Best method to cleaning ball lock Cornelius Kegs

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Balloonknot

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Was a part of a local keg group buy. Didnt realize the kegs were not going to be reconditioned kegs and instead were dirty kegs (still had soda syrup in them).

One keg had im guessing Fruit punch and the other had rootbeer. I let them sit for 48 hours in PBW solution. After 48 hours, I took them apart, filled the kegs half way with PBW again put all the posts, lids, gaskets in another bucket of PBW solution to soak. After an hour of soaking I inverted the keg into a bucket to soak the top half of the keg for an hour.

I used BarKeepers Friend to scrub the outside of the kegs to a shiny stainless steel appearance. After soaking in PBW and rinsing, I then made a solution of Star San and let that sit in the kegs for 30 minutes.

Put the kegs back together and pressurized to check the seals (I dont think the vendor actually pressure checked them.. one came to me with no pressure in it).

after 24 hours unhooked from CO_2, I rehooked up CO_2 to listen for gas rushing in. No sounds so I no leak. Pressure test checked out.

Now, I burped the CO_2 out and smelled it. It smells like Hawaiian punch is still there. :(

This is the first time Ive purchased dirty kegs, what did I do wrong? Is there no way to get the smell to fully dissapate or do I just need to run some beer through them and it will be gone? Im afraid to put my Oktoberfest in there and end up with fruit punch oktoberfest lol.

Heres some pics of my cleaning.

Scrubbed one down, not the other in this pic.
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This one had fruit punch in it.
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Theres the fruit punch left in the soapy bucket lol.
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Two sparkly kegs
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Did you replace the o-rings? Especially on older soda kegs, those can definitely hang onto flavors. Could also be something in your relief valve - I've never had to replace or break down one of those, so I'm not sure what's involved, but it seems possible something could have gotten a little gummed up in there.
 
A dip tube brush is a must have. Could help some with the smell. Mine always had some minor smell of whatever was in them before (7-up, Pepsi...etc...) but after one use this smell always went away and I never had any sort of pop flavor in my beer. Of course I cleaned them all very well prior to first use, it just seems that the smell won't totally go away until after beer has been in it.

Good luck!
 
Honestly the best way to get rid of the soda/whateverwasinitbefore smell that I have found is to fill the keg with boiling water and add a scoop or so of OxyFree, stir it up gently with the diptube and let it sit overnight.
I usually disassemble the posts/diptubes and let them soak in that boiling hot oxyclean water in the keg overnight as well.

Replace the O-rings (all of them) and another good hot water rinse or 2 and the keg is sparking clean inside and the smell of whatever was in it is gone.
Fill keg halfway with starsan solution, reassemble posts/diptubes, put lid on and slosh her around a good bit, dump starsan into a bucket for reuse and she is good to go.

Works for me every time. I also use this process when I have had an infected batch in the keg (or a sour which is essentially an infected beer) and it works as well for getting the keg back to good and infection free.
 
okay, yes, I didnt replace the rings/ gaskets. I have extra gaskets but my thought process was if the kegs held the pressure, the gaskets were still good. I didnt think theyd possibly be the source of the smell so thats a good idea.

I did soak them in PBW for a good amount of time but I can imagine the smell is trapped. As for the Lid with the Poppit, I opened the poppit so that the PBW could soak in there as well.

I do not have a dip tube brush, need to invest in that. I did set the hose to jet stream and shoot that through the dip tube for a good 2-3 minutes after dip tube soaked in PBW for an hour.

Only thing I didnt mention was I used a Bottle brush to help scrub the inside of the kegs, My arms are too massive for the opening to get in there lol.

I have to say these things were in aweful shape when I got them, Im amazed how clean I got them on the outside anyway. The inside has no stains or residues anywhere so I cant imagine the smell is coming from actual hawaiian punch in there, unless its in the dip tube like suggested or the rubber gaskets, or even the poppit which may make the most sense as thats where the gas is escaping from.
 
Heres an idea for ya, make a pint or so of hop tea, and swirl that around the keg, maybe let sit overnight and see if the smell of it overpowers the punch smell.
 
I just did my third pair of used kegs. All came with residue syrup in them of all kinds. One smelled like anti freeze. Dip tubes are like little traps for dried syrup. A tube brush is a must. Also as said before, change all O rings including the pressure relief valve on the lid, if they came with them. I soaked all of them for 24 hours in PBW, drained 2/3 out then used a keg/carboy cleaning brush attached to a drill and gave them a thorough scrubbing with the dip tubes out. Rinse and repeat. Then a starsan soak for 6 or so hours drain and let dry, resemble with new rings and cleaned posts and poppets.

Voila!

No residual odour btw.
 
.....I do not have a dip tube brush, need to invest in that. I did set the hose to jet stream and shoot that through the dip tube for a good 2-3 minutes after dip tube soaked in PBW for an hour.

Only thing I didnt mention was I used a Bottle brush to help scrub the inside of the kegs, My arms are too massive for the opening to get in there lol.........


Don't laugh when I say this, but go buy a toilet bowl brush. Make sure it is marked so it is ONLY used for your kegs. I keep mine in the garage with the rest of my brewery cleaning supplies. The brush is great for getting down into the keg to scrub the bottom. A dip tube brush is a must have too.


I can't remember which section of the forums the link is located, but there is a sticky that has the O-ring part numbers you need from McMaster-Carr. Buy a few to keep on hand in case you need to replace them again and/or you buy "new" kegs in the future. A much cheaper option than the seal kits sold online and at your LHBS.
 
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