How do I change my beer lines without a mess?

Hello,

I just took delivery of 24' of 3/16" beer line to replace my 2 lengths of 5ft hose hoping this will allow me to turn the pressure up to 12-14psi and keep my foam down. Anyway, how do I safely remove my 2 beer lines without making a huge mess? They are both currently connected to a D coupler on a half full keg each. I just don't want to spill beer all over the floor and have my wife to answer to, so what is the preferred method to do this??

ED7

 

Why not just unhook from keg, unhook from tap carry to sink to remove connections? Am I missing something?

 

Yea I guess unhooking from the tap is the hard part for me. Its through the top of the kegerator, through a countertop, and then into a tower. Plus I don't see an easy way to get my hands or any tools down in the tower to remove the clamp? I was hoping there was a trick to unhook it form the coupler and drain it without making a mess. Then I could remove the shank and pull the empty line back up through the tower instead of the other way around.

 

You should be able to just untap the coupler, hold over a bowl, and unscrew the line from the coupler. Anything left in the line will drain into the bowl.

 

Yes you were all right. I made it out to be harder than it was. I got it all done in about 30 minutes. I did have to put the lines in boiling water for about 30 seconds to get it to slide over the tailpiece for the couplers, but other than that it was easy. Thanks!

 

Is it possible to change beer lines while the keg (1/6 barrel) is tapped? I'm thinking my 7' hose is not enough and would like to troubleshoot before pissing away $40 on foamy beer. At this point it seems like the only logical reason as the pour is really fast out of the faucet.

 

natefrog: Just untap the keg and change the lines. Once you lift the lever on the coupler (assuming its a commercial coupler) the gas to the line is shut down, so you can safely remove the tap, hold over a bucket (as the beer in the line will drain), and change the line.

 

I'm exactly 1 week into kegging, so pardon my ignorance.
I've already learned I need to replace my single regulator / 2 outlet manifold with a two-product regulator because I have two vastly different beer styles tapped. One pours fine, the other a bit flat.

So, I will be replacing my regulator and gas lines this weekend with a tap rite two product regulator and new gas lines.

So, how do I swap this out...something like this?

1) Close check valves on manifold.
2) Close gas bottle
3) Untap keg
4) Remove gas lines from couplers
5) install new gas lines to couplers
6) install new gas lines to new regulator nipples
7) install bottle on new regulator
8) tap kegs
9) open gas bottle
10) open check valves
11) drink beer

 

dupe post, sorry