Few beginners kegging questions

So, I´ve decided to move on to kegging, and got all(most) the stuff I need.

However, my gas tubes seem a little too tight for the fittings on the manometer and the ball lock, is it supposed to be very, very, very (almost impossibly) tight? Or did I get the wrong tubes?

Also, I´m planning on using two kegs. The guy at the brewing store sold me a very basic three-way splitter for the gas lines, without any way to shut off one of the lines. This means that if I want to force carb only one keg at a time, I will either have to force carb the other keg too, or leave a lot of pressure on a disconnected ball lock thingy. Do I need to get a better splitter, or will the ball lock thing hold?

Also, my kegs are used. How can I check if the O-rings are good? I am waiting for a new nut to connect my CO2 tank to my regulator, so if I need new O-rings I´d rather order them as soon as possible so I can keg my lager ASAP!

Other than that, will it be necessary to completely take apart the kegs to sanitize them? I was planning on just putting some star-san in there and pressurising the keg to bring it out the way the beer would come out. However, I realize this wont clean out the CO2 valve, but I dont really have the equipment to take it off.

Your gas line tubes should be either 1/4" or 5/16" ID, and that's what most barbed fittings from regulators are. You might be having trouble if you're trying to squeeze a 1/4" tube onto a 5/16" barb but I would say that isn't "almost impossibly" tight. Try setting the end of your hose in hot water for 30-60 seconds and then it should slip right onto the barb.

As for the gas splitter, you may or may not be able to find ball & check valves that fit on the manifold/splitter you already have. Without more details or pictures I couldn't tell you one way or the other.

On the subject of used kegs' O-rings - if it holds pressure, it will be OK. Hook up the gas and listen for leaks. If you want to be extra cautious, spray star-san all around the posts and the lid seam while the keg's under pressure and look for bubbles. I would recommend dropping the small amount of coin on new sets of O-rings - order large qty's from companies like oringsandmore.com or mcmaster.com rather than getting the "o-ring kits" from any vendor that sells kegs, you will save a lot of money.

For cleaning, personally, I take off the posts, take out the diptube and gas tube and soak those in oxyclean along with the lid. I don't fully disassemble the posts, just soak them as-is. Then I slap it all back together, put maybe a gallon of hot water & oxyclean in the keg, close it up, and shake the crap out of it. Then I rinse everything thoroughly, then I sanitize with starsan spray.

I'll try the hot water trick!

The splitter is just a three way barbed splitter. So I´d cut my gas line in three, and hook one end to the regulator and the other two to the kegs.

Ill order some new ones then, I guess.

Would soaking in only star san be enough? I dont really know where I can get oxyclean around here..

I'd at least do something to clean the kegs before the starsan. Really hot water is usually good enough if you don't have stuff stuck to the bottom or sides of the keg. PBW, Straight-A and pretty much any other percarbonate cleaner will get the job done too, if you can get those.

The point is that if there are crevices or clumps of organic material left in the kegs, the starsan isn't going to break those up nor will it be able to sanitize those areas and there may already be bacteria living there that you won't eradicate.

Yea.. the kegs are pretty much clean inside. Ill see if I can find anything "percabonate" over here, but in Norway we dont really have any american brands..

But do you know if a ball lock thing thats not connected to the keg will leak if it is exposed to roughly 30 psi?

Did they not give you new orings. 3 I believe. My lhbs gives me 3 new ones because the old ones may impart soda flavors.

lrbijl said:

Yea.. the kegs are pretty much clean inside. Ill see if I can find anything "percabonate" over here, but in Norway we dont really have any american brands..

But do you know if a ball lock thing thats not connected to the keg will leak if it is exposed to roughly 30 psi?

Click to expand...

I force at 30 psi for about an hour. No issues.