Sanke keg further revealed!

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I just (legally) got my first 1/2 bbl Sanke keg for conversion to a keggle. I think it previously held a bit of Old St. Anky (obscure? movie reference), because it smelled like a wastewater treatment plant when I relieved the keg pressure. Nothing a little OxyClean and BKF won't fix...

Anyway, I read about disassembling the Sanke fitting on this site. Something he doesn't mention:
RELIEVE THE KEG PRESSURE BEFORE DISASSEMBLY!!!.
That aside, his instructions are pretty comprehensive...until...

I cut open the ball valve to see if there was further disassembly possible. There isn't.

It seems he was a little more destructive than was required, so I'll post my own version here (no cutting required, reassembly is possible). The fittings on my keg were just slightly different, but I think the same procedure would work with one like he shows on his site. On to the good stuff:

Here is the entire assembled spear:

4688-0spearcomplete.JPG


Here is the spring retainer that looks like a challenge:

4688-1retainerassembled.JPG


You don't need any fancy tools - just a big wrench. Just press and turn, catching one of the tabs with the edge of the wrench face, until the retainer ring is unlocked. It doesn't take a ton of strength.

4688-2retainerwrenchtrick.JPG


What it looks like with the retainer unlocked:

4688-3retainerunsprung.JPG
 
Now you should be able to disassemble the spear entirely.

4688-4retainerdisassembled.JPG


Here's the valve that the guy from UA destroyed:

4688-5poppetassembled.JPG


Turns out, you can just pull the hard rubber seal out of the spear housing:

4688-6poppetdisassembled.JPG


Now you can really clean everything well (which was required for my keg...and probably all "retired" kegs, for that matter).

4688-7spearcompletelydisassembled.JPG


Next up on my to-do list: weld the Sanke fitting to a corny lid so I can take my kegs to places with only Sanke fittings. I shall call it: Sankelius...or Cornanke...or Sankius...or Canke...yeah, Canke...that sounds...gross.
 
Man you are always building something. I guess idle hands are the devils work. So you gonna weld your own valve on that badboy? I just cut the top off of my sanke today. It still had beer in it. It really stunk. I need to find me a valve setup. Think I'll take it to a pro welder. That's something I can't even do. By the way, I finished my malt mill. It was posted yesterday. Let me know what you think.
 
Yuri, some of the local micros use exactly that. A Cornie that has a Sankey tap connector, right in the middle of the oval port, and the oval port welded in place. The Cornie QDs have been removed, welded shut, and covered with rubber plugs. I've got one at work, full of Sonoran Root-beer. (Yes the hoses needed replacing anyway.) Sonoran Rootbeer is about the best I've ever tasted, and I've been drinking Rootbeer for more years than I care to think about!

(Oh, that guy was at UA, not ASU.)

steve
 
skou said:
Yuri, some of the local micros use exactly that. A Cornie that has a Sankey tap connector, right in the middle of the oval port, and the oval port welded in place. The Cornie QDs have been removed, welded shut, and covered with rubber plugs.
I've seen those., and that's pretty much what I'm going for. I'd like to keep the oval lid removable, that way I can move my Sanke fitting to different kegs as the need arises.

To answer the question from further up, yes, I'll be doing all the welding and cutting on my keggle. If I can find a way to take some pics of the process in action, I'll post them.
 
Yuri, I don't see how you're going to remove the access cover, unless you also remove the spike from it. You have to lean the cover sideways to get it out. And, removing that spike is "fun."

steve
 
skou said:
Yuri, I don't see how you're going to remove the access cover, unless you also remove the spike from it. You have to lean the cover sideways to get it out. And, removing that spike is "fun."
I've already considered that...and I didn't think that disassembling the fitting was all that tough. Sure, it's a few minutes of extra work, but I like the idea of being able to move my Sanke lid around.

EDIT:
Actually, I should re-word that...
When I made my steam boiler, I found out the hard way (by getting excited and cutting before thinking) that extending a fitting inside a Corny lid makes it tough to get the lid off. Removing that heating element every time is a ROYAL PITA (requires removal of the wiring, a big wrench, and a lot of finesse to maneuver the big wrench).
 
I've always wondered how to take that Sanke keg intake apart. I turned mine into a +2 Mace of Windu. Alternately it can be used as a zombie head crusher.
 
LOL, I had no idea you could take the last little bit apart. I am going to completely take apart my kegs next time for a good once over. How does the spring and stainless "ball", and hard rubber seal fit back into the spear housing? Crap, how did you pull it out for that matter?
 
[QUOTENext up on my to-do list: weld the Sanke fitting to a corny lid so I can take my kegs to places with only Sanke fittings. [/QUOTE]


:confused: This must be a Southwestern thing. VERY corny friendly in these parts.

Bummer to have to adapt to their unenlightenment. :(
 
do you ever brew any beer? Seems like you wouldn't have any time with all the **** you build - lol
 
I must be confused. Why convert a corny to a sanke input? Why not just keg into the commercial keg to carry around?
 
trent said:
I must be confused. Why convert a corny to a sanke input? Why not just keg into the commercial keg to carry around?
I converted every commercial keg I could find into a keggle. Also, I'd rather carry 5 gallons of homebrew in a corny than lug around a 15.5 gallon keg.

I have a few friends with commercial kegerators. They don't homebrew, so they have no need to convert to ball lock fittings. If I want to bring a bit of homebrew to them, I need to have a Sanke fitting on my vessel.
 
rdwj said:
do you ever brew any beer? Seems like you wouldn't have any time with all the **** you build - lol
Yup! Dry hopping a batch of pale ale this week. Up next is either another attempt at my pils recipe or an 80/-.
 
Sorry I'm here about a month late, but thanks for this awesome guide Yuri. I recently bought a 1/6th Sankey from a local scrap yard and I think it had old Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan in it for at least a year.

Now all the stainless parts of the valve are soaking in Oxyclean and the keg is full of it too.

I assume that will do a good enough job to get it clean before sanitizing it? I intend to use some B-Brite (its what my LHBS carries) to sanitize before racking in the finished product.

If I'm missing something here I'd really, really appreciate the advice.

Cheers,
Kevin
 
I found a neat new trick to Sanke keg reassembly. If you're having trouble with those damn spiral snap rings, try a regular internal snap ring (stainless, of course). The McMaster part number is 91580A246. It still takes a little effort to get it seated correctly, but it's not nearly as difficult as the spiral ring can be.

4688-spring_vs_snap.jpg
 
you rock, been trying to find out which one I needed!

Yuri_Rage said:
I found a neat new trick to Sanke keg reassembly. If you're having trouble with those damn spiral snap rings, try a regular internal snap ring (stainless, of course). The McMaster part number is 91580A246. It still takes a little effort to get it seated correctly, but it's not nearly as difficult as the spiral ring can be.

4688-spring_vs_snap.jpg
 
I also struggled w/ the installation of the spiral sanke rings. The method that I've finally become skilled at works well for me and I will share. All that is needed is a small pair of channel lock pliers (say 6"0). A regular pair of pliers would probably also work but the offset working angle of the channel locks helps.

All you do is get the spiral ring started by hand which is usually close to 1 revolution. The point at which it becomes difficult is when the spiral ring is doubled in the retaining groove. Position about half of the remaining free end of the ring inside the neck of the keg adjacent to the retaining groove.

Begin forcing the ring in the groove w/ the pliers by squeezing between the snap ring and the outside neck of the keg, well behind the unseated portion . Slowly proceed around the keg neck w/ the pliers and the ring will spiral into the groove. As the second revolution of the ring is seating, position the remaining free end adjacent to the retaining groove.

Only move the pliers 1/8 - 1/4" w/ every compression. If the ring seats in the groove, great, move forward and squeeze again. If the ring is stubborn, back up and make sure the preceeding portion is full seated!

This is difficult to put into words but w/ a little practice it's a 30 second job.

I actually have grown to like the spiral rings in that they are compressing the large o-ring upon installation, and this I believe is why they can be a PIA to install. Not sure a regular snap ring will compress the o-ring seal as well.

Good luck, it's tricky at first but will become easy.

Mike
 
wilserbrewer said:
I actually have grown to like the spiral rings in that they are compressing the large o-ring upon installation. Not sure a regular snap ring will compress the o-ring seal as well.
Thanks for the tips on the spiral ring - sounds like a good technique.

The snap ring is just as thick as the spiral ring, and it compresses the seal just fine. As a result, it takes a little effort to get the snap ring seated correctly. Even so, I find it far easier to use than the spiral ring.
 
wilserbrewer said:
I also struggled w/ the installation of the spiral sanke rings. The method that I've finally become skilled at works well for me and I will share. All that is needed is a small pair of channel lock pliers (say 6"0). A regular pair of pliers would probably also work but the offset working angle of the channel locks helps.

All you do is get the spiral ring started by hand which is usually close to 1 revolution. The point at which it becomes difficult is when the spiral ring is doubled in the retaining groove. Position the remaining free end of the ring inside the neck of the keg adjacent to the retaining groove.

Begin forcing the ring in the groove w/ the pliers by squeezing between the snap ring and the outside neck of the keg, well behind the unseated portion . Slowly proceed around the keg neck w/ the pliers and the ring will spiral into the groove.

Only move the pliers 1/8 - 1/4" w/ every compression. If the ring seats in the groove, great, move forward and squeeze again. If the ring is stubborn, back up and make sure the preceeding portion is full seated!

W/ a little practice it's a 30 second job.

I actually have grown to like the spiral rings in that they are compressing the large o-ring upon installation. Not sure a regular snap ring will compress the o-ring seal as well.

Good luck, it's tricky at first but will become easy.

Mike

I do the same type of thing, I just take the metal end of a screw driver and slide it around in a circle, and it pushes the ring back in. If I have one thats fighting me a little bit, I just pull out the hammer and tap it on the back end of the screw driver to nudge the ring back in.

The first one was a PITA, but once I got the hang of it (I had 5 kegs to practice on all at once), it became a 10 second job. I like the spiral rings now.
 
Oh I've used the hammer a bit, a bit too much during the early stages of sanke training.

Once you've got the technique I'm sure it works fine. I must admit as a noob I got a little aggressive w/ the hammer and slightly dinged the precious mechanicals. I try to stay away from the hammer in that if I begin to struggle, I just reach for the bigger hammer and then bad things happen.

I'm gonna have to try just sliding the srewdriver around the inside of the ring, sounds easy enough, thanks.
 
If you were able to make a corney top with a sanke adapter on it, this is something that i personally would be very interested in... Does anybody make them, because i have defiantly seen them at a few microbreweries, and would love to get my hand on them.
 
Oh I forgot...one more tip on the sanke spiral rings. Be careful removing them, if they become deformed or stretched like the one in Yuri's photo on the previous page, replace it asap. Even slightly deformed they can be stubborn as heLL on installation. The snap ring is probably a little stronger in this regard.
 
Ok. I've got a snap ring that fits pretty well. However when the O-Ring on the spear is put on, I just can't compress the spear enough to get the snap ring in. Are my puny arms not strong enough to compress it?
 
RockfordWhite said:
If you were able to make a corney top with a sanke adapter on it, this is something that i personally would be very interested in... Does anybody make them, because i have defiantly seen them at a few microbreweries, and would love to get my hand on them.

I bought some of these from Irregularpulse.

I pulled the rubber cap off one of original carney taps and all it looks like is they sealed them with some epoxy and capped them. Going to clean them up this weekend. Still need to get the tap and CO2 .No more bottles :ban:

keg.jpg
 
I would like a bit more information on pulling out the hard rubber seal.
Thanks,

MOD EDIT: don't quote a whole series of pictures - it only clutters the thread
 
I simply pulled the seal out. With a little effort, pulling straight out, it separated from the spear. I can't really describe it any better than that.
 
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