Is my corny key toast?

[jcryan2]

I think I just torched a corny keg. I had a batch of amber ale that was nothing but foam. After trying of bunch of things I decided to rack the ale over to another keg to see if it was the keg causing the foam. After racking the ale over I began to take apart the keg and found I couldn't get the Out ball lock valve off the keg. A couple of whacks with a wrench, etc. didn't loosen it up at all. Now the valve seems to have broken loose from the keg and just turns in place. If I put some pressure in the keg I get bubbles around the valve so I've clearly separated the valve tube from the keg body.

Is the keg a goner? I can't see a way to get the valve off as I can't get anything under the ball valve to hold the stem still while I get a wrench on the valve itself.

 

[SugarJohnson]

I got one from Midwest like that where I could not physically get the damn post off. Hammer, heat, etc.. I beat the crap out of it and I still 3 years later can not get it off. I say cut it off and turn it into a fermenter if it's truely done. I may drill mine out to do the same.

 

[remilard]

So there is the post and the post threads onto the keg body. You believe you broke the male threads on the keg off? That would be tough to do I think. And if you did, why won't the whole thing just pull off?

If you just damaged the post, those are like $8. If you damaged the male threads on the keg, you probably cannot repair that for less than the cost of a used keg, but you can salvage a complete lid, two posts and two poppets which isn't bad.

 

[SweetSounds]

If the nipple or the post are stripped, you might get the post off, but I doubt the threads on the nipple will survive. You might try using a screwdriver between the post and the keg to pry some upward pressure on the post, while turning the post with a wrench. But that's not likely to work if it didn't move when you torqued it enough to strip it. If it broke the weld between the nipple and the keg, you're hosed (Unless you know a good welder). You're probably hosed either way, actually. But, the keg isn't necessarily junk. I can think of several things to do with it...

Glycol chiller tank - Even if you don't need one, someone in the classifieds might
Drill out the stripped nipple, and add fittings to make it a fermenter
Cut the keg off at the top weld and call it a cool trash can
Send it to me :rockin: I'll find something to do with it...