Overcarbed Sanke Keg

[alecsf]

Hi All,

I bought a Sanke keg, and got free beer with it, from a brewer much better than me. The beer is good (I think it's a Pilsener SMaSH), but it's coming out all foam, and I'm having to sit it in the fridge [in the glass] for 5mins) before adding more for drinking (maybe 15 mins and two pours later).

I bought the Kegerator of the same guy. It did my Corny full of IPA nicely (2 days at 25psi, then lowered to 8 for serving; worked OK).

But the Sanke seems to be playing hard to get. Initial PSI was 30, so I let the pressure out (took out the check-valve on Gas-In; Hooked up Beer-Out to tap [closed] and let it go). The I repressurized the keg to 20PSI for 24 hrs and let it down (regulator) to, like, nothing.

With the corny, the pressure would drop when I turned the regulator down. But the Sanke's still holding 18+ PSI. And so I'm still pouring foam. Any suggestions for

-- (a) Quick Fix (YAY!)
-- (b) Slow Fix (Well, OK!)

Kegerator is at about 5C.

Alec

 

[Bearclaw215]

edit: whoops didnt see you posted a carbing temp.
id take the keg off pressure and vent it a few time after pressure has had a chance to build up again. At the 5C you only need 2/3 of what your at to carb up nice. But since you're already carbed you should just be venting until you get a decent pour/carbonation then put it on serving psi. Be patient, work with it and good luck!

 

[duboman]

Yeah, sounds way over carbed. Take it off gas and vent periodically to allow the pressure/co2 to drop and equalize and then hook it back up to serving pressure. It might take a few days of venting


Sent from the Commune

 

[alecsf]

Thanks all. I'll try venting. Bit of a PITA with Sanke keg, as the quickest way I know of is:

1. Turn Off the Gas at the Bottle
2. Remove the Coupler
3. Unscrew the Gas In Hose Clamp at the Coupler, and Disconnect the Hose
4. Remove the Check Valve on Gas In at the Coupler
5. Reinsert and Press Down the Coupler (HISS!!)
6. Remove the Coupler Again
7. Replace the Check Valve on Gas In
8. Reattach the Gas In Hose and Clamp
9. Replace the Coupler
10. Turn On the Gas Again

...and at that stage, the regulator's no longer reading the pressure, so I have to guess the PSI. (The regulator pressure reading will catch up, but it takes a while, like about an hour, to crank up.)

Is there a quicker way? Or (more likely) something I'm doing wrong?

I prefer the Sanke to the 3 Cornys I have which are temperamental and leak either gas or beer or both; only one out of three I got keeps a good seal on both gas and beer. But, hey, they are easy to vent! Replacement parts for Corny kegs can be got here on Taobao.com, but it's a bit of a lottery...

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[JuanMoore]

Thanks all. I'll try venting. Bit of a PITA with Sanke keg, as the quickest way I know of is:

1. Turn Off the Gas at the Bottle
2. Remove the Coupler
3. Unscrew the Gas In Hose Clamp at the Coupler, and Disconnect the Hose
4. Remove the Check Valve on Gas In at the Coupler
5. Reinsert and Press Down the Coupler (HISS!!)
6. Remove the Coupler Again
7. Replace the Check Valve on Gas In
8. Reattach the Gas In Hose and Clamp
9. Replace the Coupler
10. Turn On the Gas Again

...and at that stage, the regulator's no longer reading the pressure, so I have to guess the PSI. (The regulator pressure reading will catch up, but it takes a while, like about an hour, to crank up.)

Is there a quicker way? Or (more likely) something I'm doing wrong?

I prefer the Sanke to the 3 Cornys I have which are temperamental and leak either gas or beer or both; only one out of three I got keeps a good seal on both gas and beer. But, hey, they are easy to vent! Replacement parts for Corny kegs can be got here on Taobao.com, but it's a bit of a lottery...

Thanks again for the advice.

The vast majority of sankey couplers have a pressure relief valve, so usually the easy method is to simply turn the gas off and pull the valve. If you have a rare coupler with no relief valve, then it's going to be a PITA. If that's the case, I'd just leave the gas check valve out until you get the carb level where you want it, rather than removing and re-installing every time you vent the keg..

 

[alecsf]

JuanMoore: Great post and thanks in particular for the picture.

I'm 99.99% sure my Sanke couplers (I've got two) do not have have the pressure release valves you described. I've looked at them both hard and often and haven't seen it; and I think I would have done, had it been there. I'm out of town until Wednesday, and will confirm on Weds evening. Beyond that, for the future, I'll probably just (cost and local availability permitting) buy couplers that do have that feature.

Thanks again. That's a real and actionable piece of advice which will make a great difference and probably solidify my preference for Sanke kegs, as long as I can get the coupler with the pressure-release valve.

Leaving out the check valve as a backstop solution sounds good too. Should I be worried about backwash (IE beer going back down the gas line)?

Finally, I feel like I might have approached a taboo about the temperamentality of Corny kegs. My experience with these is pretty minimal. As an example, though, I found that when I connected a Corny, the following happened:

• The PR valve leaked pressure as soon as there was any (so no chance of getting up to serving pressure)
• The gas QD leaked at the bottom (meaning I need a new 'poppet'?)
• The beer QD leaked beer, again, at the bottom of the fitting - not much, but maybe a pint a day - enough to be a PITA

Thanks once more - any comments well received!

 

[Bearclaw215]

You need new o-rings for both qd most likely, they sell whole repair kits or if you find the sizes you can buy them individually. Food grade spray silicon is great for on o-rings to get a good seal. You can even get new posts if yours are particularly old, worn and not worth saving. But you'll have to disassemble them and see the condition. Id do that anyway as they prolly need a good cleaning, really I'd say take everything all apart and see what needs replacing and cleaned.
Make sure the pr valve is seated correctly and tightly, and the spring is intact. Beyond that is scavenge one off another keg to see if it was the built in o-rings that had become to worn to seal. If it has time to get a new one.

 

[alecsf]

Thanks Bearclaw215.

My corny kegs all came with this kind of lid:

Most of the ones I've seen online (including all of the ones in China) are like this:

So, I guess my first task is to get replacement lids (about $10) which have the more easily replaceable PR valves.

After that I can start trying to replace those and other parts....

Any comments welcome...

 

[alecsf]

One more thing...

I can't get keg lube or 'food grade spray silicon' here. My best bet so far is Vaseline (which has actually worked OK, BTW, so far). Of course this is at least in part due to the language thing (IE it might be there, but I can't see it / locate it...), and/or the fact that there is no such thing as a LHBS.

On that note: Anyone want to export PBW to China BTW? (It is available at extortionate rates in tiny amounts, but...) Or help start a LHBS in South China?

 

[Bearclaw215]

Oh you have those lids and China! That complicates it a little bit. Ya get new lids and you should be about to find some silicon spray on amazon or the asian version of amazon who's name escapes me right now. Maybe midwest supply will ship to you for the rest of the stuff.

 

[alecsf]

Changed this to a new thread; latest post to date here.

 

[rekoob]

Something that might help you out with your corny kegs.
When I first put a corny keg on gas after filling I hit it with 30-40psi just to get some pressure to seal it up. If i'm going to do a quick carb I will leave it for 24 hours at that pressure and then turn it down to serving pressure. Once the gas has stabilized at that pressure (you don't hear it flowing anymore) I spray the top of the keg and all connections with a water/soap mix to check for any leaks.