Northern Brewer: 4 cornies/$60

Last night the cornies from the "special 4 for 60" came in. Not too shabby, they are certainly in need of some TLC, but overall in good shape.

They need a good cleaning, they are dusty, dirty, and clearly haven't been cleaned since they last held soda-pop. Two of them smelled like 7-up or Sprite, the other two smelled like moldy 7-Up or Sprite.

No significant dents, the ball lock posts were all straight and all of the lids had pressure releases. All of them were pressurized when I got them. A little TLC, cleaning, some seals and they should be good to go.



Gedvondur

A couple of us at work got in on this deal also. They arrived today in pretty good overall shape. Like Gedvondur said, some TLC and these bad boys will be ready for some beer. Not bad for $20 a piece.

I just got a pretty good deal off of ebay. I bought 4 kegs for about 50 bucks and 50 dollars for shipping. Then i bought this guys kegging system and 10 gallon AG system for about 500 dollars. I added up all of the stuff and it was over 1200 dollars worth of crap. I felt pretty proud of myself for finding such a good deal.

My 4/60 showed up yesterday. Spent a couple hours today reconditioning them, and filled one with beer already!

Generally good shape. Pretty easy cleanup...they all still had soda syrup residue in them, but it washed right out. One of the kegs, though, looks like someone took a sledghamer to the posts...they're so bent I had to cut the o-rings off, and the new ones don't seat exactly right. Disconnects seem to fit OK, and nothing leaked from either post, but this will be my "keg of last resort". Eventually I'll probably replace the posts. Even at that, I'll have 4 good kegs for <$100 shipped, so that's OK. Just not quite as spectacular as I originally thought.

Edit: sent NB a note with pics on the bent posts; they're sending out relacement posts. No charge, no questions. can't beat that...they just won my next online order!

My 4-pack arrived today - they should clean up nicely. Only down side is the single handle - have to plan ahead when stacking - these have to go on top!

I bought rebuilt kegs for $22 dollars each with new seals and new poppets and they look like new, no dents at all.
http://www.brewersdiscount.com/item5099.ctlg

Got mine today.

My concern (which someone may have expressed) is that three of them released a lot of pressure when I pulled the pressure relief value; one of them, bupkis. Definately sign of a problem?

Still waiting for the rest of my gear, so I can't easily test it any further...

I was racking a carboy into one of my kegs yesterday and I found that the little ring in the pressure relief valve had to be oriented just right or it would leak. I checked another keg and it was the same, but not as bad.

You're probably going to change the o-rings anyway, right? I assume you have some keg lube so that may solve your problem. I ordered new poppets for mine as well 'just in case'. So far I haven't needed them but they were cheap from Alternative Beverage.

I got mine a day or two ago. I'm not even kegging yet but I figured I'd better get them while I could. What do I do with them now?

Fingers said:

IYou're probably going to change the o-rings anyway, right? I assume you have some keg lube so that may solve your problem. I ordered new poppets for mine as well 'just in case'. So far I haven't needed them but they were cheap from Alternative Beverage.

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Other than a good general cleaning, that's about it. Some change the poppets just as a matter of maintenance, some only do it when they leak. I think most people change the o-rings (five of them) as soon as they get the keg. The old ones tend to smell like soda pop.

Uh, Fingers, did you just quote yourself?

I marked the one that came without pressure so I can keep track. I did order all new o-ring kits for all four, although I didn't think to buy any lube. Can't wait to get the tank here...

Yup. I pretty much outlined what to do with a new keg and then a question was posted immediately after asking what to do with a new keg. Saves me having to type it all over again. I was being a little fascetious, I guess.

My LHBS said that KY jelly or vaseline would work as keg lube. The KY is water based so I don't know if that will work. I asked my friend who owns a bakery and he said white grease (Lithium grease) would work. My 'official' keg lub is not water soluable and looks a lot like Vaseline.

Don't use patroleum jelly on your o-rings. Vasoline damages rubber. Many condoms break because of this.

Keg lube is silicone.

Arg I hope this deal pops up again sometime soon!

Yup! Dang blast it! I too kick in arse. wished i picked up 4 pack.
Made a pilgrimage to NB this past weekend. They are selling singles for 35. nice looking used ones. They still got used pots 4 sale too. uggh, shoulda pikd one up.

Mmmmmm... Just got around to tearing down the new kegs last night, and I think I should have paid more - they still had soda in two of them!!

Ah well, a full teardown, an overnight in oxyclean, and new gaskets all around and they'll do just fine.

Jester369 said:

Mmmmmm... Just got around to tearing down the new kegs last night, and I think I should have paid more - they still had soda in two of them!!

Ah well, a full teardown, an overnight in oxyclean, and new gaskets all around and they'll do just fine.

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i'll paypal you 5 bucks for a video of you drinking it

sirsloop said:

i'll paypal you 5 bucks for a video of you drinking it

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Oooooh, tempting... tempting...

I got 4 REBUILT kegs from http://www.brewersdiscount.com/productCat15956.ctlg
for $106 to my door. New seals and New Poppets no dents no lables looked very very nice.

Brew-boy said:

I got 4 REBUILT kegs from http://www.brewersdiscount.com/productCat15956.ctlg
for $106 to my door. New seals and New Poppets no dents no lables looked very very nice.

Click to expand...

I'm about to pick up 4 too, good to know they're great kegs.

I quit trying to tell people, I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I don't see a better deal.

Very happy with the rebuilds.

Go ahiead and wait and and play with e-bay, or just order direct, your call.

I don't get it.

I'd been thinking about getting into kegging than the NB deal sealed it for me. I got my 2 used ones today adn they have a sweet smell of rootbeer in them. Now that I got the kegs purchased, all I have to do is figure out hot to use them. Like learn how to clean, fill, and dispense - the small things - and I'll be golden.

(I foresee the first few batched being crappy......)

you bought two today? is the deal still on?

aekdbbop said:

you bought two today? is the deal still on?

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Well, when I ordered them last Friday, the option of 4 was not still available. But I was able to get 2 for $20 each.

The units I got were all single handle so $15 each is the current going rate for that type cornie.

Also 1 of mine had a bastard lid that won't fit any of the other cornies.

[url]http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Soda-Kegs-Maint#cleaning[/URL]

maybe you'll find this helpful for cleaning strategy with your new kegs. i know i did.
Lots to read but it's worth it, imo.

So, I tore down all 4 kegs to clean and replace all the rings. I threw all the bits'n'pieces into a bucket to clean. At the time I noticed that the posts were not all the same (not the diff between the gas in/beer out) but I figured what the heck, the kegs are all the same, so the posts must be interchangable, right? Wrong! I have two gas in posts that don't seem to fit on any of the kegs!! WTF?? They came OFF the kegs, so it stands to reason that they should fit on SOMEWHERE!!.

Crap.

Jester369 said:

So, I tore down all 4 kegs to clean and replace all the rings. I threw all the bits'n'pieces into a bucket to clean. At the time I noticed that the posts were not all the same (not the diff between the gas in/beer out) but I figured what the heck, the kegs are all the same, so the posts must be interchangable, right? Wrong! I have two gas in posts that don't seem to fit on any of the kegs!! WTF?? They came OFF the kegs, so it stands to reason that they should fit on SOMEWHERE!!.

Crap.

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Man

I feel for you I did the same thing only with about 10 of em. Figuring I save some time doing them all at once.

Don't know how many hours I wasted and still ended up with 1 that didn't seem to fit anything.

Oh well live and learn. Die and forget it all.

abracadabra said:

Oh well live and learn. Die and forget it all.

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(chuckle & chortle )So true. so very cruelly true. why o why has my god forsaken me!
Oh well, try harder the next time around.