used cornie cleaning

:rockin: I just got my cornies in and they were under pressure when I got them and they still smell of pop. How do I go about cleaning them do I have to pressurize it with cleaner to get the drip tubes cleaned?

I would go ahead and pull them completely apart before first time use. Take the posts off, and that way you can clean the entire corny interior and the two holes for the posts completely. I put my posts in some boiling water just to be sure. I go to town on the corny itself with the hose and a high pressure nozzle.

Then I sanitize everything with Star San, pressurize it, and run the solution through the cobra tap.

Depressurize, the use a wrench to take off the in and out posts. The dip tubes will come out of the keg. You can pop the poppets out of the connectors also, try not to mix them up cause sometimes they can be finicky when you swap the poppets.

The in post will only fit only fit on one side of the keg. the threading is different for in and out so be careful when reassembling.

You beat me to it.

Again I say to the car wash after you have them apart of course and don't forget to replace the gaskets with new ones and get some kegg lube.

I soak mine in oxyclean for an hour or so, then rinse thoroughly. Seems to get the soda smell out.

I agree with Ale monkey just clean with Oxy clean and then sanitize. Oh and rinse well it ain't rocket science.

You'd also be amazed at the difference a little elbow grease, a green scrubbie and some Barkeeper's Friend make on the outside of the keg. Can go from grimy, black marked and hazy to clean and shiney with jsut a little work.

I soaked mine in Oxyclean and HOT water for 45 minutes or so, It worked well, there was a layer of gunk in the bottom that the Oxyclean dissolved.

Ditto the Scotchbrite and bartender's friend on the outside, it cleaned up very well.

Make sure you replace all the rubber o-rings whether they are worn or not. The rubber seems to retain the soda smells.

I've been fortunate in that my used cornies were already relatively clean and held good pressure. I just cleaned the crap out of them inside and out (did not disassemble), and then forced star san solution through the dip tube under CO2 pressure. I've never had any problems or off tastes in my beer.

Although, admittedly, I should eventually tear them down.

thanks all, oh they will get a good cleaning, now if my brew kits would get here I could start the magic.

Kornkob you are so right. I do the same thing . I know it has nothing to do with the beer but I like my cornies to look as good as possible. I look for good ones when I buy them from adventures in brewing.com ( they are local for me). but then when I get them home I do scrub them real good inside and out.
I know most people dont see them but I think it's better if they look like something I want to drink out of.

Here is a good primer on Soda Keg Maintenance.

John