I'm looking at this and thinking I could do that myself for less maybe.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/faucet-clean.jpg
http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/faucet-clean.jpg
Is there a DIY alternative to a tap cleaning pump kit?
- Thread starter vmpolesov
- Start date
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brett
Well-Known Member
OneStep sanitizer in a keg pushed via CO2?
That's what I do...
That's what I do...
BeerCanuck
Well-Known Member
+^ by Brett
I have the cheaper non forward sealing taps on my kegerator. When I notice a tap getting stickey I just disconnect the tap and let it soak in oxiclean and water. I clean out my output lines once in a while when cleaning and sanitizing my 2.5 Gallon keg.
Cheers
BeerCanuck
I have the cheaper non forward sealing taps on my kegerator. When I notice a tap getting stickey I just disconnect the tap and let it soak in oxiclean and water. I clean out my output lines once in a while when cleaning and sanitizing my 2.5 Gallon keg.
Cheers
BeerCanuck
I have an extra keg that I put star-san in. If I want to clean and then sanitize I guess I'd need two kegs. Believe it or not another korny keg is less than they want for one of those plastic BLC pumps.
You use one-step, do you also sanitize or just clean? After cleaning do you rinse the lines with fresh water?
You use one-step, do you also sanitize or just clean? After cleaning do you rinse the lines with fresh water?
I get it. When you have the keg full of cleaner anyhow, then is the time to do the lines?
Is BLC better for lines than PBW? I want to make sure I'm not mixing the wrong chemicals in the wrong applications here.
Is BLC better for lines than PBW? I want to make sure I'm not mixing the wrong chemicals in the wrong applications here.
BeerCanuck said:
Moonshae
Well-Known Member
vmpolesov said:
After running the one step through, I just run the tap until a little bit of the next beer comes out, then shut it off. That should rinse out the sanitizer just fine.
lustreking
Well-Known Member
vmpolesov said:
BLC stands for Beer Line Cleaner :cross:
PBW will work, just not as well. I don't think it will break up beerstone like BLC.
I can't remember where I saw this trick, but here's what I do. I picked up one of these (http://morebeer.com/view_product/18250/) from the local homebrew shop. It's a cap that has a ball-lock connection for a 2-liter soda bottle. When a keg runs dry, I fill the 2L bottle with Star-San or BLC, attach it to the gas line to pressurize to about 20psi, then FLIP THE BOTTLE UPSIDE DOWN. Opening the tap allows the pressurized cleaner to run through the tap and flush out the line. Works like a charm, plus I can carry a 2L bottle of delicious homebrew wherever I want without losing carbonation.
Nice way to break in post #1 ^^^^
It was EdWort, I believe.
It was EdWort, I believe.
G-E-R-M-A-N
Well-Known Member
Thats what I am going to be doing once I get the ball rolling here. I was wondering the best way to clean the lines. (being I just got a keg setup for my outside fridge) I am finnally going to brew after slowly acquiring all of these gadgets!
I keep that keg on the right filled with a very mild mix of water, 1/4 cup of bleach and a Tbs of oxy-clean. It's pressurized so I just pop on the ball lock, run it for 2-3 seconds and done...
Bernie Brewer
Grouchy Old Fart
That's freakin brilliant!!! I've been cleaning my lines with the keg, but didn't like using all that C02. This is much better than that, plus I don't have to spend nearly $50 for a pump!!
Whenever I empty a keg I wash it and then fill it with some mild bleach water, and pump it through each line for a few seconds. While it sits I go drain the keg, rinse it, and fill it with hot water, and pump that through for a few seconds, then follow with cold water. The keg is clean and my lines are clean.
And I lie. I don't do it with every keg. Just maybe every 3rd or 4th empty.
And sometimes I leave an empty keg neglected in the kegorator until the weekend when I feel more energetic about cleaning it... unless I have another keg of chilled brew carb'd and ready to be snapped in. 
And I lie. I don't do it with every keg. Just maybe every 3rd or 4th empty.
And sometimes I leave an empty keg neglected in the kegorator until the weekend when I feel more energetic about cleaning it... unless I have another keg of chilled brew carb'd and ready to be snapped in. Vovo
Member
Question on the 2 liter soda bottle washer.
I got the carbonating cap in my stocking for christmas. When cleaning lines this way you are pressurizing bottle to 20lbs. What is the purpose of turning the bottle over?
Is solution being pushed by the twenty pounds or is it being sqeezed by your handout or is gravity fed?
Lets see if I am picking up what you are putting down...
Pressurizing 2liter with grey ball lock fitting and then you are attaching it to the black ball lock fitting and allowing the liquid to circulate through the faucet?
Do you find that the faucet needs to be dismantled every so often and be soaked additionally.
Thanks
I got the carbonating cap in my stocking for christmas. When cleaning lines this way you are pressurizing bottle to 20lbs. What is the purpose of turning the bottle over?
Is solution being pushed by the twenty pounds or is it being sqeezed by your handout or is gravity fed?
Lets see if I am picking up what you are putting down...
Pressurizing 2liter with grey ball lock fitting and then you are attaching it to the black ball lock fitting and allowing the liquid to circulate through the faucet?
Do you find that the faucet needs to be dismantled every so often and be soaked additionally.
Thanks
bendavanza
Well-Known Member
I have one of those beer line cleaning kits. If you don't already have a line cleaning solution and a faucet wrench, it's not too bad of a deal. The carb cap is a great idea for cleaning the lines. BLC solution should be used occasionally to get rid of beer stone, which builds up over time in your lines. I've been thinking I'll just start mixing my blc in a 3g corny I have for cleaning the lines I have for cornies. Make sure to leave the BLC in the lines for 10 minutes or so for it to do it's work.
bendavanza
Well-Known Member
Vovo,
they turn the bottle upside down so the fitting is under the cleaner, otherwise you'd just get co2.
-Ben
they turn the bottle upside down so the fitting is under the cleaner, otherwise you'd just get co2.
-Ben
I just stopped using bleach. Using warm pbw solution, then starsan (cool), starsan serves as rinse for pbw, and sits in lines until cleared by next beer. Watching warm pbw work on cleaning out a filthy keggle, then pouring into a filthy cornie and seeing it do just as well I became convinced that using that stuff warm is where it's at.
MrNate
Well-Known Member
I backflush with hot OxyClean using an aquarium pump and a vinyl hose stuck right onto the faucet and clamped down with a hose clamp. Just unscrew the FFL fitting from the QD, open the tap, and pump it through.
Sidenote:
One thing I feel people tend to forget is that if it's just cleaning solution in the keg and not beer, you don't need to use CO2. Compressed air is a lot cheaper!
Sidenote:
One thing I feel people tend to forget is that if it's just cleaning solution in the keg and not beer, you don't need to use CO2. Compressed air is a lot cheaper!
Yeah, if you have a decent filter on your compressor and don't mind making an air QD to keg QD setup... ah, screw it. CO2 is a buck a pound around here.
MrNate
Well-Known Member
Filter, schmilter.
Where do you get your CO2 at a buck a pound?
Where do you get your CO2 at a buck a pound?
I bought a cheap 1 gal garden sprayer and unscrewed the tip and the sort of screwed on (cross threaded really) a corny beer out post. I just fill up the sprayer with cleaner, hook it up and give it a few pumps. Works like a charm
ajwillys
Well-Known Member
FYI, I recently started kegging and was thinking about using BLC and just storing it in the keg for simplicity sake. For the heck of it, I emailed the company and basically, its not a good idea. This is what they said in case anyone cares:
Thank you for submitting your question about our product B*L*C®.
I would not recommend a prolonged storage situation with B*L*C® in a keg for the following reasons.
1. B*L*C® is an alkaline liquid. Even in use concentrations the pH of the solution is going to be highly alkaline ... depending on how much you add to the water in the keg. If you are using a standard beer keg the metal of the keg is going to be in constant contact with the alkaline solution. Over time ... over repeated storage cycles ... you will start to cause corrosion to the metal surface. Now, you won't eat a hole in the keg overnight, but with time that surface will get pitted and any future use of that keg for other functions might get limited. That pitted surface will be harder to clean at some future date if you were to put beer in it.
2. If you use CO2 to push the cleaner thru your system you are potentially going to reduce the cleaning power IF you keep constant CO2 pressure on the keg. Chemically CO2 will go into the water and form carbonic acid H2CO3. This mild acid gives the sharp taste to beer that has been over carbonated in a keg due to too high a CO2 pressure. Constantly pushing CO2 into a keg containing an alkaline cleaner has an accelerated action of the mild carbonic acid being immediately neutralized by the alkaline OH in the cleaner. This chemically pulls more and more CO2 into the solution. Over time the pH of the alkaline cleaner will start to drop due to the mild acid neutralization. Now, the initial alkalinity of the cleaner is so high that this is not a factor in cleaning, BUT if this storage under CO2 goes on for weeks or months? the loss of alkalinity might result in reduced cleaning action.
3. Your question did not mention the conditions under which you are storing this keg. There is always the overriding concern of safety. A keg of liquid that is highly alkaline is potentially dangerous if someone gets into it. It might get tapped as a keg of beer. A child might have access to the keg and release the cleaner causing chemical burns to skin and eyes ... especially if the keg is under pressure.
Summary ... our chemical cleaners for beverage systems are in use every day by both professional technicians cleaning commercial systems and private individuals cleaning home equipment. Most make up a cleaning solution that will be used up within a matter of minutes or maybe a few hours. The cost of a cleaning application is so economical that there is not much financial motivation to either save the solution or store it for future use. The convenience of mixing a liquid cleaner into water is such a quick process that the time saving of mixing a larger quantity for future use is fairly inconsequential.
I would be happy to pursue this further with you if you have any question or comments.
Regards,
Dr. Landman
Thank you for submitting your question about our product B*L*C®.
I would not recommend a prolonged storage situation with B*L*C® in a keg for the following reasons.
1. B*L*C® is an alkaline liquid. Even in use concentrations the pH of the solution is going to be highly alkaline ... depending on how much you add to the water in the keg. If you are using a standard beer keg the metal of the keg is going to be in constant contact with the alkaline solution. Over time ... over repeated storage cycles ... you will start to cause corrosion to the metal surface. Now, you won't eat a hole in the keg overnight, but with time that surface will get pitted and any future use of that keg for other functions might get limited. That pitted surface will be harder to clean at some future date if you were to put beer in it.
2. If you use CO2 to push the cleaner thru your system you are potentially going to reduce the cleaning power IF you keep constant CO2 pressure on the keg. Chemically CO2 will go into the water and form carbonic acid H2CO3. This mild acid gives the sharp taste to beer that has been over carbonated in a keg due to too high a CO2 pressure. Constantly pushing CO2 into a keg containing an alkaline cleaner has an accelerated action of the mild carbonic acid being immediately neutralized by the alkaline OH in the cleaner. This chemically pulls more and more CO2 into the solution. Over time the pH of the alkaline cleaner will start to drop due to the mild acid neutralization. Now, the initial alkalinity of the cleaner is so high that this is not a factor in cleaning, BUT if this storage under CO2 goes on for weeks or months? the loss of alkalinity might result in reduced cleaning action.
3. Your question did not mention the conditions under which you are storing this keg. There is always the overriding concern of safety. A keg of liquid that is highly alkaline is potentially dangerous if someone gets into it. It might get tapped as a keg of beer. A child might have access to the keg and release the cleaner causing chemical burns to skin and eyes ... especially if the keg is under pressure.
Summary ... our chemical cleaners for beverage systems are in use every day by both professional technicians cleaning commercial systems and private individuals cleaning home equipment. Most make up a cleaning solution that will be used up within a matter of minutes or maybe a few hours. The cost of a cleaning application is so economical that there is not much financial motivation to either save the solution or store it for future use. The convenience of mixing a liquid cleaner into water is such a quick process that the time saving of mixing a larger quantity for future use is fairly inconsequential.
I would be happy to pursue this further with you if you have any question or comments.
Regards,
Dr. Landman
EdWort
Well-Known Member
BTW, the Carbonator Cap is a GAS IN post. Do not try to connect your black BEER OUT connectors to it. I have MFL connections on my beer line as the ball lock connectors need to be disassembled and cleaned too. I then screw on a gray gas connector so I can use the 2L bottle full of BLC. A quick hit of CO2 will give it enough pressure to push it through the line.
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Most piston type compressors introduce a lot of oil into the air. This is fine (and perhaps even beneficial) for airtools, but not so cool for beer.
Air tanks also tend to have a lot of internal condensation, which is why they have drain valves.
Your tip for using compressed air is a good one, but I do think a filter is a good idea. They are cheap, and readily available.
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