Over my Head in Corny Kegs...

[Path]

I'm a new guy, and I'm just starting to get into homebrewing. After lurking around a bit, I decided I wanted to get into kegging eventually, since I'm lazy and bottling seems way tougher. Well, I didn't think much into it, as I haven't even gotten my brew kit yet. I play locally in a band, and while touring a new bar in town, the owner showed us a back room. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, well about 14 corny kegs, I could fill with my beer. So I asked the owner if he'd be looking to sell some to me (this is after I had seen online prices and figured he hadn't). So he asks me, with a very confused look on his face, "What you want them things for?" I just told him I was a home brewer, and he said take as many as you like.
So now I'm sitting in my house, with 14 kegs, all dirty and used, with a minimal understanding of how to take them apart, clean them, and use them. I know there are at LEAST 3 different brands, Firestone, Spartanburg, and Cornelius. The first I actually opened, a Firestone, had a plastic gas downtube, which I hadn't seen in my studies, and the poppets seemed recessed and didn't come out without me punching them out with pliers. Is this normal? Is there a "better brand" to go with? I have about 7 and 6 firestone and spartanburg respectively, and one true cornelius. I'm just kind of overwhelmed and was wondering what you guys think I should do first. I'm wanting to clean and recondition them, maybe even sell a few, but it seems there is a lot of differentiation even between brands. Help!

 

[oneawesomeguy]

I am still a newbie also, but I always thought "Corny" stood for Cornelius the brand.

Anyhow, I think these forms and some specific YouTube videos are a great place to start. Bobby_M on these forums (aka 'Bobby from New Jersey') has some great YouTube videos on all subjects including kegging.

Basically, you just want to take your kegs apart and clean them very well with cleaner and then soak them with sanitizer before using.

 

[Path]

could be, I always thought it was like when someone says "Kleenex" they mean tissue, it's just the dominate brand. Like old people calling mp3 players walkmans or something like that, lol.

 

[Thirteen]

You'll want to clean them out with some PBW or unscented oxyclean. A NEW toilet brush works well for reashing in and giving it a scrub. Change the o-rings as well. They'll either be contaminated with soda or simply be so old that they should be changed out.

The plastic dip tube shouldn't cause you any problems. Might have to take a little more care cleaning it but it will work the same.

Sometimes poppets can stick a pit and need a little push to get them out. There's also at least one type where the legs sit on a lip inside the pist. if you try to pop it out without first releasing those legs you'll ruin the poppet. if any don't come out with just a slight pressure take a look up there to see if you've got one of that type.

If the poppets and PRV's (assuming they have them) are holding pressure I personally wouldn't change them. Try to figure out what poppets you do have though so you can have some spares on hand for when they do go.

 

[beerthirty]

Keep the brands separate as you clean them. Some have different threads for the posts. I used to have a link telling the different kegs and threads, I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[inspector13]

Too many free Cornys...you could be in a worse position. Clean em, replace o-rings, lube em and send the other ones to me. I'll help ya out.

 

[jgourd]

You'll want to clean them out with some PBW or unscented oxyclean. A NEW toilet brush works well for reashing in and giving it a scrub. Change the o-rings as well. They'll either be contaminated with soda or simply be so old that they should be changed out.

The plastic dip tube shouldn't cause you any problems. Might have to take a little more care cleaning it but it will work the same.

Sometimes poppets can stick a pit and need a little push to get them out. There's also at least one type where the legs sit on a lip inside the pist. if you try to pop it out without first releasing those legs you'll ruin the poppet. if any don't come out with just a slight pressure take a look up there to see if you've got one of that type.

If the poppets and PRV's (assuming they have them) are holding pressure I personally wouldn't change them. Try to figure out what poppets you do have though so you can have some spares on hand for when they do go.

I prefer USED toilet brushes. It adds to the taste. It's like the difference between an oral and rectal thermometer. You know, you can tell them apart by the taste...

 

[shortyjacobs]

Hell of a score!

Plastic dip tubes are normal, no worries. Recessed poppets either mean one type of post, or that the poppets and posts have been mix/matched...(some of mine are recessed when they shouldnt' be, but they still hold pressure!)

"Corny" is a general term meaning a keg that looks like the "cornelius" keg, but could also be firestone, etc.

Oxyclean will clean em out...good luck! (And Welcome to the dark side).

 

[david_42]

Before you do anything else, separate them by manufacturer and work on cleaning one type at a time. Parts are not interchangeable.

 

[Apollo]

Bobby's youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFromNJ



This guy has a few videos on cleaning kegs that I found helpful.

Also check out the kegging sticky.

 

[meddin]

Congrats on the score!

 

[Path]

Thanks for all the info guys. Today, I'll be working on getting a deep socket for the posts, and start poking around to see which kegs I can take apart. I'll keep everyone updated on the progress, what's good vs what isn't.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I have a mixture of the three brands as well, all work equally well for serving beer. If you want new plastic dip tubes, austinhomebrew is one of the few places I have found that has them... just bought a few the other day to change out a few that I have been holding on to that really smelled like cola/root beer.

 

[Path]

I haven't gotten around to gutting them all yet, as I'm waiting to pick up a deep well socket (battery in my car decided it was going to die after I left it in 2ft snow for 2 weeks...) but as far as I can tell, these kegs haven't been opened in about 10 years, so I figure I'll end up replacing the plastic parts as they've been stewing for awhile. Good news is the kegs I've dumped still have carbonated soda in them, so they're holding pressure!