Refurbishing some old kegs.

[rekitteo]

I'm new to the game and have my first brew about 3 weeks in. Setting up my keezer system as well... to my question...

I came into possession of several old 5 gal kegs that had been sitting for years at my work. I was told they were used one year to force herbicide onto trees using either air or water. It's my understanding that the kegs were filled with water or air and were pressurized to force the chemical where it needed to go (IE no chemicals in the kegs). Short of a little corrosion on the out side from moisture, they look really good on the inside. Can someone recommend the best way to clean these up if you think they should be used at all? Appreciate the advice.

Very respectfully

 

[Transamguy77]

Do you have any pics? How do they smell? If they smell ok then I would buy new orings and clean them up using some PBW or oxyclean.

 

[rekitteo]

There is no smell and the inside looks very clean. There was little to no moisture in the as well. In addition to several good cleaning I plan to replace the o-rings as well as the lock posts (both liquid and gas).

 

[WBB]

Yeah, they look pretty decent. Go with your plan and fill with some water first to test. If everything holds, good to go!

 

[50calshooter]

Treat the o ring on the lid with a light coating of vegetable oil if it leaks. It will condition the rubber and help it become soft and pliable again.

 

[Transamguy77]

Those look good! You gotta good score there!

 

[rekitteo]

Thanks for all the input.... looking forward to putting this project together.

 

[HomeBrewMike91]

Replace all the gaskets on the keg before using it. Chemicals can backflow and gaskets are cheap. I'd use PBC for cleaning and starsan for sanatizing

 

[madscientist451]

Check YouTube for videos on how to disassemble and put back together your kegs and many other kegging topics. I'd replace all the rubber parts, which are really cheap on Amazon.

 

[pigroaster]

Check YouTube for videos on how to disassemble and put back together your kegs and many other kegging topics. I'd replace all the rubber parts, which are really cheap on Amazon.

I would suggest checking inside depth of in post and shorten it with a pipe cutter if too long. You need it short so you do not get any back feed on your CO2 line ! If you do this you must passify (oxidize film) on cut part before using! Time will do this on it's own. Just don't cut and fill!! Check out line for length and buy a syringe and use a box cutter to cut slits in the plastic end so when you use this to flush out your out tube and push down on the poppet it will allow Star San or San Step solution out the line. I always do this on both poppets especially when I do IPA's Straight A is an excellent product for cleaning beer equipment. I personally use keg lube on my o rings. I also spray sanitizer on lid rubber every time I seal it! I also use laundry sprayer with sanitizer to check for leaks. I always keep a solution of sanitizer in my empty kegs and keep them under pressure so I can test seal when I go to fill them after shaking solution in kegs again. If there is no pressure I know I must do a tear down and replace parts of check tightness on fittings. I also keg lube the spring poppets lightly inside when I do a tear down. It keeps the rubber in great condition. Others may cringe at me leaving sanitizer in my kegs and I am open to suggestions.

 

[Dland]

I had about 30 old kegs that had been in storage for decades. A few even had failed beer batches still in them, that foamed until empty when tapped. So I really wanted to be sure they were clean before reuse. I replaced all the O rings and seal, took the fittings off, dip and gas tubes out, soaked everything in PBW, then Starsan. One thing I did not do was replace the poppets, although they were cleaned and sterilized. I soon found some of them were leaking out when in use for beer, so I replaced all the poppets too, I recommend doing this in initial rebuild. I find the universal poppets work better and easier to replace than the OEM style ones. I did shorten many of the dip tubes a little with a tubing cutter.

After I sanitize my kegs, I store them with about 10 PSI CO2, this assures seals are good when ready to do a sealed transfer. Also, lack of Oxygen in keg during storage will hopefully discourage any unwanted critters from multiplying.