Mark 2 Keg Washer

[SiriusStarr]

I use mine with both the 5 and 6 gallon better bottles. I've found that it helps to give them a quick rinse with hot water before using the keg washer on them, and sometimes you need a little patience on really nasty krausen, but I would never go back to washing by hand.

Hope that helps. Cheers!

Thanks for your input and for tolerating my necroing.

 

[VoodooV]

I just got one of these.

I'm liking it so far, but I am having one problem, the pump seems to work intermittently. first few times I used it it worked great. I turned it off to check on a particularly soiled keg, turned it back on, and it makes noise, but no pumping. I unplugged it and pulled it out of the water, I took the cover off and the propeller. I couldn't find anything wrong, put it back together and it worked fine.

This has happened twice so far. Any tips as to what's wrong?

Thanks in advance.

 

[gbarron]

I love this product. Unfortunately I think my pump died. It is still making noise but no longer pumping water. A couple of small, white plastic pieces have come out of it so I think it is done for.

Does anyone know of an inexpensive replacement pump I can find online?

 

[fantasticapparatus]

Rather than starting another thread, I will continue to poke the zombie.

I just wanted to let people know that the 120L speidel fermentor just barely fits on the mark ii. It's a little bit splashy so indoor use would need some towels laid down, but I'm glad I can continue to use this investment. A CIP ball (as another forum member has suggested using with the pump tower)would likely facilitate a quicker clean, and I am more likely to get one now with the larger fermentor.

 

[Ruddles]

I have just bought the Mark's keg & carboys cleaner. I find it works well for corny kegs, but I have had problems with my carboys. I use pyrex carboys (5-6 galls) that were discarded by a laboratory. Each weighs about 13 lbs empty. When put on the washer, the opening of the carboy rests on the pump, and the collar of the washer is too wide to hold the carboy upright, so the carboy leans against the collar, which is rather precarious, as the plastic clips that hold the collar in place are not that strong. It seems like a different collar for carboys would solve the problem - with a higher clearance from the pump and a narrower neck. Anyway, I would be interested to hear how others are managing with their carboys.

 

[govner1]

I've had no problems w/ 3,5,6 g BB's or 5 & 6.5 g glass carboys. It could be a variation in the dimensions of your lab carboys vs. others.
Maybe a DIY collar around the existing collar would help.
Good luck.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Post a pic of the anomaly, and we'll see iffn' we can dream something up!

 

[Ruddles]

Post a pic of the anomaly, and we'll see iffn' we can dream something up!

Here are 2 pictures of the problem (which seems to be sideways for some reason).
First image: the carboy rests on top of the pump
Second image: the heavy glass carboy leans on the plastic collar, relying on those clips to hold.
Any ideas for modifications that make the carboy more stable?
Many thanks

 

[alexnova]

^ Best solution would be to make the collar taller somehow. Perhaps some foam pipe insulation or a rolled-up tea towel on top that the carboy can rest on?

 

[ClaudiusB]

Here are 2 pictures of the problem (which seems to be sideways for some reason).
First image: the carboy rests on top of the pump
Second image: the heavy glass carboy leans on the plastic collar, relying on those clips to hold.
Any ideas for modifications that make the carboy more stable?
Many thanks

Make a new longer collar out of 3"or 4" PVC pipe.

Cheers,
ClaudiusB

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Concur with the longer, or replacement collar / saddle for the carboy to rest in.
You could notch it where it can "nest" in the present location on the washer body.

Take the rubber cushion with you, when shopping diameters of PVC pipe, if you wish to utilize it on the new collar.

 

[Lwjones56]

Here are 2 pictures of the problem (which seems to be sideways for some reason).
First image: the carboy rests on top of the pump
Second image: the heavy glass carboy leans on the plastic collar, relying on those clips to hold.
Any ideas for modifications that make the carboy more stable?
Many thanks

just got my keg washer from Northern Brewer on Friday. Used it last night to clean 2 kegs, real slick; then moved to a 6.5 gallon carboy, REAL scary!

That brought me to this thread. About 2 pages in I found the fix about using my carboy dryer stand. Works great, but in further pages I find where Mark added a rubber ring along with other fixes about 3 years ago. Mine doesn't have these fixes. I plan to send in my warranty card, I did see where in 2012 doing that would get you the new parts. After all this time shouldn't a new unit come fixed already?
Thanks.
Larry

 

[Ruddles]

Mine purchased Dec 2014 included the gray rubbery gasket - see picture. Also see the adapter collar I found at Home Depot which fits nicely (with gasket removed), and allows my heavy glass carboys with long necks to be held above the pump, instead of resting on the pump. As you see from the image, I use a bungee '"seat-belt" for safety, although it can work without.

 

[PlexVector]

Mine is working great. I added a camlock as a drain and to recirculate through my RIMS tube to keep the PBW solution around 120F. I also run through the plate chiller for the final cleaning. So, it's cleaning the keg, keg valves, chiller, and RIMS tube, and pump all at once. I only use it for cleaning, since sanitizing is easy enough. Thanks mark!

Note the pretty blue water...let it run through the plate chiller a bit too long.

 

[crooow]

I love this product. Unfortunately I think my pump died. It is still making noise but no longer pumping water. A couple of small, white plastic pieces have come out of it so I think it is done for.

Does anyone know of an inexpensive replacement pump I can find online?

No one answered this, so I'll ask again. Does anyone know where I can find an inexpensive replacement pump for the keg washer?

 

[gbarron]

No one answered this, so I'll ask again. Does anyone know where I can find an inexpensive replacement pump for the keg washer?

Yes, I bought a replacement that worked perfectly - $30ish on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006M6MS4C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[crooow]

Yes, I bought a replacement that worked perfectly - $30ish on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006M6MS4C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Awesome, thank you!!

 

[BrotherMalcolm]

Great was searching for one of these and for some reason nothing came up on my search. I did find a few on ebay and was just about to pull the trigger - great info and glad the link still works!

Cheers, Malcolm

 

[EternalHoppiness]

Big favor: Can anyone who has one measure the outside dimensions of the base? I'm wondering if this will fit inside my utility sink while in action. . .

Thanks!

 

[jlongstreet]

It seems that my pump impeller has come decoupled from the motor assembly. Is there a way to recouple it easily?

What I mean is that the motor is spinning, but the impeller only occasionally moves. If I understand how magnetic pumps work, this is because the magnets on the impeller aren't coupling to the magnets in the motor assembly.

 

[jcav]

It seems that my pump impeller has come decoupled from the motor assembly. Is there a way to recouple it easily?

What I mean is that the motor is spinning, but the impeller only occasionally moves. If I understand how magnetic pumps work, this is because the magnets on the impeller aren't coupling to the magnets in the motor assembly.

Your impeller is shot. It doesn't move on the magnet anymore. Mine went also after several uses. You can try and take it apart and realign it, but it will only work on and off intermittently. Mine was under the one year warranty so I emailed Mark and he sent me a new updated impeller for free. Just had to give him the serial number from the pump and Mark took care of me. The newer impeller (he said from a different manufacturer) is working fine for me now. Mark's email is [email protected] if you want to contact him. Hope this helps...

John

 

[jlongstreet]

Your impeller is shot. It doesn't move on the magnet anymore. Mine went also after several uses. You can try and take it apart and realign it, but it will only work on and off intermittently. Mine was under the one year warranty so I emailed Mark and he sent me a new updated impeller for free. Just had to give him the serial number from the pump and Mark took care of me. The newer impeller (he said from a different manufacturer) is working fine for me now. Mark's email is [email protected] if you want to contact him. Hope this helps...

John

Yeah, it's only been used a few times, I got it 2 months ago or so.

 

[jcav]

Email him, he will make it right.

 

[EternalHoppiness]

Big favor: Can anyone who has one measure the outside dimensions of the base? I'm wondering if this will fit inside my utility sink while in action. . .

Thanks!

Just bumping this question since it's not the bottom of the thread anymore. Thanks in advance!

 

[Paps]

In.

 

[jcav]

Just bumping this question since it's not the bottom of the thread anymore. Thanks in advance!

It's kind of an oval shape. But at it's widest and longest points it measures roughly 15 1/4 inches long by 15 1/4 inches wide. It stands about 5 1/8 inches tall. Hope this helps.

John

 

[EternalHoppiness]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[andrewmaixner]

So has anyone found an easy fix for the issue of it not really washing dip tubes, aside from the $50 plastic rotating spray head from McMaster? (which, BTW, can be ordered from Alibaba for $20-$30)

I went and picked up a $1 PVC end cap and drilled about 20 holes in it at many angles, but realized that it still isn't going to reliably hit a dip tube. Looks pretty cool when washing a carboy, though, and I think it provides more back-pressure so that both keg disconnect lines pump at the same time. with the default sprayer, it seemed that only one keg line at a time would circulate.

 

[jcav]

I take off the long tube attachment and put on the small barbed attachment. I put on a small piece of tubing on the barbed end of the attachment. The other end I put on a barbed swivel nut and attached this to a keg disconnect. This snaps onto the keg post and when you turn on the pump, it flushes out the long keg dip tube and recirculates for as long as you want. You have to change attachments/fittings to clean the dip tube separately and not at the same time as the main keg, or at least I have to with mine, but it works great......

John

 

[andrewmaixner]

Yes, that gets the inside of the tube. I meant the outside of it. My forearms do not fit inside a keg.

 

[jcav]

That's funny! Mine don't either!! No you have to take off the keg post and take out the dip tube and wipe it off with a sponge and Star San. It will give you an excuse to put a little keg lube on the o-ring when you put it back together!

 

[normonster]

Yes, that gets the inside of the tube. I meant the outside of it. My forearms do not fit inside a keg.

That's a flavor stick. Take a long time to get a good coat.

 

[andrewmaixner]

That's funny! Mine don't either!! No you have to take off the keg post and take out the dip tube and wipe it off with a sponge and Star San. It will give you an excuse to put a little keg lube on the o-ring when you put it back together!

Sigh. My whole goal of paying $100 for a keg washer was to have it wash the keg.
If I wanted to dink around with every piece, I would keep washing it all by hand like I had been doing for the last two years.

So now it seems like in order for it to just wash the whole inside of the keg in one step, one must also buy:
- T fitting, tubing, gas and liquid disconnects
- a rotating spray nozzle
- possibly, a more powerful pump, so that both disconnects and the main sprayer work at the same time