chunks of gross stuff occasionally coming from taps

[motosapiens]

Got a keg fridge last winter and have been happily kegging my beers now, using inexpensive garden-variety taps. The taps seem to occasionally get slightly obstructed by some kind of gross rubbery stuff that dries or grows in them, and every now and then will squirt out into my beer (like once every 3-4 weeks). The first time it happened after I bought the equipment used, i said 'blech' and promptly took apart the taps for a thorough cleaning, but eventually they get gummed up again. It doesn't seem to be an issue if I am pouring beer every day. Is this a common problem? is there a better tap that avoids it? do I just need to dismantle and clean the tap whenever I change kegs?

normally i just run a little starsan through the lines when I switch kegs, but perhaps that is not enough.

 

[Harleybrew32]

i run boiling water through my tap lines every keg and then starsan, then every third or fourth keg i run some PBW and the hot water rinse the lines and take my taps apart and clean them, then starsan everything.
my picnic taps i do every keg though. the beer sits in there and gets nasty. I spray my taps every couple days with some starsan to try and kill any bacteria in there, might not kill everything but makes me feel better.
cheers

 

[Elric]

Sounds like you have rear sealing taps. They are fine if you are constantly using them, but can cause lots of various gross issues if you leave them unused for days at a time. If you are an infrequent drinker it may be best to replace them with some forward sealing taps. here's a link that breaks down the differences Forward-sealing vs. Rear-sealing Beer Faucet Guide - Make Beer Make Sense