Keg maintenence questions,

[lilzaphod]

I picked up a bunch of used Corny kegs last week in WI.

The kegs were not cleaned, and have had some soda residue in them. They do hold pressure through.

I will wash and sanitize them before I use them, but I have a question on the rubber parts.

Should I replace them with the extra rebuild kits I have, or is it possible to get the pepsi taste out of the rubber if I pull them apart and soak in some solution? Tricks to that?

I'd rather not spend the money on reconditioning 10 kegs that hold pressure if I don't need to. But I've heard that you really can't get the soda taste out of the keg unless you replace the rubber parts. And Pepsi flavored ale just doesn't sound good.

Also- is there a good trick to getting the distributor labels off the kegs? Or is it just going to be a willpower and brillo pad nightmare?

Thanks

Chad

 

[springer]

The smell of Coke and root beer never left the ones I had ,the o rings are cheap from McMaster-carr.com

#9452k33 ,100 per pack $2.15
#94252K172, 100 PER PACK $1.89
don"t recall off hand which is the post or dip tube o rings


#9452K218, 10 PER PACK $12.50 these are the o rings for the lid.

 

[lilzaphod]

The smell of Coke and root beer never left the ones I had ,the o rings are cheap from McMaster-carr.com

#9452k33 ,100 per pack $2.15
#94252K172, 100 PER PACK $1.89
don"t recall off hand which is the post or dip tube o rings


#9452K218, 10 PER PACK $12.50 these are the o rings for the lid.

the 94252K172 part number isn't coming up, but the other 2 are. Do you think you wrote it down wrong?

Thanks

 

[kenche]

It looks like a typo:

try 9452K172

 

[springer]

ooopss Added and extra 2 looks like kenche caught it the # is 9452k172

 

[lilzaphod]

Thanks guys!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I picked up a bunch of used Corny kegs last week in WI.

The kegs were not cleaned, and have had some soda residue in them. They do hold pressure through.

I will wash and sanitize them before I use them, but I have a question on the rubber parts.

Should I replace them with the extra rebuild kits I have, or is it possible to get the pepsi taste out of the rubber if I pull them apart and soak in some solution? Tricks to that?

I'd rather not spend the money on reconditioning 10 kegs that hold pressure if I don't need to. But I've heard that you really can't get the soda taste out of the keg unless you replace the rubber parts. And Pepsi flavored ale just doesn't sound good.

Also- is there a good trick to getting the distributor labels off the kegs? Or is it just going to be a willpower and brillo pad nightmare?

Thanks

Chad

You should go ahead and re-place the old rings for every keg. It's just the prudent thing to do. Ordering from MMC makes the ring much, much, more affordable.

As for the cleaning, do you have a drill or better yet and angle grinder (can be bought at WalMart for $20.00)?

Goto the hardware store (lowes) and look for "GatorGrit" polishing wheels and pads. The abrasive pads do an excellent job of taking all the tarnish, labels, and grime off the old keg. And the polishing pads with a little MOOB or other stainless polish will take those kegs to a mirror like shine.

I personally stopped at the abrasive pads simply because the mirror finish seems to look dirty quicker. Once the it was finished, I spritz the keg with StarSan in an attemp to speed up re-passivating the outer shell.

 

[lilzaphod]

o-rings on order. Will look for the gator grit pads when I go out.

 

[Dpostman]

I went to a local Hydrolics shop with the 2 different small O-rings, one for the dip tubes and one for the connecting post. They sold me 40 O-Rings, (20 of each size) for 8 bucks. that's 20 cents each.

Plus, to remove the tough plastic labels, I use a heat Gun (Paint Removing gun), you have to do that with the tank empty, it wont work with it full. Once the label is removed (Only takes about a minute), I completely disassemble the Keg and let the small parts soak in an Oxi-clean solution, and fill the Keg along with the long dip tube, and also fill a tall pail, and dunk the whole keg in it with an Oxi-clean solution. after a day or 2, the glue residue easily scrubs off with minimal effort.

After that I simply go over the keg with a polishing sand paper.

I tried using my drill with a brass wire thingy, and it works so so, but it is much much harder work than the heat gun, and let soak method. For me anyway.

dp