Mold in lines

I find it hard to keep mold from growing in my lines, for instance my beer gun tube , racking cane, keg lines.

Any advice?

 

What's your cleaning process? As long as you clean and rinse them out after use and let them dry before storage, you shouldn't have an issue. No food, no moisture, no mold.

 

I rinse with sanitizer, but i find it hard to dry the tubes.

 

Not sure what your weather is like, but it may be that you are in a moist area requiring extra effort to keep mold away. I get away with giving my hoses a good spin and hanging them to dry. Maybe find a small and cheap air compressor and blow them out.

 

X2 blow them out. During the summer its so humid here that's what I do but I have a huge shop compressor with an air drier or paint/tools. I think funneling some hot air from a hair drier set on low or medium would work.

 

Yeah good idea!

What about the line from the kegerator tap to the ball lock fitting for the keg. Do you actually disconnect it to dry it out?

 

Wish I could help ya but Im just starting to gather kegging equipment.

 

I run water through them and then leave them filled with StarSan. I do this from a garden pressure sprayer with a keg post attached.

 

Can you explain that a little further?

Garden sprayer to keg post? Thanks!

 

"What about the line from the kegerator tap to the ball lock fitting for the keg. Do you actually disconnect it to dry it out?"

I never allow them to go empty!

 

^^Yep^^

 

Hahaha, that is the problem. Im not brewing and drinking enough! Im working on it.

 

Try this link: DIY beer line cleaner

 

I disconnect the line from keg to tap, disassemble the ball lock and soak the whole thing in Oxyclean for a few minutes, maybe 5 or 10, not too long because soft plastic will discolor. I use my auto-siphon to push Oxyclean through the line. Then rinse the whole thing, push Star-san through and it goes back into service.

I try to do that each time a keg kicks but it doesn't always happen so the line may go through 2 kegs before it's cleaned. If however, there is no keg waiting, I hang the line to air dry.

I've been doing that for years without a problem. The only place I've found mold was in a little piece of tubing that I use inside my mash tun. I used to clean my MT out, then leave it to air dry. Then one day I decided to take the MT apart and that's when I found the mold. I replaced the piece of tubing and ever since then, I always take the MT apart after each brew and let each component air dry. I also take the BK apart after each brew. This has worked much better and I haven't had issues since.

 

Thanks for the help y'all!