolds, install an input and output bulkhead in each trash can and run the tubing between everything. If someone wants to replicate something similar feel free to ask any questions.

To clean a keg:

1. Attach coupler and set keg upside down on stand.
2. Open keg input and output valves
3. Open water input valve and drain valve - Wait 5 minutes
4. Close water input and open CO2 - Wait for keg to empty
5. Close CO2 and Drain
6. Open PBW feed, Pump Input, PBW Return and turn on pump - Wait 5 minutes
7. Close PBW feed, pump input and turn off pump
8. Open CO2 - Wait for keg to empty
9. Close CO2 and PBW Return
10. Open water input and drain - Wait 5 minutes
11. Close water input and open CO2 input - Wait for keg to blow empty
12. Close CO2
13. Open star-san feed, pump input and turn on pump - Wait for PBW residue to purge from lines and keg
14. Close drain and open star-san return - Wait 5 minutes
15. Close star-san feed, pump input and turn off pump
16. Open CO2 - Wait for keg to blow empty
17. Close star-san return, CO2, keg input and keg output
18. Disconnect clean keg

 

[dansrc51]

I realize this is a bit late, but do you have any pictures?

 

[BeerdedBrothersBrewing]

doesnt the caustic sort of take care of the sanitizing? or are you doing this just to be safe?

 

[WissahickonBrew]

No - caustic cleans while star san sanitizes.

doesnt the caustic sort of take care of the sanitizing? or are you doing this just to be safe?

 

[nexy_sm]

Could you recall what was the strength of the pump?

 

[captjpr]

So you built this because you didn't want to spend the time to pull the spears? I'm not sure I follow. I fill four 5 gallon sanke legs once a month. I pull the spears and dis assemble them every time. With a few proper tools, some fabricated and some purchased, it takes just a few minutes. An overnight soak in hot PBW and a fee minutes to put them back together.

 

[Paps]

The OP hasn't posted in over two years and hasnt even logged onto/looked at these forums in about 6 months.
I hope you weren't expecting a prompt reply from them.

 

[maierhof]

I am not sure if you have seen my work that I have done on this subject.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=511681

To answer your question I wrote this about a week ago too.

In order to clean your sanke correctly, meaning leaving the spear in while you clean, you will need at least 3/4 hp sump or utility pump for a 15.5g keg (1/2hp pump for 8g or less) to generate enough pressure to push the liquid cleaner/sani up through the spear and be able to hit the top of the keg as it sits upside down. The problem when using a cheap harbor freight pump is that the inside of these pumps have cheap parts which can be broken down or rusted out eventually by the type of cleaner that you use. If you use PBW those screws might be rusted in about a year or faster. Then your serving keg will have a rusty taste to it(minimal but there nonetheless). If you use sani clean or starsan you will speed this process more. I do NOT recommend anyone using acid #5 or 6 on a cheap pump - they will be destroyed even faster and the aluminum plate underneath will deteriorate breaking the primary seal of your pump and basically dismantling it altogether. That is how it went for me but I can't speak for anyone else.

If you are looking to clean your sanke kegs in an really easy cheap way - there really isnt one unless you pay for a spear removal tool.

The most basic way to clean them is to take the spear out, fill them with pbw or oxyclean for a while then rinse with filtered water. Lots of time and lots of water and cleaner wasted on this method which gets expensive.

If you buy the sanke spear removal tool (~$100) or make your own, take the spear out, then put them on top (upside down) your pump in bucket cleaner (if you have set that up yet that is) that you use to clean your cornies. That would be my best advice. However - to me - taking the spear out is a pain, because then you have to totally clean it too inside and out, and then you have to put it back in correctly, which can be tough the more you do it and the ring gets warped.

If you do this method make sure to change your pump screws to stainless if they are zinc plated. Aluminum will stand up to pbw and phosphoric acid pretty well but finding aluminium screws in the right size could be tough for some.

If you don't mind spending ~300 plus you can do it my way --> http://youtu.be/YIUFSsy4c2Y

One item of note - please do not use the blue colored handled keg couplers. These are not stainless and the PBW/StarSan will strip the coating right off these things quickly - take a look at the pic I have attached. Can you see the coating has been completely removed and where do you think that went?

 

[NCBeerMedic]

So you built this because you didn't want to spend the time to pull the spears? I'm not sure I follow. I fill four 5 gallon sanke legs once a month. I pull the spears and dis assemble them every time. With a few proper tools, some fabricated and some purchased, it takes just a few minutes. An overnight soak in hot PBW and a fee minutes to put them back together.

would mind sharing your tool list? I have the valve press and ring knives. What else is needed??

 

[captjpr]

The one tool I had to make I actually found someplace on this forum, though now I can't find it. It's used for removing / replacing the retaining ring that holds back the large spring under the main ball check and holds the whole assembly together. It's made from a 12 inch long piece of 1" ID pipe. My first one was schedule 80 PVC but now I have a galvanized one. Use a file to notch out one end of the pipe to fit the 3 recesses on the retainnig ring. The tool slides over the bottom end of the spear and engages the retaining ring and allows you to apply even pressure on the ring and twist it off. When I pull the spear out of the keg I turn it upside down and put it back in place just to hold it while I remove the retaining ring.