Sanke keg further revealed!
 

I just (legally) got my first 1/2 bbl Sanke keg for conversion to a keggle. I think it previously held a bit of Old St. Anky (obscure? movie reference), because it smelled like a wastewater treatment plant when I relieved the keg pressure. Nothing a little OxyClean and BKF won't fix...

Anyway, I read about disassembling the Sanke fitting on this site. Something he doesn't mention:
RELIEVE THE KEG PRESSURE BEFORE DISASSEMBLY!!!.
That aside, his instructions are pretty comprehensive...until...

It seems he was a little more destructive than was required, so I'll post my own version here (no cutting required, reassembly is possible). The fittings on my keg were just slightly different, but I think the same procedure would work with one like he shows on his site. On to the good stuff:

Here is the entire assembled spear:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...arcomplete.JPG

Here is the spring retainer that looks like a challenge:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...rassembled.JPG

You don't need any fancy tools - just a big wrench. Just press and turn, catching one of the tabs with the edge of the wrench face, until the retainer ring is unlocked. It doesn't take a ton of strength.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...renchtrick.JPG

What it looks like with the retainer unlocked:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...erunsprung.JPG

Now you should be able to disassemble the spear entirely.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...sassembled.JPG

Here's the valve that the guy from UA destroyed:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...tassembled.JPG

Turns out, you can just pull the hard rubber seal out of the spear housing:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...sassembled.JPG

Now you can really clean everything well (which was required for my keg...and probably all "retired" kegs, for that matter).

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/...sassembled.JPG

Next up on my to-do list: weld the Sanke fitting to a corny lid so I can take my kegs to places with only Sanke fittings. I shall call it: Sankelius...or Cornanke...or Sankius...or Canke...yeah, Canke...that sounds...gross.

Man you are always building something. I guess idle hands are the devils work. So you gonna weld your own valve on that badboy? I just cut the top off of my sanke today. It still had beer in it. It really stunk. I need to find me a valve setup. Think I'll take it to a pro welder. That's something I can't even do. By the way, I finished my malt mill. It was posted yesterday. Let me know what you think.

Yuri, some of the local micros use exactly that. A Cornie that has a Sankey tap connector, right in the middle of the oval port, and the oval port welded in place. The Cornie QDs have been removed, welded shut, and covered with rubber plugs. I've got one at work, full of Sonoran Root-beer. (Yes the hoses needed replacing anyway.) Sonoran Rootbeer is about the best I've ever tasted, and I've been drinking Rootbeer for more years than I care to think about!

(Oh, that guy was at UA, not ASU.)

steve

I've seen those., and that's pretty much what I'm going for. I'd like to keep the oval lid removable, that way I can move my Sanke fitting to different kegs as the need arises.

To answer the question from further up, yes, I'll be doing all the welding and cutting on my keggle. If I can find a way to take some pics of the process in action, I'll post them.

Yuri
I just searched the wikki for keggle with nothing found
Whats a keggle?
JJ

A 1/4 or 1/2 bbl keg converted for use as a brew kettle.

OR

Spelled kegel, it's a bit more interesting, but not for this site. Google it.

thanks
google is fun isent it
JJ

Yuri, I don't see how you're going to remove the access cover, unless you also remove the spike from it. You have to lean the cover sideways to get it out. And, removing that spike is "fun."

steve

I've already considered that...and I didn't think that disassembling the fitting was all that tough. Sure, it's a few minutes of extra work, but I like the idea of being able to move my Sanke lid around.

EDIT:
Actually, I should re-word that...
When I made my steam boiler, I found out the hard way (by getting excited and cutting before thinking) that extending a fitting inside a Corny lid makes it tough to get the lid off. Removing that heating element every time is a ROYAL PITA (requires removal of the wiring, a big wrench, and a lot of finesse to maneuver the big wrench).