I bought my first two cornies!

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Coastarine

We get it, you hate BMC.
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...but no other kegging equipment yet. LHBS sells reconditioned cornies with new seals for 35 and they are under pressure when they get them so they know they hold pressure. I don't think I'll find a better deal without having to pay shipping, so I picked up two.

The reason I got two is because I'm in the process of a cross-town move during the next week. I have two batches in better bottles and my original plan was to bottle one this weekend and one next weekend, but that's starting to look like a big PITA so I figure I'll just keg them and move them.

Are there any special considerations when it comes to sanitizing them? Can I just put a gallon of sanitizer in, shake them up, and let them sit for a bit? I have no tap or tank so I can't run sanitizer through the tube or valves yet, so I think this is the best I can do.

Time to start watching craigslist for a chest freezer.:ban:
 
I always take mine apart to clean and sanitize.

The stems unscrew and pressure poplet valves come out of them. Pull out the long stems, remove the rubber o-rings and then take the o-ring off the lid. Put everything inside with some oxy-clean and then afterwards rinse off well. Add water and sanitizer and when sanitized, empty it and put it back together. I use keg lube on all the rubber parts when I put them back together. This is a really good idea to ensure a good seal.

Also I would take them apart one at a time till you get used to where all the pieces go.
 
Watch these videos:

You can see the whole process of cleaning a keg.
However, I would say it is necessary for you to have a gas hook up and tank, because you will want to put even a little pressure on the tanks to purge the oxygen from the top and ensure the seal, especially with moving them. you don't want to be jostling them around with a few inches of air on the top.
 
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I'll rack the beer into them, let them sit, and vent them a few times. The off-gassing should help to lessen the amount of O2 in the headspace. I appreciate the advice but I just can't get all the stuff before the move. It's not going to ruin the beer. Think about the headspace in each bottle and add that up for a whole batch. This will get me through the move, then I'll do everything properly. I promise.
 
I'd at least put new seals on the kegs. Even though mine all hold pressure with brand new seals, it sometimes takes some adjusting to get it to hold. I usually do a 30PSI shot to seal them up, purge a couple of times, and then set my carbing pressure. Point is that it takes high pressure sometimes to seal them up.

I guess when you have to do things, you have to do things but I'd be worried about oxidation from the o2 in the headspace of the keg.

Mike
 
I always fill the keg with Star San, and just pump it thru the beverage line. This sanitizes the line and the keg, and it also purges the keg with CO2.

After I rack the beer in, I just put like 30psi to seat the lid, then turn the regulator down to 20psi for force carbing. (No sense in purging the pressure, since that will eventually get absorbed and there's no oxygen in there to get rid of either.)
 
A chest freezer just came on craigslist here for $150. Not much info, just says "in good shape" and "white in color" so I'll have to check it out, but it's 20 cu ft. TWENTY. Yes, Yes, Y-E-S. I like the idea of having that much room.
 
A chest freezer just came on craigslist here for $150. Not much info, just says "in good shape" and "white in color" so I'll have to check it out, but it's 20 cu ft. TWENTY. Yes, Yes, Y-E-S. I like the idea of having that much room.

Nice grab.

I too was looking for a CL freezer for a long time that was 8-12 c.f. and ended up finding a 20 c.f. freezer. It is sooooo nice having all that extra space.
 
I never was able to get that dip tube out, and I haven't given up yet, but it will have to wait until my pumpkin ale gets drank. As of now, I have 2 kegs purged, pressurized, leak checked and ready for transport. Chest freezer will be picked up on saturday!
 
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