DIY Beer Line Cleaner

[geoffm33]

My Flomaster has a nice small crack on the seam and doesn't hold pressure very well. I resealed it but leaks a little.

Looking for a replacement I came across this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YNSADU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's $14 and can hold a gallon of liquid.

What are the chances that the nozzle is the same between this and the flowmaster?

 

[fun4stuff]

My Flomaster has a nice small crack on the seam and doesn't hold pressure very well. I resealed it but leaks a little.

Looking for a replacement I came across this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002YNSADU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's $14 and can hold a gallon of liquid.

What are the chances that the nozzle is the same between this and the flowmaster?

They have these types of sprayers at local stores for a similar price. Best to just and check it out for yourself in the store. Makes it easier to return too.

 

[bigdawg86]

Insane necropost... I followed the instructions per this thread and my ball lock corny keg post does not thread onto the 3/8 flair fitting. I even sawed off the flair cone so nothing was getting in the way. Does anyone know if there are different ball lock fitting sizes? I'm not sure where to go from here since the post won't even thread on enough to be "close enough".

 

[bigdawg86]

I just realized that the keg post was Firestone. I have corny. Muh bad. I ordered a Firestone keg post.

Bump?

 

[geniz]

I just realized that the keg post was Firestone. I have corny. Muh bad. I ordered a Firestone keg post.



Bump?

That should do it. I'm assuming the sprayers haven't changed over the years but who knows. Mine's still going strong.

 

[day_trippr]

wrt to the "right" post, it's all about threading onto the brass fitting, not the spray nozzle.
Pretty sure the Firestone beer post is the only one that'll reasonably thread onto that fitting...

Cheers!

 

[JohnSand]

I just cut the very tip off the sprayer and forced the post to thread onto the plastic. It leaks a few drops in use.

 

[jimmcs06]

appreciate the research on this line cleaner approach. I purchased the 3/8" FL - 3/8" FIP brass fitting from amazon, then went to Lowes and purchased the multi purpose sprayer, one gallon from roundup. I have several old used soda kegs and pretty sure they are firestone post, screwed the brass fitting on the post without a problem, but had trouble screwing this on to the sprayer wand, but with a little extra effort it went on, no leaks, works great

 

[Jayjay1976]

Would there be any benefit in rigging up a pond pump recirculating system that would flush the lines continuously for a half hour or so while I'm cleaning out the keg? Or does the cleaning solution work in one pass regardless of contact time? I love letting my kettle recirc hot PBW while I clean up other stuff, takes all the work out of it.

 

[hafmpty]

Would there be any benefit in rigging up a pond pump recirculating system that would flush the lines continuously for a half hour or so while I'm cleaning out the keg? Or does the cleaning solution work in one pass regardless of contact time? I love letting my kettle recirc hot PBW while I clean up other stuff, takes all the work out of it.

Yep! Check out www.homebrewfinds.com/2012/11/recirculating-draft-line-cleaning-build.html for a description and even a shopping list. Works great!

 

[adjohnson2008]

Thanks for the great idea. Im lazy so i add a fish pump to the system vs the hand pump for about the same cost as the hand pump.

 

[JohnSand]

Soooo, tonight I was replacing a faucet with a flow control. I use this tool to clean the lines every time I change kegs. But tonight when I removed the old tap I noticed that the inside of the faucet and shank has some soft residue on it. It washed off quickly with hot water, sand smelled like beer. (Of course)
The residue gathered where the shank and faucet widened at the connection. I suspect that the flow from the sprayer does not have turbulence to clean at the wider point, it just flows through.
So, check your faucets.

 

[SEndorf]

I use a pond pump to clean the lines, but there's no getting away from disassembling the taps to clean out the schmutz with PBW...

 

[geniz]

What SEndorf said. This was a meant to be a means of cleaning out your beer lines between kegs. You should still disassemble and clean your taps

 

[4of7]

I wanted to make a small beer line cleaner for my kegerator. Up to this point, I have been cleaning my beer lines by using an extra cornelius keg that I fill with cleaner, pressurize, run, empty, rinse, pressurize, run... you get the picture.

I wanted something smaller and lighter that I could pressurize without hooking up to CO2. Something easy that I could use between keg changes. I wanted it to connect to my beer out disconnect so that i could clean that without taking it apart unlike some of the commercial beer line cleaners that hook up to the faucet end.

I had heard of mention of people using pump sprayers but hadn't seen a DIY thread, so I decided to try to make one and share my experience

Inline keg cleaning..before the inline carb

 

[noiz2]

Would there be any benefit in rigging up a pond pump recirculating system that would flush the lines continuously for a half hour or so while I'm cleaning out the keg? Or does the cleaning solution work in one pass regardless of contact time? I love letting my kettle recirc hot PBW while I clean up other stuff, takes all the work out of it.

That is actually what I do. I built a keg cleaner with a pond pump and a PVC arm that sticks up in the keg. I put a 1/2" PVC to 1/2" MPT adapter on so I could put different "heads" on the arm. One of the heads is a pipe cam with a liquid pinlock post and I just hook it up with some silicone hose on the fawcett as a return to the bucket with the pond pump in it. Run the first bit to a toss bucket because it will have a lot of beer gunk in it, then I switch the hose to start recirculating. Easy as pie and works like a charm.

 

[Turfgrass]

Do co2 lines need to be cleaned out other than the ball/pin lock directly at the keg?

 

[day_trippr]

Only if they've had beer back up in them, imo...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Do co2 lines need to be cleaned out other than the ball/pin lock directly at the keg?

Only when you had beer back up into them.

I've noticed some condensation in them at times (mine are clear 1/4" beverage line), so I clean them maybe once a year for good measure. For peace of mind, I've never seen mold grow in them, though.

I do not routinely clean the gas QDs, except when doing the yearly overhaul. MFL connections make this all fairly easy.

 

[Teromous]

Has anyone noticed a gasoline aroma from the flo-master sprayer when new? I'm guessing it's from the lubricant they've used (I removed the lubricant and lubricated the o-rings Vaseline).

I've tried using PBW and normal dish soap to but nothing seems to get rid of the smell.

 

[kh54s10]

Has anyone noticed a gasoline aroma from the flo-master sprayer when new? I'm guessing it's from the lubricant they've used (I removed the lubricant and lubricated the o-rings Vaseline).

I've tried using PBW and normal dish soap to but nothing seems to get rid of the smell.

I didn't. Mine smelled like any new plastic container would. Cleaned it and nothing out of the ordinary since. About 4 or 5 years.

 

[kal]

Same here - no odd smells. Though it's been probably 5-6 years since I bought mine and I no longer use them having moved to pump based cleaning setup (to recirculate continuously clean all 8 taps at once).

Kal

 

[Teromous]

Yeah, this is in reference to a new one. My old one fell off a shelf and the plastic nozzle snapped at the metal coupler. I went and bought a new one at HD and it smells like gasoline.

 

[HotRod9mm]

.... it smells like gasoline.

Try cleaning as much of the the sprayer as you can with crest tooth paste. Then use a food grade silicone to lube/reassemble the sprayer.

 

[hafmpty]

Yeah, this is in reference to a new one. My old one fell off a shelf and the plastic nozzle snapped at the metal coupler. I went and bought a new one at HD and it smells like gasoline.

Take it back and exchange it. Or at the very least check if the others at the store smell.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, when this thread was brand spanking new I built a pair of these (one for cleaner the other for rinsing) and have no recollection of the sprayers having any odor never mind anything solvent-like.

But there was a lubricant used in the pump, which I would guess was silicone based due to the opaque white character and lack of odor. As that would be the easiest thing to change, I would suspect a different lubricant may have been used in the offending unit. If a return is not practical it might be worth trying to remove same and using something neutral...

Cheers!

 

[AkaiKishi]

Today I went to Home Depot for one of these Flo Master 56HD sprayers. All 10 they had in stock smelled like gasoline or kerosene.
I think I'll just resort to using a spare keg at this point. Though, the pond pump setup is tempting...

 

[JohnSand]

I agree that would put me off too. The smell isn't just the plastic?
Welcome to HBT. Let us know what you decide.

 

[AkaiKishi]

Sadly, it was definitely not a regular plastic smell, even customer service said it smelled wrong. It truly smells like gasoline just like Teromous said. Looking at online reviews for the product, I see other people have mentioned the noxious odor. It could be a YMMV situation, or it's the new normal. There are other brands/models out there, so maybe someone will find one that's as easily adaptable, but without the odor.

Cheers and thanks for the welcome Been brewing for >5yrs but have only been a lurker here until now.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I use a ball locks fitting on a hose that I attach to my keg washer to recirculate thru the lines. Cheers