Now what

[Warthaug]

I recently came into 4 pin-lock cornies, a 20lb CO2 tank, lines, and two crappy taps. They came from a neighbours place, who sold me the whole whack for $5 at a garage sale. Everything worked the last time they used it, the tank (which is full), the regulator works, as do the taps (sort of). The kegs seal and can be pressurized as well, so things seem to be OK throughout the system. My one concern is the "condition" of the equipment; its all fairly new - bought new by my neighbour 8 years ago, and only used a few times. In other words, they've been sitting unused in his basement for ~5 years, and therein is my concern.

Two kegs have a brown patch on the bottom which I suspect is really old/dried beer. A soak with water didn't help there. The o-rings and rubber seals seem to be flexible & uncracked, but again, I'm not sure how good they are. The lines are heavily stained and I'm planning on replacing them. The taps are extremely sticky, but since they're so cheap, I'm probably going to replace them as well when I make my keggorator (I'm thinking about keeping the better of the old taps for some sort of porta-keg system). I didn't try too hard, but the inlet/outlet ports seem to be firmly seated - I thought I could remove them for cleaning.

Exactly what should I do to get everything up to shape - I know the tank needs to be hydro'd the next time its filled, but aside from that I'm lost...

Thank you

Bryan

 

[BrewingChemist]

try some oxyclean or barkeepers friend in the keg - soak em for a day or so and that should help with the leftover beer (may have to scrub though - i've used a bottle brush but have seen people recommend buying a new unused toilet bowl cleaner for it). if u have a local homebrew store then you should be able to get new orings - I would definitely recommend replacing them all - if you don't there is a sticky somewhere that lists the sizes you need if you order them from mcmaster - i think i ordered them from oringsandmore and they did a great job with quick shipping. Poppets probably don't need replacing if they get a good soak in BKF, but when you go to pressurize check and make sure they aren't leaking - they are usually only 5-7$ to replace. Make sure you get keg lube and lube up all the o-rings, etc. The taps can get thrown into BKF and that should help with that - are they the plastic taps? Replace all the beer lines - its easy and cheap to do. did your CO2 tank come with a regulator? if not you will need to pick one up - it helps to decide early on what kind of set up you are going for with your kegorator. Will you need a regulator that has multiple stages or just one regulator that goes to a manifold to split it? Did the equipment come with pin lock disconnects? if so those are prolly gonna need soaked and possibly replaced.

congrats on the great find! A little elbow grease and you'll be drinking from a kegorator in no time flat! Welcome to the wonderful world of kegging!

 

[Homercidal]

First, you suck.

Now, on to the problem. The kegs should be soaked in HOT Oxyclean Free, or PBW for hours or overnight and then see how they look. That stuff usually does the trick on old beer and gunk. You might need to reach in and clean with a sponge or washcloth.

If the kegs hold pressure and the various seals are in good apparent shape, then soak them in the Oxy inside the kegs. Otherwise the cost for new seals is minimal (especially considering you got all of that stuff for NOTHING (you jerk...)

I'd replace the lines with some beverage tubing and the the taps apart and also soak in Oxy overnight. I have found Q-tips good for cleaning them. For what you paid for all of that stuff ( you should be ashamed), you might consider buying new taps like Perlick Forward Sealing taps, but I think yours will be fine once they are cleaned and the seals replace if necessary.

Lastly, you need to get some sleeping pills because I'm pretty sure you won't be able to sleep at night due to guilt over stealing from your neighbor.

 

[krenshaw]

i wouldn't even both with the old gaskets.. you can replace them for a couple bucks each and then you won't have to worry about losing a seal with beer in them for a while, just be sure to test them with water before you actually use them to be sure there are no gas leaks.. sometimes the lid can be dented just slightly and thats enough to cause an air leak..

 

[Warthaug]

Thanx for the quick replies. Looks like some soaking on oxy and a few o-rings, and I'll be in business. I may have a bit of trouble with o-rings - McMaster-Carr doesn't ship to Canada - but I'm sure I can track them down. As far as I can tell, the disconnects and poppets are working great, but I'll give them a much closer look. I have a few specific questions about some replies:

are they the plastic taps

Yes; looks like they came off a soda fountain machine. They work (at least with water), but are quick stiff/sticky. I may give them a clean, but they are ugly and I want visually appealing for a keggorator. Can I use oxy instead of BKF? BKF is hard to find up here (I'd probably have to mail-order from the US)

i wouldn't even both with the old gaskets.. you can replace them for a couple bucks each and then you won't have to worry about losing a seal with beer in them for a while, just be sure to test them with water before you actually use them to be sure there are no gas leaks.. sometimes the lid can be dented just slightly and thats enough to cause an air leak..

I assume you're talking about the seals around the large opening, not the o-rings. Using just air to pressurize, all four hold (no bubbles, as seen with soapy water). But out of curiosity, can you replace those seals (they seem to be glued on)?

Lastly, you need to get some sleeping pills because I'm pretty sure you won't be able to sleep at night due to guilt over stealing from your neighbor.

Hell no, I did her a favor. These are things leftover from her deceased husband that she had to get rid of before her move to a seniors apartment. I saved her the cost of disposal - she didn't even want to take the money (which is all I had in my wallet) - all the beer stuff was on a table labeled "free". Besides, SWMBO'd dropped a couple hundred bucks on things not on the "free" table.

Bryan

 

[BrewingChemist]

Thanx for the quick replies. Looks like some soaking on oxy and a few o-rings, and I'll be in business. I may have a bit of trouble with o-rings - McMaster-Carr doesn't ship to Canada - but I'm sure I can track them down. As far as I can tell, the disconnects and poppets are working great, but I'll give them a much closer look. I have a few specific questions about some replies:
Take the numbers listed from the mcmaater thread - might be able to find them locally. Did u check out oringsandmore.com? Maybe they will ship to u? They have great service and r pretty cheap.

Yes; looks like they came off a soda fountain machine. They work (at least with water), but are quick stiff/sticky.
I would recommend replacing with perlicks on ur kegerator. If they had soda through them they will never get rid of the soda flavor.

I assume you're talking about the seals around the large opening, not the o-rings. Using just air to pressurize, all four hold (no bubbles, as seen with soapy water). But out of curiosity, can you replace those seals

Yes. Replace those. They should come off.

 

[JRems]

It's probably not dried beer inside. They probably had pre mix soda inside from a party and they never returned the stuff for the deposit. Oxy soak and a good scrub and you should be fine.