Keg supplies get here soon! Help!

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collinsDPT

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My 525SS's, beer line, CO2 line, CO2 manifold, and the rest of the trinkets get here tomorrow from Birdman Brewing. (Awesome vendor by the way!)

Just want to make sure I am going about this the right way, as I have a 3 week old Belgian Blonde still in the fermenter who is waiting for the transfer to her new home. Can you guys review this for me to make sure I am not missing anything?

  • I currently have my corny keg filled with 1 gallon of hot water + 1/2 scoop Oxiclean. Shook it up and it is now upright. Tomorrow I will turn it over on its top.
  • I will rinse it, re-rinse it, and sanitize with StarSan. This will include the posts, dip tube, and the new o-rings I bought for the keg. (I also have a 2nd corny I am cleaning but will not use right now, so I will pressurize the keg to 10psi with StarSan in it and leave it sit)
  • I have no o-ring lube so will likely use food-grade vaseline or a silicone lube as someone else suggested
  • Re-assemble keg, use hose to transfer from carboy into keg without any priming sugar
  • Close keg lid, attach it to CO2 manifold and turn on tank to 10psi
  • Place in keezer at 40* for 2 weeks
  • Keep psi between 10-12psi for serving (I have 10' serving lines)
.

Am I off with anything? Any other words of wisdom before I forego my first adventure!
 
A couple suggestions:

1) When you first pressurize it after filling, I'd do 20-30 psi to make sure the lid is seated and the seal is "set."

2) While it's at that higher pressure, leak check the crap out of everything. Make sure the lid, PRV, posts, etc. aren't leaking by spraying everything with star san or a soap solution. Also make sure every connection on the manifold and regulator isn't leaking as well. Lean in, get close and make sure you don't hear any hissing.

3) Purge the headspace a couple times to minimize residual O2, then turn the regulator down all the way, purge one more time, then slowly bring the regulator up to your desired carb/serving pressure. 10 PSI at 40 deg will give you 2.3 volumes of CO2.

4) I'm sure you'll be checking on it very regularly, but until you know your system and fully "trust" each keg definitely keep an eye on it. Look out for the regulator creeping a bit, beer slowly leaking, etc.

Everything else looks great! Just make sure to leak check. Remember you should get 1-2 corny kegs per pound of CO2 if you're force carbing, so if you have a 10 lb tank you should get maybe 10-20 kegs out of it. Any less and you have a slow leak somewhere.
 
Looks good. The only thing I'd suggest is soaking it with 3 gallons of water and OxiClean or PBW. That way all of the surface area will be soaking. With only 1 gallon the very bottom (and very topped when flipped) will be submerged and soaking.
 
Thanks everyone for the input...

She's chillin!

Keg.jpg
 

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