[Not a] Bike Pump Keg [Evolution]

CornyKegs 728
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There is a basic flaw with your DIY CO2 regulator and Cobra tap setup. (Actually two major flaws - one is cost) The other is that once you pressurize the keg the pressure will pop out whatever you put through the hole. You with need a robust clipping system to keep the tap in place. Hopefully what I am saying makes sense to you. If not you will quickly find out as soon as you try to put it through the bung and the pressure in the keg throws it back at you along with a nice spray of beer.
 
dontman said:
There is a basic flaw with your DIY CO2 regulator and Cobra tap setup. (Actually two major flaws - one is cost) The other is that once you pressurize the keg the pressure will pop out whatever you put through the hole. You with need a robust clipping system to keep the tap in place. Hopefully what I am saying makes sense to you. If not you will quickly find out as soon as you try to put it through the bung and the pressure in the keg throws it back at you along with a nice spray of beer.
Click to expand...

If I understand you correctly, what you're saying is that once the mini-keg is pressurized with co2, the pressure will force the bung and anything inserted through the bunghole out of the top of the keg, spraying beer everywhere. However, this has been proven to not be true many, many times on this forum. Unfortunately I don't have all the links available for you to look at, but here is one on another site for you to look at. The Northern Brewer Homebrew Forum • View topic - New design for DIY 5L mini keg taps (Lots of Pics) :tank:

....hopefully the simplicity of this image makes sense to you...
2658818211_a172d5f46a_o.jpg

...seems to be holding ok, no beer geysers there....

Oh, and as far as your comment about cost is concerned, would you care to elaborate? Are you saying I am spending too much or too little? Either one is a pretty ridiculous comment, but either way it would be entertaining to pursue your statement.
 
dontman said:
You know. They do make CO2 taps for mini-kegs. Complete with diptube and faucet.

(And that black and red bung IS a two piece bung. You can tap right through it. )

The tap is around $50. It uses 16 g CO2 cartridges. Seems cheaper with a whole lot less aggravation than the route you are discussing. I thought the whole point with moving to the 5L kegs was that you were moving to a tried and tested system.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're right, they do make complete taps for minikegs, and yes, they start at $50(not counting shipping charges). My setup costs $20(including shipping), and doesn't cost $2 for each co2 cartridge which gives you about one use before needing replacing. So while it may seem cheaper at first, when you do the math you see that spending $2 for a new co2 cartridge each time you want to use your 5L keg is not cheaper then spending $2 to refill a co2 tank that holds enough co2 to dispense 5 gallons, and you see that spending $15 for a regulator is cheaper then spending $50 for a simple tap and diptube.

Thanks for the info about the black and red bung being a two piece bung. I'll definitely check out the feasibility of reusing that before going out and buying one.
 
I think this set-up pictured will work good if you force carb at pressures below 15 psi. I have a 5' long 3/16" party tap that works pretty good at 10-12 psi. Its a fast pour with little foam. My beers leave a .50-.75" head after pouring in a tilted glass.
 
Just found this link while randomly perusing the forum:

BeerTech.net

minikeg_tap_complete.jpg


Looks like the simplest and cheapest mini-keg tap I've seen yet. Does require some soldering, but should be able to do so with a soldering iron. I'll be buying my regulator on 5/1, and getting the ball rolling.
 
If you gave the 5L keg bursts of pressure to keep a blanket of CO2 on the beer the bottom tap should be fine for dispensing. Something like a cask breather, I suppose. Constant pressure may make the beer rush out a bit faster than desired.

Oberon 5L kegs just started popping up around me. A sure sign of spring in Michigan. :)
 
Wow.
I had avoided reading this thread when it started, because the "bike pump" name turned me off, I despise oxygen in finished beer, but today I just read through the whole thing. All I can say is I'm glad you found a cheap way to dispense your beer. I know when I got started with kegging, I was broke as a joke, so I was scouring the metal scrapyards. I found a couple 5g, a 3g, and a 10g and paid maybe $10 each for them. Of course they needed to be cleaned and new O rings. Nearly 20 years later, I am still using those kegs, and I've bought more. I wish this forum was around then, as this was pre-internet forums, although I'm sure there was a homebrew BBS somewhere.
And I'm glad you did not blow your beer up in your face.
For the soldering, please find a friend who can properly sweat that fitting together with a lead free plumbing solder. Electrical solder is nasty stuff and should not be anywhere near your beverage. Plumbing solder needs much more heat to melt and flow than a soldering gun will put out. You have to heat the fitting, and the fitting melts the solder, the solder gets sucked into the gap.
If you were closer to Dallas I would help you out.
-Ben
 
I'm in San ANtonio , you can borrow my benzomatic torch, it might be going out on the gas, but the bottles are cheap , or you can try and see if there's enough.
 
Got a party-pig from the in-laws for my b.day. I'm already looking at how to mod it to work with co2 rather than paying $5 for the pouches, similar to this mod(halfway down the page: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/party-pig-25831/).

Also have four 5 gallon cornies on the way. Somehow I ended up getting a 5L minikeg, a party-pig, and a bunch of cornies all within a week of eachother, all for free....I love birthdays. :rockin:
 
Congrats pizzaman! Funny how everyone came through. All I did was send out a memo to all you friends and family that you were gonna blow yourself up unless everyone donated some cornies to you.:D SO now do you believe in the brew Gods? Life will be good now!:mug:
 
pizzaman said:
gonna convince the wifey that we need a chest freezer...
Click to expand...


Well, figuring you got all this stuff to keg from friends and family, you can make the case that you can't do anything with it unless you get a chest freezer. She wouldn't want you offending the gift givers, would she?:D

Tell her its like her buying a dress and having not shoes to go with it:mug:
 
JesseRC said:
Well, figuring you got all this stuff to keg from friends and family, you can make the case that you can't do anything with it unless you get a chest freezer. She wouldn't want you offending the gift givers, would she?:D

Tell her its like her buying a dress and having not shoes to go with it:mug:
Click to expand...

Good thought, but she hasn't bought a dress in three years...we just bought shoes this weekend after two .5 years. we're big ramsey fans. I just measured all of our ice-coolers, and none of them are big enough to hold a cornie so unfortunately(or luckily) we'll have to buy something to keep them in...probably start with a mini-fridge off craigslist for $20-40
 
JesseRC said:
So you'll be retrofitting it to use metal fittings over to a paintball tank?
Click to expand...

yep, that's the plan anyway. From the picture it looks like I should be able to just unscrew the barb adapters and replace them with the fitting of my choice. I can even see the thread-tape in the pic.
 
pizzaman said:
yep, that's the plan anyway. From the picture it looks like I should be able to just unscrew the barb adapters and replace them with the fitting of my choice. I can even see the thread-tape in the pic.
Click to expand...

I've never had one of those inline ones. I wonder if they are still rated for the pressure that you might get from a co2 tank. Maybe someone on here that has one can comment.
 
OT: I wish houses came pre-plumbed for co2 , just like the other utilities. I consider co2 just as important as Cable!

Pizzaman, keep us updated with pics please.
 
pizzaman said:
That's what I thought...and a steal at $20(+$10 for shipping)
Click to expand...

I got a good nitro regulator for about the same price. A buddy of mine bought a glut of gear on Ebay. He got two regulators and sold me one. I'm guessing he didn't know why it had weird fittings and wouldn't fit his CO2 bottle. I didn't know either. But for $25 I snatched it up w/o question. This was the first kegging part that I bought.
 
pizzaman said:
Just checked, all four are marked already. Don't need no beer geysers, unless it involves women somehow...
Click to expand...

Nah, no geyser. You'll just curse like a sailor trying to pry that damn thing off. I speak from experience.

It's a rite of passage. Don't worry, you'll do it. Trust me.
 
flyangler18 said:
Be sure to mark the gas-in connectors. You pop the gas QD on the beer out just one time and you'll know why.
Click to expand...

If you rebuild them you will get red & green o-rings that go on QD-posts. Pay attention to where you put these. For me; red means beer, green means gas.

Its a quick way to not FU and get one stuck. Excessive cursing generally follows....
 
I had a nightmare last night that my corney lid oring tore:(! Can you believe I dream about cornies:confused:
 

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