Kegs from Keg Connection

Hey guys. I got my gift from my parents the other day which happened to be a kegging system(Awesome!!!!). Anyways, the keg is obviously a reconditioned one, but it did not look like it was cleaned at all. There is a ring of gunk kinda in it and it still smells of a previous soda in it. The keg itself is from Dr. Pepper. What do you guys normally to when you get these kegs to clean it? Thanks for the help.

I would emai/call keg connection. They claim all there kegs come clean and tested. All 6 of the ones I have got from them have been.
If in fact they still smell of soda, then need to be soaked in how water & oxyclean and all O-rings and seals need to be replaced.
But I would start by called keg connection. They are great to work with and will make it right. Perhaps they missed cleaning yours.

Thanks. I emailed them tonight. Will await a response. I am going to let the keg soak in water/oxyclean overnight and see what happens tomorrow.

Make sure you clean them. I just ordered a four pack, which are supposed to be soaked and cleaned. However, I could see a small amount of brown liquid in the keg when I opened it up to clean it. (Yeah, even though they were supposed to be cleaned, I was going to be sure - good thing.) It smelled strongly of Pepsi. Used the PBW, allowed it to soak for a time, then scrubbed it. When I turned it upside down to empty it, a dead tree leaf came out as well. Don't get me wrong, I've bought several things from keg connection and they've been great to deal with. However, the only way to make sure anything is clean is to clean it yourself...

All four of mine arrived cleaned with no smell and pressurized. Just to be safe I gave them a good cleaning.

Mine was pressurized as well, just had a sweet syrup smell and a ring of junk around it. I just filled it back up with hot water and oxyclean and will let it soak. I took a rag to the gunk line pretty well. Will see tomorrow.

I just bought a single keg from them a few weeks ago and it looks & smells clean. Obviously I'll be giving it a good cleaning and sanatize but there was no visible nastiness.

I would hold off with cleaning them to see what they say.

If you do have to clean it I would suggest scrubbing it down and rinsing it with hot water a few times then fill it with a hot oxiclean/PBW solution to soak overnight. You will most likely have to replace all 5 o-rings if they have been over looked as the soda smells are impossible to remove from them.

I would just clean it, I'm not sure what you expect them to do , have you return yours for a cleaned one. Perhaps one got by them. Everyone loves to send emails, when its just easier to call them. Trust me on that. Perhaps they will give you a little something for your trouble.

As for replacing the orings, yes you should. Their websites doesn't say they been replaced. Only cleaned , lubricated and pressure tested. They supply you with the oring so you can replace them if you want. I would suggest doing so that all the soda smell can be removed.

my 3 were clean. faint odor.

i'd just clean it.

I got some responses from Ben. All is well. He suggested what I can do and use to clean the keg with. It is all fine as I have let the keg sit overnight with OxyClean in it and scrubbed it down good. Gunk and ring/residue is all gone. Smell is still there, but I haven't changed out the O-rings yet but I will. He did over to exchange kegs with me which I declined and offered to send me some Cleaner they use to use on it. I told him about the oxyclean and it's success and if he feels I should use that cleaner to send some. Haven't heard anything yet but all is well. Just wanted to make sure I was going to have a keg that will make my beer come out bad. Thanks for all the reply's guys!

The smell will go away if you change out he orings, use oxyclean soak and scrub, then follow up with star san.

That is the plan tonight!! Just gotta fill up my tank today at lunch! W00t!!

slinn said:

When I turned it upside down to empty it, a dead tree leaf came out as well.

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I recently picked up my order in person. I saw the "mom & pop"-ness of their operations. It does not surprise me about the tree leaf.

I think they were slammed with business from the weekend blowout sale they had over Thanksgiving and probably didn't take the same care cleaning the kegs as they normally would have.

I have another beef with them however, some of mine had really old & worn poppet orings and one of the pressure relief valves was leaking and I couldn't get it to seal properly. I have an email to them that I am waiting on a response. I'd expect to get replacement parts.

also the "sweet soda" smell can also be the caustic soda (lye) which they've used to clean the keg. it gives off a soda-type odor.

but of course if they've been cleaned with lye you're still gonna need to rinse out the lye, then clean then, and then sanitize them.

the lye just gets rid of the nasty soda stickiness.

I have bought 16 kegs from KegConnection over the past few years and everyone of them was pressurized BUT also smelled of pop syrup. I think actual keg cleaning might be a new service.

Advertised clean or not, if I buy any more kegs, I will always soak them with an Oxyclean solution and replace all O-rings. BTW - Oxyclean has always worked to get my kegs fresh as a daisy

Just received my two kegs today from kegconnection. They were clean for the most part. One had this greasy, clear crap streaked on the inside. Lube maybe, but I am not sure why it would be in the keg. Either way I think cleaning and sanitizing myself is a given, and replacing the O-rings with the new ones they provided.

On a positive note...they sent me a 10lb CO2 tank even though I ordered a 5 lb. Boo ya.

Am I the only one who thinks regardless if its been "cleaned" or not, you should ALWAYS clean and sanitize a new piece of equipment? This seems like the first rule of homebrew...

Well...that's why I said it was a given, so that at least makes two of us.

If I wanted to shift the blame for my sanitation onto the guys from Kegconnection, could I blame that stale basement smell on them?

I'm with electric beer! I always clean my kegs regardless of what anyone says. Also tkone is right, the solution they use to clean with has a very sweet smell to it which very much resembles the smell of soda. So it probably was cleaned before it was sent. As long as it is holding pressure you are good to go. Give it a good cleaning and sanitizing before you use it.

Ordered two. They were okay, but one of them had plastic inserts that I don't have on my other kegs. They were cruddy, so I tried to use the keg without them, but it leaked. I ended up soaking and scrubbing. They seem to be holding now, but i would sure like to replace those plastic things. There was also a plastic tube rather than a metal one on the gas side that I destroyed and left off. I hope that won't be a problem, as the little tubes I'm used to won't fit. Anyone familiar with these types of posts?

Good deal though. I can't complain.

Jmiltime said:

I'm with electric beer! I always clean my kegs regardless of what anyone says. Also tkone is right, the solution they use to clean with has a very sweet smell to it which very much resembles the smell of soda. So it probably was cleaned before it was sent. As long as it is holding pressure you are good to go. Give it a good cleaning and sanitizing before you use it.

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It was not cleaned, but if it was, whoever or whatever they used really sucked as a cleaner as it left a ring of gunk around the top part of the keg. It is all good now anyways. I scrubbed and let sit overnight in OxyClean and it is filled with my failed apfelwein I made that I hope get better with some time......

We state that the end user should clean and sanitize to your own standards before initial use, with all of our keg sales.
Matt

Soperbrew said:

I have an email to them that I am waiting on a response. I'd expect to get replacement parts.

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Well so far it has been 7 days and no response yet from them regarding the poppets & pressure relief that do not seal.

Soperbrew said:

Well so far it has been 7 days and no response yet from them regarding the poppets & pressure relief that do not seal.

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I also sent an email to them almost a week ago that hasn't been responded to.

GregT said:

There was also a plastic tube rather than a metal one on the gas side. Anyone familiar with these types of posts?

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Matt at Chi may be able to elaborate. Their website states:

COMING SOON: Remanufactured Plastic Gas In Diptubes. This have not been made in years and are hard to find. We are currently having new ones made....

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COMING SOON: Remanufactured Stainless narrow Gas-in Diptubes. Tube seat: 0.390"w (tapers down to) Tube: .250"w, Total length: 1.35"...

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Matt, is the narrow remanufactured gas tube a direct replacement for the plastic gas tube?

I have dealt a lot with keg connection and have always ended up extremely satisfied. I only had a couple of small issues, but a phone call more than rectified the situation. They are great to deal with and very friendly.
If your email hasn't been answered, pick up the phone. I am sure they are inundated with business this time of year and may not have as much time to read emails.

I clean them all before use. Damn I clean new stuff before I use it never know where its been or who has touched it.

bull8042 said:

If your email hasn't been answered, pick up the phone. I am sure they are inundated with business this time of year and may not have as much time to read emails.

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I shouldn't have to call in the first place. When someone spends $500 on kegging equipment it should work without replacement parts.

Soperbrew said:

I recently picked up my order in person.

I have another beef with them however, some of mine had really old & worn poppet orings and one of the pressure relief valves was leaking and I couldn't get it to seal properly...I'd expect to get replacement parts.

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Were the kegs holding pressure when you picked them up in person? If they weren't, I'd recommend you ask them to pressure the kegs next time. It takes 2 seconds with their huge air compressor setup.

Soperbrew said:

I shouldn't have to call in the first place. When someone spends $500 on kegging equipment it should work without replacement parts.

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One of the kegs I purchased from them a while back had a leaky relief valve (rubber was old and hard). They promptly replaced it, but I made an effort to call them instead of complaining in a forum they don't read.

Not taking sides, just sayin'.

Weird. I've never had a problem with customer service from there. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles i'm assuming they're just having a busy holiday season.

lamarguy said:

I made an effort to call them instead of complaining in a forum they don't read.

Not taking sides, just sayin'.

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I'm simply sharing information with my fellow brewers on my experience. It's not like I'm out to put them out of business or anything. We all learn from each others' experiences.

What I've gained from the experience is to be sure the post components are working or have been replaced prior to ordering kegs in the future. I may still order more kegs from them, I'll be a bit more picky next time. Especially if I'm picking the kegs up myself.

Soperbrew said:

What I've gained from the experience is to be sure the post components are working or have been replaced prior to ordering kegs in the future.

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Correct, the simple solution is to verify the kegs hold pressure (at the time of purchase, if possible).

If the kegs are not pressurized and you fail to ask them to, as least give them a call and afford them the opportunity to resolve the problem.

No one vendor out there is selling kegs that have been taken apart and parts replaced (poppets). They claim to hold pressure upon recieving them and that's it. If you want like new quality then buy them new. If they don't hold pressure , don't email them , give them a call. These are used kegs guys, some of them are decades old. We like them because most just need oring replacement but don't be surprised if they need more. If I replace a poppet, I bet I won't ever replace that poppet again in my lifetime. Good luck an happy kegging.

I'm new at kegging so I guess it sounds like my expectations have been too high. Next time I order kegs I'll expect poor seals.

Soperbrew said:

I'm new at kegging so I guess it sounds like my expectations have been too high. Next time I order kegs I'll expect poor seals.

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I'm not saying you shouldn't expect good seals you should. What I'm saying is that vendors aren't taking the kegs apart and visually inspecting each and every poppet, oring, and relief valve. They are just cleaning them and applying pressure, if it holds pressure , then they sell them. Once you buy them, and then clean them and replace the orings, taking them apart, you may dislodge residue or realize something is just too worn or brittle.

If after cleaning/applying keg lube, they dont hold pressure , I would contact the vendor and ask for a replacement or parts. But I would not expect them to know the condition of the parts because I know they were not torn apart prior to sale.


I'm not trying to stir trouble , just trying to inform everyone of the process and condition of most used kegs. I've bought kegs from 4 different vendors, and I've had issues with all of them, but not issues that were not taken care of or solved with orings, keg lube, or a return.

JesseRC said:

I'm not saying you shouldn't expect good seals you should. What I'm saying is that vendors aren't taking the kegs apart and visually inspecting each and every poppet, oring, and relief valve. They are just cleaning them and applying pressure, if it holds pressure , then they sell them. Once you buy them, and then clean them and replace the orings, taking them apart, you may dislodge residue or realize something is just too worn or brittle.

If after cleaning/applying keg lube, they dont hold pressure , I would contact the vendor and ask for a replacement or parts. But I would not expect them to know the condition of the parts because I know they were not torn apart prior to sale.


I'm not trying to stir trouble , just trying to inform everyone of the process and condition of most used kegs. I've bought kegs from 4 different vendors, and I've had issues with all of them, but not issues that were not taken care of or solved with orings, keg lube, or a return.

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Thank you very much JesseRC! Please pay attention to this new keggers.