Mark 2 Keg Washer

[oakbarn]

Save your money. The older model was much better. This thing is flimsy. The base comes loose every time I put a different keg on it. I am afraid to use it for a carboy as I think it will tip and break the carboy. It has dropped a keg twice.

 

[RobbyBeers]

Really? I just got a Mark 2, and I'm digging it so far.

What's happening with yours? Is it the white snap-on collar that's falling off?

 

[kincade]

Problems fixed on mine. All good!!

 

[oakbarn]

I am returning mine as I now do have a busted Carboy. The Mark 1 looks like a great piece of equipment. The Mark 2 is too light with a pump you can
Buy at Harbor Freight for $14. You can make a better holder out of PVC

 

[kincade]

That's too bad, sorry to hear it. Wish there were still MarkIs available.

Other problem I've noticed is the suction cups routinely pop off the pump. Not a huge deal, but they are hard to get back in.

 

[kincade]

FYI, I emailed Mark to ask about these problems, here is his response. I'm pleased with his service, especially since I didn't buy from him! Hope this helps some of you out.

Sorry about the problems you are having with the kegwasher.

I remove the suction cups from the pump because they tend to keep you from being able to move the pump into position and the feet do like to come off when you adjust it. They are mainly there for shipping. If you pull the front and back covers off the pump, the feet will slide into the notches if you do want to keep them. The covers are held on by clips but do come off.

As far at the collar coming loose, make sure you have ALL THREE legs snapped in. I tend to do them one at a time. The feet kind of wedge in behind little towers in the horizontal part of the base and the clip they snap into. It is easy to miss one and the leg of the collar ends up in front of the little tower instead of being wedged in behind it. If this happens, the collar is definately vulnerable to coming off. You should be able to pick up the unit by the collar and wiggle it around a bit without it coming off. I have attached some pics of the clips and how the collar legs are snapped in.

Give the above a try.

If the clips do not hold the collar on firmly, it is possible that the base or the collar might have come out of the mold warped. If this happens, the clips might spread out and not engage the collar properly. If this is the case, let us know and we will replace the unit for you.

If the unit is warped, send it to me and I will replace it. If you want a refund, then send it back to More beer. They will credit you and then I will credit them.

In any case let me know what happens. This is a new product so you are the first to encounter this problem. We want to make sure everybody loves the keg washer and enjoy using it for years.

 

[NattyBrew]

Would you mind posting some pictures of the unit in use, or with a keg on it? I've been kind of interested in the unit to try and cut down on the water I waste filling carboys and kegs to let them soak with oxyclean and wondering if this thing is well designed or whether I should try and engineer something on my own.

Much appreciated!

 

[kincade]

I will if I can make it work for me, but I won't be using it again for at least a week. Someone else may be able to post a few photos of it in use. I added a 't' and 2 QD's so that it cleans a keg and both posts at the same time.

 

[mcritchlow]

i got one of these too. just a heads up that 6.5 gallon carboys, at least mine, don't fit correctly on the base. i got it to work by double stacking a carboy drainer on top of the base and then it worked fine and was stable. I think it works great for cleaning kegs.

 

[MarkII]

Hi every body
I'm Mark, inventor of mark's keg washer
sorry to hear you guys are having problems with the clips.
I lost my shirt on the mark 1, too difficult to weld together and plumb.
I like the Mark 2 better because it is lighter and the pump is not plumbed in, so its easier to clean and maintain. The clips are strong enough to do the job but are not strong enough to man-handle. Any suggestions on how to make them even stronger would greatly be appreciated. Also, the $14 pump at harbor frieght is 120 to 200 gallons per hour. the Mark 2 pump is 520 gallons per hour. Maybe 200 gallons per hour would work, I never tried to go that low in my testing. I made the Mark 2 for guys who did not want to make their own keg washer. There are lots of great examples of do-it-yourself keg washers on youtube. Cheers.

btw, you can email me at [email protected], thanks

 

[pdxkale]

I have had mine for about 3 weeks and love it. I got it on one of Morebeer's deals of the day and could not be happier. Admittedly, I only use it for cleaning & sanatizing kegs and better bottles, but I am absolutely in love with this thing. No more soaking and doing the wash cloth trick on my grimy BBs, no more letting my kegs soak with 5 gallons of PBW in them. I've always been careful about getting the collar seated as indicated by the instructions above and have never had a problem. I've probably cleaned about 10 Kegs and a half a dozen better bottles.

Only using a gallon of water for cleaning and another for sanitizing makes this an absolute win in my book. I don't use glass carboys, so I cannot speak to the issues some of you have expressed, but for what I use it for, I couldn't be happier.

BTW, Mark, I see you are over in Tigard. Glad to support a local business. Cheers from PDX, and thanks for what IMO is a great product.

Here are pics of mine in action.

 

[kincade]

Mark, thanks for your response. Good to see you supporting your product!

PDX; how do you use only 2 gallons? Do you rinse the PBW? Right now, i'm using 1 gallon or so to clean, and 3 or so to do rinses, then 1 for sanitizing.

 

[RobbyBeers]

Thanks for coming on to discuss, Mark. I looked at the DIY options, but I decided to save some effort and buy your product. It's worked really well for me so far.

That being said, I'm keeping a cautious eye on those snap tabs. They may be more sturdy than they look, but the whole thing is kinda riding on those little bits of plastic.

If you have any other advice on how to use or improve the product, please let us know.

 

[jgadbois]

I picked one up as well. I cleaned several corny kegs and two 6.5 gallon carboys without any stability issues. As Mark stated, once the parts snap together it is very solid.

Add another happy customer.

 

[kincade]

FYI, Morebeer has this as their deal of the day today, $89 w/ free shipping.

 

[ruffdeezy]

Looking to pick one of these up this week or next. Does it have some kind of drain? If I wash with pbw, what's the best way to rinse. Do I need to rinse the washer first?

 

[kincade]

No drain unfortunately. I was going to add one. It isn't hard to tip it to dump though.

I run a batch with PBW, then 2-3 more with water. That seems to do it.

 

[weirdboy]

I built my own keg washer with a 6.5 gallon bucket, a cheap 1HP sump pump from Harbor Freight, and a few PVC fittings. It works VERY well and I also added QD hookups for the gas and liquid dip tubes to blast them out while the wand is spraying. I cleaned out about 10 kegs with it the other day while I was doing some other stuff in the garage. Just a gallon of hot PBW solution and left them on there for maybe 5 minutes each, and they come out looking absolutely pristine no matter how grimy they were before.

 

[Atog]

Mark By the looks of the pictures above (fist page).. You could have your molder add coring or mill out just above the step where the clip sits. By the looks of it the clip would then slip threw above the step and not come dialoged as easy and you would know if it was locked.

 

[dignifiedb]

Quick question for those with the Mark II, what are the steps you use to clean and sanitize. Right now (without the Mark II) I rinse the keg or carboy with water, then use OxyClean, then StarSan. Would you follow the same process?

 

[kincade]

Quick question for those with the Mark II, what are the steps you use to clean and sanitize. Right now (without the Mark II) I rinse the keg or carboy with water, then use OxyClean, then StarSan. Would you follow the same process?

Starsan would foam too much.

I run one batch of pbw, 2-3 of water, then fill with starsan and pump out with co2 to my next corny.

 

[dignifiedb]

Starsan would foam too much.

I run one batch of pbw, 2-3 of water, then fill with starsan and pump out with co2 to my next corny.

Ah, didn't think about the problem that foaming would cause. So you just take the dirty keg/carboy, put it on the keg washer, and run PBW. Then, after ____ amount of time you rinse with water, remove from the keg washer, and fill with starsan?

I'm really leaning towards getting this, as I think it would just save me time. And, if I can catch this on sale at MoreBeer again, $90 is definitely worth the time it would save me. With a wife and two kids, being able to set the keg on the washer and then tend to other matters while it cleans would be a godsend.

 

[kincade]

Ah, didn't think about the problem that foaming would cause. So you just take the dirty keg/carboy, put it on the keg washer, and run PBW. Then, after ____ amount of time you rinse with water, remove from the keg washer, and fill with starsan?

I run the dirty keg with PBW for say 15-20 minutes while I do something else. If I have another keg, I use the same solution for that and repeat.

Then drain PBW, fill with hot water, rinse for a few minutes. Drain, repeat 1-2x.

If you want to sanitize on the Keg Washer, I'd use Iodaphor. I like to store my kegs full of CO2 so I push my starsan from one keg to another to sanitize, then they're ready to use next time I want one.

I'm really leaning towards getting this, as I think it would just save me time. And, if I can catch this on sale at MoreBeer again, $90 is definitely worth the time it would save me. With a wife and two kids, being able to set the keg on the washer and then tend to other matters while it cleans would be a godsend.

You just missed it on sale again at Morebeer (1/7). It will likely be a while before they do it a third time.

 

[MarkII]

Hey Everybody,

Mark at Mark's Keg Washer again.

I just wanted to thank everybody for all the great feedback, you have given me a lot of great ideas, and I really like the positive feedback.

I think my first project will be a rubber grommet type thing to put on the keg washer stand. That will give it some non-slip action and also give some elevation so the 6.5 gallon carboys will fit better. I found one of my carboys wasnt completely symetrical and tended to slide to one side if left alone or bumped.

I am also working on a retro-fit for the clips to make them a lot stronger. As a test, I removed the clips from a unit and set a carboy on it, it holds even without the clips, but if bumped it, it would definately fall over. Make sure all the clips are engaged and if you have to bend the clips in to make them engage better, that's fine. This plastic is really flexible and strong. It tends to bend rather than break.

If you guys have a keg washer, be sure to fill out the warranty card and I will send you the mods as they become available. There is a long lead time on this stuff, so it will probably be a few months. Getting plastic injection molds modified takes a lot of time and money like you wouldn't believe.

I am very happy with the keg washer as is, but a few tweaks will definately make it even better.

Thanks a lot. I can always be reached at [email protected]

Cheers,
Mark

 

[remilard]

Ah, didn't think about the problem that foaming would cause. So you just take the dirty keg/carboy, put it on the keg washer, and run PBW. Then, after ____ amount of time you rinse with water, remove from the keg washer, and fill with starsan?

I'm really leaning towards getting this, as I think it would just save me time. And, if I can catch this on sale at MoreBeer again, $90 is definitely worth the time it would save me. With a wife and two kids, being able to set the keg on the washer and then tend to other matters while it cleans would be a godsend.

It is nice. I built one once for like $60 in parts and about 6 hours of standing around home depot trying to find what I needed and putting it together (I am not that handy). Then after 18 months the pump went out so I got one of these. Love it. I'll batch up stuff to clean (you want to rinse out the carboys with water right after you empty them to get most of the stuff out) and clean a bunch during a brew day. Just switch out what is on there every 30-60 minutes for a better bottle or 10 minutes for a keg.

 

[kincade]

Hey everyone, the Mark keg washer is up right now on morebeer for $79 shipped!

http://morebeer.com/

It''ll likely be sold out soon, so act fast if you want one.

 

[culaslucas]

Hey everyone, the Mark keg washer is up right now on morebeer for $79 shipped!

http://morebeer.com/

It''ll likely be sold out soon, so act fast if you want one.

Got one! Looking forward to finally cleaning out the 10 or so kegs I've been neglecting!

 

[bastardbrewer]

Just orderd up my keg washer today from morebeer, got lots of cornys to cleen.

 

[kincade]

Man, those went fast!!!!

 

[kincade]

BTW, I've been talking to Mark about a few people's concerns addressed earlier in this thread. I have to say that I've rarely dealt with a company so responsive to suggestions and concerns. Rest assured that any problems you may have with the Kegwasher would be promptly dealt with.