A couple of keg questions

[Gridlocked]

Hey everyone,

I've got a couple of keg problems that I wanted to run by you guys to see if there is a solution. This is my first kegged batch and I guess I may be learning the hard way. I was SO excited to go out and pour a glass or two of crud that had settled and then have nice, clear beer. Damn it. I was muttering to myself "I thought kegging was supposed to be SO easy... I'm going back to bottles, f*** this..."

When I went to pour a glass last, the sludge and dry hop from my secondary COMPLETELY clogged the pickup line, plastic collar, poppet valve and post. I pulled the assembly out of my 2nd (empty) keg, sanitized and swapped them out. Clogged again. I did this three-or-four times with the same result. Is there an easy way to get the rest of the crud out? I thought of taking the poppet valve out of the post, hooking up the out-line and blasting it into a pail. The first two times, the long stainless tube even got clogged.

Second problem: Apparently BOTH of my kegs leak right where the post crews onto the threads.
Are the white Nylon washers supposed to be the "o-ring" or create the seal between the post and the keg threads? Mine are pretty old. *Edit* Turns out that they are older Firestone kegs that do need the white plastic washers.

Despite my best efforts to tighten them. Can I use some Teflon tape or something on the threads to seal that? I have gone through just about all of a 5lb tank in a week and there is beer all over my refrigerator floor. *edit* the kegs leak weather I have the dispenser tube connected or not, so it's not the o-ring on top of the post.

 

[Suddy]

I am not a kegger but I would venture a guess that you could bend the diptube a little so that it doesnt touch the trub.

You may need new o-ring to fix the leaking issue....but again not a kegger.

 

[maida7]

You should not have that much sediment in your kegs that it blocks up the tube. That has never happened to me in over 10 years of using kegs. You need to do a better job of clearing the beer before racking to the keg. Also be more careful when racking to not siphon up all the trub and yeast to your clean keg. There will always be a small amount that makes it to the keg but it should run clear after the first pint.

There should be RUBBER O rings on the dip tubes under the poppet valves. I've never seen nylon ones. I'd replace those with black rubber ones. The o rings go on the dip tube then install the tube and thread the post onto the keg.

Good Luck!

 

[Gridlocked]

Yep, I know that now. I need a solution- I know the problem. I can give a local "more experienced" brewer (Paulasarus) on here a hard time for this. As I was filling my keg I called him on his cell and asked him to bring me my beer (he was in my garage and I was in the house) I was pulling the beer off of the top, carefully keeping the trub out. He came in and said that some trub wasn't a problem. Thinking that he is a more experienced kegger and knows what he's talking about, I dropped the siphon and in went a ton of crap. I wasn't comfortable with it, but I went with it. His process is much different than mine so I should have gone with my gut.

The O-ring that connects the dip tube to the keg is new. The nylon gasket that sits on top of the tube (between the tube and the post) is not. There is no nylon fitting between the tube and the post on your system? Mine have THESE

between the tube and the post.

 

[masonsjax]

Let the keg clear, preferably cold, then rack the beer to your other keg. In the future either dry hop in something other than your serving keg, like your primary, or use a tea ball or mesh bag.
I have never seen those nylon things before, but you should replace all rings and gaskets when you get a new-to-you keg.

 

[maida7]

No, I've never seen those nylon washers on a corny keg. This is all the seals used on a standard keg If you already have the O rings on the dip tubes I recommend you ditch the nylon gaskets and see what happens. Like I said, those don't come on regular corny kegs. Maybe you have some weird keg that takes nylon gaskets, I just don't know.

 

[azscoob]

When I dry hop in the keg, I use a large herb ball zip tied to the keg pickup tube, it keeps the hops contained and keeps it submerged. hops floating around in the keg will plug the tube in short order. some guys use a mesh bag instead of an herb ball, I recommend a zip tie to keep it from getting sucked to the pickup tube as well.
You gotta love working the bugs out of a new system! After I replace the o-rings on a new keg I fill them with water and pressure test them for any problems prior to racking a beer into them. finding a leak or other problem when its filled with beer is never enjoyable.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks for the help guys. All of the o-rings are new. I picked up the kegs for myself and a buddy and as a thanks, he cleaned and "rebuilt" his AND mine, so the rings are virgins. I will pull the nylon pieces tonight and see what happens.

I was wondering about re-racking the beer to the other keg but when I put some Starsan into it and pressurized it, I had StarSan bubbles everywhere so that one leaks worse. If I can get a good seal on it, I'll re-rack it.

 

[maida7]

I dry hop in the primary fermenter.

 

[Paulasaurus]

LOL, forgot the beer was dry hopped and didn't think about "trub" was only thinking there was a sediment layer at the bottom.

DOH!

 

[Gridlocked]

HA! You better get over here and fix this - and sample some of the Ferocious for me...

 

[Paulasaurus]

HA! You better get over here and fix this - and sample some of the Ferocious for me...

Hmmmmm :rockin:

 

[masonsjax]

Invest in some keg lube and apply it to all the rubber while you're at it. Not that it will fix your problem, but it will help things seal up and keep life in the rings.

 

[ipso]

Gridlocked,

Yours looks to be a standard Cornelius with newer Type-A posts. If so, the white keg fittings you linked two are the wrong ones, and cannot be used with your system. These are the correct gaskets for the inner post seals (for both posts).
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...rts/dip-tube-o-ring-type-a-all-cornelius.html

The only thing I might add is that with new rings, you shouldn’t tighten the posts down too hard. I’m only using about 25 ft lb. on the posts. More than that and you may stress the rings. (I don’t know what the actual spec is though.)

Edit: I may be wrong - best bet is to take down to your local brew shop and swap notes!

 

[Grizzlybrew]

The only thing I might add is that with new rings, you shouldn’t tighten the posts down too hard. I’m only using about 25 ft lb. on the posts. More than that and you may stress the rings. (I don’t know what the actual spec is though.)

I agree. Overtightening can deform the ring or even crack the post if you're not careful. I guess you could wrap teflon or gas tape around the posts before tightening down.

As far as the hops... are you dry-hopping with leaf hops in the keg?!? I like to secondary pretty much all the time, especially when dry-hopping. When you secondary, you can let the siphon sit on the bottom for both the primary and secondary transfers.

 

[breez7]

I cut about 1/4' off all my dip tubes to help prevent picking anything up off the bottom. Won't do you much help this time... just my 2 cents.

 

[Gridlocked]

Again, thanks everyone for all of the help. I know that I siphoned too much crud out of the secondary, trust me, that won't happen again. I dry hopped in the secondary but pulled in too much trub per the instruction/suggestion of a friend who was at my house (had a couple of beers) for a brew day.

Also, the picture is for illustration purposes only. I pulled it from the interweb. My dip tubes have new, black o-rings that seal the tube to the keg. The white plastic nylon "bushing" was sitting on top of the tube, between the tube and the poppet valve/post. like this:

 

[DrDirt]

I've never come across a bushing in the location you illustrated. In all my kegs the three "feet" of the poppett rest directly on the flared neck of the dip tube. Try re-assembling without the bushing and see if the poppett seals inside the housing.

 

[Gridlocked]

I really want to run home and take those bushings out... It's friday....

 

[Grizzlybrew]

I've never come across a bushing in the location you illustrated. In all my kegs the three "feet" of the poppett rest directly on the flared neck of the dip tube. Try re-assembling without the bushing and see if the poppett seals inside the housing.

Yeah, that's new to me also. Keep in mind though, there are several different styles of poppits and maybe someone else put that washer in place to compensate for a shorter poppit. I would still take it out and see what happens.

 

[ipso]

...

This is a good thread – it’s making me recon all the different keg types.

The metal post in your last pic is an older (12 point) Cornelius “Type-A” gas (exactly like mine). Your poppet is exactly like mine except instead of yellow plastic with a black rubber ring, I have black plastic with a black rubber ring. I do NOT have the nylon piece you drew in. I believe that does not belong, and is from a different poppet type. Take that out and try it out.

The problem is … what is the brand of the keg you own? (Firestone/Cornelius/Spartanburg /other?) It may be that the keg is not Cornelius, and the keg nipple is not as long, so the nylon is used to compensate for that so you can use a standard Cornelius post/poppet. In that case, it does belong.

This looks to be a solid inventory of the various poppets types.
http://www.nthba.org/www/docs/Poppets.pdf

This guy has a solid list, except I think it’s wrong. Like you, I have his “A” post (except he shows it as a “Spartanburg”, whereas I think it’s a standard “Cornelius”), and inside my post I have his “B” poppet – which I think is the same as yours (except you have yellow plastic vs. the standard old-school black.)
http://www.dresselbrew.com/Keg_Info.htm

About as clear as mud?

This guy had a problem (perhaps like yourself) with the wrong poppet in the wrong post. He too has the nylon component you do (but notice a different poppet!!)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/firestone-challenger-parts-need-help-101197/

 

[Gridlocked]

Again, thank you everyone for the replies and the help. I think I am going to take a "lunch" break today, run home and play for a bit. I'll take pictures of MY actual pieces and parts - the pictures that are on here are for illustration purposes only and are not actually of the stuff I'm working with.

-Ted

 

[Gridlocked]

bump for pictures of my actual pieces and parts, just taken.
And, after looking at the post here (thank you again) it appears that I have, maybe, Firestone or challenger kegs?

I took one of the white collars out and it leaked pretty bad. I have not had much time to play with it tonight yet. I have to wait until the "Max Factor" goes to bed.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Isn't there supposed to be a dip tube in there? Little 3" or so shorty tube with a gasket?

 

[Gridlocked]

Well, I think I figured it out!!! I took the gas side off because that side wasn't leaking and it had an o-ring between the bottom of the white collar and the tube. I had a few extra o-rings laying around and put them onto the out side and turned on the gas. Pressure test with soap was successful so I transferred the beer with my siphon and grain bag as a filter to the other keg. No leaks, no crud.

I also looked at the bottom of the keg and it reads Firestone Steel Products or something like that.

Also found these I'll need to pick up.