Cutting AiH Keg Gas Dip Tubes

[pinemarten]

I just chopped down my gas in dip tubes to be able to get that last little bit of sanitizer out. It took a little trial and error so I wanted to pass along what I found and maybe save you some time. For the new kegs sold by Adventures in Homebrewing, just between 3/4” and 13/16” is perfect. These are the five gallon kegs stamped Old Ale Supply Supply Company (KMS5G-RBT).

I tried to get a good pic alongside a tape measure but the angle distorts it a tad. I think I can live happily enough knowing more about drinking beer than using cameras.

 

[GoodTruble]

Thank you! I've been considering doing this as well for the same reason. My kegs are from AiH, but are an assortment of mismatching used kegs.

What did you use to cut the tubes? Any advice /lessons learned on that process?

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I sandwiched the dip tube between a pair of soft pine scraps, bench-clamped the assembly, and used a Dremel with a virgin cut-off wheel to lop the end. I made mine 1/2" +/- 1/8" long. Used a cone grinder to smooth the inside and outside edges...

Cheers!

 

[pinemarten]

Thank you! I've been considering doing this as well for the same reason. My kegs are from AiH, but are an assortment of mismatching used kegs.

What did you use to cut the tubes? Any advice /lessons learned on that process?

I used a Dremel with the black cutting wheel for no other reason than my wife just got one and I wanted to play around with it. It’s neat little gadget! Then I used the red/orange cone shaped grinding bit to smooth the rough edges. I took more time to measure inside the keg than to cut the tubes. There are very cheap cutters you could do this with like this. The gold standard is probably the type you put inside the tube and then twist. A hacksaw and some sandpaper would have done the job too. I think you could easily use whatever you have around or get what you need for under $10.

Something I found interesting with the AiH kegs is that they didn’t all have identical length gas in tubes even though they are identical otherwise and all purchased at the same time.

I assumed I would need to cut them at an angle, but after feeling around the interior lip of the keg I found it’s actually level and there is no need to cut them at an angle.

Lots of users better than I have done this. The reason I posted was simply to throw out the length that worked with these kegs. The process will be the same no matter the keg. After doing it, I’m thinking getting an exact length to have the tube sit flush the interior wall of the keg probably doesn’t matter at all. I would bet you could go much shorter and be fine as long as you can get the oring on. It was easy - go for it!

 

[pinemarten]

fwiw, I sandwiched the dip tube between a pair of soft pine scraps, bench-clamped the assembly, and used a Dremel with a virgin cut-off wheel to lop the end. I made mine 1/2" +/- 1/8" long. Used a cone grinder to smooth the inside and outside edges...

View attachment 759328 View attachment 759327

Cheers!

Oh man I wish I would have done this! I was worried about using a vice with how thin the tubes are and ended up just holding one end with a welding glove on. Worked fine but Bob Villa wouldn’t have approved.

 

[GoodTruble]

Yeah, one of my AiH kegs has a red plastic gas tube! I tried swapping it out, but none of my extra metal ones fit.