Beer Line Cleaning System vs. DIY

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berwick12

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Okay so looking through all of the posts I have come to the conclusion that I need to clean my tap line. Sad though only because I knew this day would come and I'm cheap. Now I need for you guys to weight in on the pros and cons of the stuff I'm going to list and sound off on my comments.

It seems that everyone is using BLC, I probably will too, but has anyone tried Draftec Advanced Beer Line Cleaner Blue Tracer? It's blue tinted so you know when you've flushed it out of your lines, I thought that's gotta be handy. Could it be better than BLC?

Now I have a carbonator cap and read up on how to do it the low fi way using it that way, use a spare keg and co2 for the other way and lastly the hand pump ones. (Can I post links to places like beverage factory for reference or is that taboo?)

What would you go with? I hate refilling my co2 tank, once again I'm cheap, so I'm really wanting to hear people sound off on the hand pump ones.

Super side note... I'm curious how do people like airgas and merriam-graves compress co2? How much does a machine like that run?

Cheers,

CO
 
I love this thing... Cheap, easy, and effective. I posted it in the other thread as well.

image-2530442929.jpg
 
Ditto 150% on DanH! I made one of those (home depot sprayer) and use it with BLC. Works great.

CO2: are you thinking about replacing CO2 with a party pump that uses air? Note that air has O2 in it and you'll ruin the rest of the keg in a day with that.
 
I've had my kegerator with 2 lines for about 8 months and just added a 3rd. I have never cleaned them beside cycling through star san.

How (parts) did you make that pump DanH?
 
Hmmm....tie up $120 worth of kegs, or spend $10 on a dyi pump cleaner and free those kegs for a higher purpose....

What to do, what to do...

Cheers! ;)
 
Hmmm....tie up $120 worth of kegs, or spend $10 on a dyi pump cleaner and free those kegs for a higher purpose....

What to do, what to do...

Cheers! ;)

I have the kegs to spare and I acquired them many years ago when they were much less expensive. What works for one person is not necessarily right for another. RDWHAHB
 
ClemsonDV said:
I've had my kegerator with 2 lines for about 8 months and just added a 3rd. I have never cleaned them beside cycling through star san.

How (parts) did you make that pump DanH?

There is a thread in the DIY forum about it, but basically I went to the Home Depot and bought a sprayer in the gardening department for $6. Then I took an extra ball lock liquid QD that I had and screwed it into the threads after removing the nozzle that came on it. The threads don't quite match, but it's only plastic so you can force it on and it works well. It's on tight and there are no leaks.

You could also get a brass or copper fitting to adapt from the original thread to the QD thread but I didn't bother.

I'll see if I can find the link and post it for you.
 
I saw that and I was thinking I could probably do that with my pin lock posts (I have mostly pin lock kegs) pretty ingenious. Do you know what psi that gets up to DanH?

Anybody use the draftec cleaner or the carbonator cap?
 
berwick12 said:
Do you know what psi that gets up to DanH?

I'm not sure. My only answer to that would be "enough" in that it works very well for me but I do not know what PSI it gets up too. Maybe I'll check to see if it's listed on the Home Depot site under the product description.

The only downside is size. Home Depot has some with larger containers but this is the one that everyone seems to be able to get the posts onto easily.

Also, I would think a pin lock would work. Check the other thread; I think it's been done.

Edit: I looked it up and the PSI wasn't listed.
 
I wonder if this sweet 2 gallon could be converted



image-2665178476.jpg
 
I love this thing... Cheap, easy, and effective. I posted it in the other thread as well.

I have got to make one of these. I've been turning beer over so fast that I hadn't been using all 10 of my kegs. Had one with BLC and one with Starsan. Now I'm looking at making beers for winter and I want those kegs for big beers. This thing is definitely the answer!
 
Another vote for the DIY beer line cleaner (linked above).

It is easily the cheapest, easiest to build, most bang for the buck useful item I have made for homebrewing. Thanks to that I can quickly and easily clean my lines every time I change a keg.
 
Btw, on the DIY line cleaner device - because of the tip replacement (with the ball post) the unit doesn't hold pressure if it's not connected, the trigger functionality is gone. You plug it in to your system then start pumping away and it'll stop when it runs out or you need to pump more. If you pump the unit while it's not connected it'll start dribbling out.
 
Mine seemed to hold pressure. Maybe your poppet isn't seated correctly.
 
Btw, on the DIY line cleaner device - because of the tip replacement (with the ball post) the unit doesn't hold pressure if it's not connected, the trigger functionality is gone. You plug it in to your system then start pumping away and it'll stop when it runs out or you need to pump more. If you pump the unit while it's not connected it'll start dribbling out.

If you saved the original gasket from the tip, put it in backwards and the trigger functionality is perfect...

Cheers!
 
Btw, on the DIY line cleaner device - because of the tip replacement (with the ball post) the unit doesn't hold pressure if it's not connected, the trigger functionality is gone. You plug it in to your system then start pumping away and it'll stop when it runs out or you need to pump more. If you pump the unit while it's not connected it'll start dribbling out.

Mine holds pressure
 
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