Advice on Craigslist Ball Lock Kegs - Time Sensitive

Hey guys...I've found a lady who is looking to sell 4 ball lock kegs for 20/piece on craigslist. It appears to be a family moving sale and so I am guessing she doesn't have a way to test and see if the kegs can hold pressure. I'm only moving towards kegging, so I don't have a way to test them out for pressure either.

Either way, 80 for 4 ball lock kegs sounds like a great deal. Advice?

Here's an image from the posting:

Reposting from a previous thread.... the price is great if they are workable.

#1. First thing is pull the relief valve. If it hisses, you know it was sealed and will hold pressure. IF it doesn't hiss, you'll need to test it for pressure. It could be busted or it might just be bad seals.

#2. See if there is liquid inside, if so, dump it -- take a smell and make sure it isn't chemicals, gas, or anything else stupid that people might store in kegs. Inspect the inside. There should be no rust, deep scratches, or strange discoloring inside. Check the welds at the top of the inside. They should be smooth and rust-free. If there is, pass on it or get it for dirt cheap if you want to try to save it. Also look for grime or egg casings inside if it wasn't properly sealed. For $40-$50 bucks you should get a squeaky clean keg. If it isn't and it'll require some labor to get it clean, ask for a lower price.

#3. Inspect posts and lid seals. Cracked rubber usually means a tear-down and full gasket replacement. While not really a big deal, it's still labor and money. If it requires a tear down and gaskets, I'd probably ask $30 for it.


Even if I can get a perfect keg, I always do a tear down and seal replacement just for good measure. I also run a snake through the spear and bake it in the oven to kill any nasties that might be living up there out of sight. If you get grime, a hot Oxy-Clean soak usually does the job. If not, a carboy brush will get the rest. Put it back together, I even teflon all threads for good measure, and sanitize and it's ready to go!

grab them. The rebuild kits are $3-4.

Sounds good. Too hard to pass up on the kegs for the price, so I will go grab them. Worst case, I could just flip them again on Craigslist. Thanks for the quick responses!

brycelarson said:

grab them. The rebuild kits are $3-4.

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+1

It'll be a good lesson on learning how kegs work.

You may never see that low of a price again. Better hurry on over there before they're gone.

Well, I headed down there to check them out and long story short....I didn't buy them. The kegs were in great shape on the exterior, but were heavy when I went to pick them up. Upon opening, each one was FULL of rotting food from over 3 years ago, according to the people selling them. Apparently their parents used to run an Asian restaurant. It's been almost an hour and I still can't get the nasty smell out of my nose, despite a stop to get some ice cream on the way back. I'm not one to gag, but these pushed me over the limit. I'm not sure I would take them for free....20 gallons of rotting asian food was just too much to bear.

MMMMMMMM nasty rotten asian food...... Dim Sum anyone?

A whole 4 kegs full of Kim Chi! The good fermented kind! Where they at?

Oh man someone was making kim chee. I love that stuff. Spicy fermented cabbage, yumm. Sounds like nothing worse than a bad batch of beer that got misplaced for a few months.

It was definitely NOT kim chee. I wouldn't mind if it was...this was a combination of rotting crap and soy sauce. I'm still shuddering. I wish I wasn't in a condo, otherwise I may have offered to take them for free. I just don't have the means to even attempt to clean them out. YUCK!

that's why they make them of steel - to withstand kim chee.

But seriously, while gross they were most likley fine. You would need to replace the seals and prob the poppet guts - but as long as the dip tubes were present I bet they were actually fine. It's not a condo project - but with a strong nose and stomach I bet they could be recovered.