Its been about a year since ive had beer in my kegs and kegerator and ive just not had time to clean it out. Mainly due to running out of my PBW and having zero time to take care of things since I have a 2 year old.
A couple nights ago I started the process. Filled and scrubbed my kegs with PBW solution, removed all rubber o-rings for inspection and replacement, applied my keg lube to the o-rings, filled kegs 1/4 of the way with PBW solution and let them run through the beer lines. Stopped the flow and let them sit for a few nights.
Last night I rinsed and ran fresh water through the kegs and lines. Lines look pretty good and the kegs are clean. My next move was to remove the SS perlick faucets and clean them as well as any gunk that might be stuck in the shank. With my handy spanner wrench I started loosening the faucets. 1 faucet came undone easily and sure enough my finger slid into the opening and found some nasty hidden stuff. Got my trusty scrub brush and removed alot of the deposit, rinsed and dried by paper towel so that the slimy feel was gone.
Next I tried to take off the next faucet. WOULD NOT BUDGE. I put on gloves. I put my body weight into the spanner wrench, spanner wrench hook bent off like the stem of a banana. I realized that what ever beer or gunk I had in there must have siezed the faucet on + maybe over tightened from before. without a spanner wrench I relied on my gloved hands. I figured out that if I pulled on the faucet while trying to untighten it, I could get it to slide alittle. Took about an hour but I managed to get it off without completely destroying my tower and faucet. I may have damaged the faucet as I put alot of pressure on the lever part as I pulled. The engagements to open and close are not as smooth as the other and I can see some small scratches in the ball joint. I applied keg lube to the ball joint which seemed to fix the inconsistent open close movement.
After putting the faucets back on, I check with water pressure at 6psi to see if it needs to be replaced. No drips so I believe it is fine. There was indeed some junk in the splines of the faucet and shank which I think caused the siezing. But now my issue is I need a new quality spanner wrench.
I made this post just to share my experience and frustration. Next time I wont let empty kegs sit so long before cleaning them.
A couple nights ago I started the process. Filled and scrubbed my kegs with PBW solution, removed all rubber o-rings for inspection and replacement, applied my keg lube to the o-rings, filled kegs 1/4 of the way with PBW solution and let them run through the beer lines. Stopped the flow and let them sit for a few nights.
Last night I rinsed and ran fresh water through the kegs and lines. Lines look pretty good and the kegs are clean. My next move was to remove the SS perlick faucets and clean them as well as any gunk that might be stuck in the shank. With my handy spanner wrench I started loosening the faucets. 1 faucet came undone easily and sure enough my finger slid into the opening and found some nasty hidden stuff. Got my trusty scrub brush and removed alot of the deposit, rinsed and dried by paper towel so that the slimy feel was gone.
Next I tried to take off the next faucet. WOULD NOT BUDGE. I put on gloves. I put my body weight into the spanner wrench, spanner wrench hook bent off like the stem of a banana. I realized that what ever beer or gunk I had in there must have siezed the faucet on + maybe over tightened from before. without a spanner wrench I relied on my gloved hands. I figured out that if I pulled on the faucet while trying to untighten it, I could get it to slide alittle. Took about an hour but I managed to get it off without completely destroying my tower and faucet. I may have damaged the faucet as I put alot of pressure on the lever part as I pulled. The engagements to open and close are not as smooth as the other and I can see some small scratches in the ball joint. I applied keg lube to the ball joint which seemed to fix the inconsistent open close movement.
After putting the faucets back on, I check with water pressure at 6psi to see if it needs to be replaced. No drips so I believe it is fine. There was indeed some junk in the splines of the faucet and shank which I think caused the siezing. But now my issue is I need a new quality spanner wrench.
I made this post just to share my experience and frustration. Next time I wont let empty kegs sit so long before cleaning them.
