Beer in gas line - Part 2

[J2W2]

Hi,

I had posted about getting beer in one of my gas lines (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/i-need-advice-on-beer-in-my-gas-line-s.667807/).

There was a fair amount of beer in the three-foot line from the quick disconnect to the 3-way manifold. I've bled some CO2 through the manifold with the three-foot line removed, and did not get any liquid, spray, etc.

I was able to pull my old records from when I built my keezer, and found Midwest Supplies still sells the CO2 distributors I have. Their listing indicates these include ball check valves. Mine are mounted with the MFLs facing down, if that matters.

I attached the three-foot line to my gas lines and cleaned and sanitized it when I did them. At this point do you think I'm safe to hook up my gas lines and resume using them?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Jag75]

Did it get into your regulator ? If not cleaning the manifold and lines should suffice. Just gotta make sure no moisture is trapped in there .

 

[gnef]

Did any beer get through the ball valve? If so, the valve itself may be suspect, and it may have some dried beer in it.

If any beer originally got up that high, your check valves may not be working correctly, or the cracking pressure is too high for them to be useful.

 

[day_trippr]

I would just go ahead and clean the entire branch from regulator through manifold through QDs and be done with it. As @gnef says if beer got as far as the manifold valves it can disable the check valves by essentially gluing the balls in place...

Cheers!

 

[Dustin_J]

As other have noted, check all the way back through the system. I pushed some cider back through the gas line a few months ago, and when I opened up the regulator last week there was a syrupy, sticky, funky mess. Easy enough to clean up, but no way would I want gas pushing through that long term.

 

[J2W2]

Thanks to all your input, I got off my lazy butt and flushed the entire line over the weekend. I checked the regulator diaphragm, and there is no indication of any beer making it that far. I'm not sure any made it past the manifold as I tested all three ball check valves by trying to push air back into the manifold. All three would not allow me to do that.

I'm not 100% sure that they would not have remained open when both sides were pressurized, so cleaning everything seemed like the safe route to take.

Thanks again for the help!