How to restore an old corny?

[Jota21]

I'm not sure if this should be posted here, or in Equiment/Sanitation, so please move if necessary:

My buddy just bought a bar, and as (my) luck would have it, there are 7 old cornies in the basement. They are Coke (pin lock, i believe) products, and appear to have never been used. I currently bottle my beer, but would love to make the jump to kegging, unfortunately, I know nothing about it.

My question is: How do I get these to working order? I have an old fridge with a hole drilled through the door for commercial kegs, so I understand the basics of the kegging principals, but know nothing about corny kegs. These particular kegs have black plastic tops.

How can I safely open these kegs:
-I have only taken a cursory glance at them in the dark. I assume there is some sort of pressure relief valve that I can use to release the presumed C02 before opening?

How can I get them back to sanitary, working order?:
-Can I literally fill them with, and then submerge the entire keg in Oxyclean, scrub them, replace the O-rings, then proceed as usual by searching this forum?

 

[kosmokramer]

you pretty much got it, if there is no pressure relief valve, as with most pin locks, bleed the pressure out of the gas line. as far as sanitizing you hit the nail on the head.


I have never bottled as a primary means (already had a kegerator and got cornies as part of a cl deal) but you will trully enjoy the simplicity of it now!

 

[MacGyver22]

First, I'd clean the outside of the keg a bit - wash off any dust, gunk, cobwebs, etc.

Then press down on the 'gas in' side of the keg. Wear glasses and press down on the little metal poppet on the gas side and you should hear a hissing sound, releasing the CO2.

Then you can open up the keg via the big hole in the middle, if you didn't get quite all the CO2 out, then you may have to push it a bit (may also be old soda kinda gluing the top down).

After that, dump out the soda, flush with lots of hot water.

Then remove the gas and liquid connections with a wrench, they may be kinda tight, but don't worry.

One you take those off, pull out the dip tubes (long one is for the liquid and short one is for the gas).

Clean everything with hot water first, then I'd use oxy-clean to wash out the tubes and keg very thoroughly. Once everything is clean and no longer has a soda smell, rinse again with hot water.

If these are that old, I'd buy replacement o-rings and perhaps new poppets as well (tons of links on here as to where to buy them).

After that, set it aside 'til you're ready to go, sanitize before putting beer in and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 

[Jota21]

bleed the pressure out of the gas line

Can you please elaborate? Like I said, I'm a complete rookie with kegs.

Does anyone have picture of this process?

 

[LandoLincoln]

Can you please elaborate? Like I said, I'm a complete rookie with kegs.

Does anyone have picture of this process?

There's an inside circle on top of the posts - that circle is the top of a valve. If you use a screwdriver to depress that inside circle, you'll release pressure from inside the keg. And you might get sprayed with the contents therein.

 

[Brewnoob1]

It's like draining air out of a tire. Push the poppet valve down with a screwdriver or anything capable of pushing it down.

 

[IffyG]

You could also acquire a spare pin lock gas connector and have a way to direct the spray you might encounter.

 

[Jota21]

I guess if i will be using these for beer in the future, I will need a gas connector eventually anyway, but for now, my plan is to put a hole in the bottom of a garbage bag, then put it over the keg so that only my hand/screwdriver can fit through the hole. I'll release the gas and any liquid will be contained under the bag. Then i'll dump out the old product and hose it down inside and out.

Thanks everyone.

 

[DeafSmith]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/sticky-kegging-faqs-43347/

 

[day_trippr]

I guess if i will be using these for beer in the future, I will need a gas connector eventually anyway, but for now, my for now, my plan is to put a hole in the bottom of a garbage bag, then put it over the keg so that only my hand/screwdriver can fit through the hole. I'll release the gas and any liquid will be contained under the bag. Then i'll dump out the old product and hose it down inside and out.

Thanks everyone.

That's probably overkill - unless you press the wrong poppet
The one you want is on the post with just two pins - that's the gas post...

Cheers!

 

[JRems]

Clean the outside of the keg with bar keepers friend. Clean the inside with oxyclean. Remove all dip tubes, posts and poppets and clean them as well. Throw out all 5 rubber o rings and replace with new ones