Remove Dip Tube and Popits to Clean?

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dgoldb1

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Is it really necessary to remove the dip tube and popits when cleaning a keg? I‘ve had my pin lock kegs for 2 years and have never removed them, mainly because I don’t have a socket to remove pin lock posts. I soak them in PBW for 24 hrs, then rinse with hot water. I then boil up some water, pour it in the keg and shake it around which builds up pressure. I connect up my picnic tap line and run the really hot water through it. Am I missing something by not removing these? I know hop particles can get stuck in the popit, I guess that’s the main reason, right?
 
Is it really necessary to remove the dip tube and popits when cleaning a keg? I‘ve had my pin lock kegs for 2 years and have never removed them, mainly because I don’t have a socket to remove pin lock posts. I soak them in PBW for 24 hrs, then rinse with hot water. I then boil up some water, pour it in the keg and shake it around which build up pressure. I connect up my picnic tap line and run the really hot water through it. Am I missing something by not removing these? I know hop particles can get stuck in the popit, I guess that’s the main reason, right?

If you ever remove them, see what's in the poppits, and hold the long diptube up to the light and peek through it, you'll know exactly why I remove mine and clean them every batch!

If you can't see it, and you don't have off-flavors, then no point thinking about it I guess. But I work WAY too hard on my beers to ignore such a basic 2 minute routine.
 
I think you'll find some nasty funk in the poppet springs and some beer stone on the interior of the dip tubes. You should be running a stiff brush through them at least every other beer.
 
I clean mine between every batch. But I have a lot of kegs, so I wait till I have 4 or 5 empties then do them all at once. Doesn't take long and gives piece of mind.

Damn, Pawn doing something wrong if you have 4-5 empty at a time. ;) Yep disassemble clean check all o-rings and poppets. replace if worn
 
I guess I'm in the minority on this. I don't remove my posts/poppits/tubes when I clean. The keg cleaner I built has QD's that I attach to the posts so PBW is being circulated throught the post/poppit/tube continuosly. On the occassion that I do pull a post to replace a poppit, clip a tube, etc. I never have any build up in there. I'm thinking the PBW does a pretty good job at keeping it clean.
 
I guess I'm in the minority on this. I don't remove my posts/poppits/tubes when I clean. The keg cleaner I built has QD's that I attach to the posts so PBW is being circulated throught the post/poppit/tube continuosly. On the occassion that I do pull a post to replace a poppit, clip a tube, etc. I never have any build up in there. I'm thinking the PBW does a pretty good job at keeping it clean.

I do the same thing my PBW is in a big rubber made container and i have had bug and other thing like lint from the air get stuck in the springs .pull apart and clean every time :rockin:
 
Damn, Pawn doing something wrong if you have 4-5 empty at a time. ;) Yep disassemble clean check all o-rings and poppets. replace if worn

I had trouble getting a QD onto a post recently. Gave it a good slam and all was well. I thought.

Next day 5g of rye IPA in the bottom of my new keezer. waah.

Turns out I busted the oring on the post. That little broken oring cost me the beer. Good thing it was a 10g batch and I had another keg of it waiiting in the wings.
 
My condolences on your loss, had a similar experence only I cracked the QD dumped a milk stout and drained a new 5lb CO2 tank back when I was using a fridge , leaked out and soaked into carpet.
 
dgoldb1 said:
Any way to get my pin lock posts off without buying a special $15-$20 socket?

I just used a socket laying around and cut slots in it. If you don't have one you can just go buy a cheap one. If I remember right it is a 13/16 socket but I would verify this before buying.
 
Yup. You all were right. Took the posts off and was amazed at how much junk was in there. I'll do this in between each batch now.
 
If you don't have one of these, you should get one. It turns both sizes of posts that you will run into. Sears. See the link.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/best-keg-wrench-evah-258421/

KegWrench.jpg
 
If you don't like to disassemble the kegs, just make a keg washer using a large submersible pump. By running tuping from the pump to dedicated QD's, you can run solution through the diptubes and also into the main keg body. SEE HERE
 
I like to check my o-rings and poppets run a brush through the tubes just makes me feel better knowing everything is clean and functional had to clean up after I forced and cracked a QD
 
I like to check my o-rings and poppets run a brush through the tubes just makes me feel better knowing everything is clean and functional had to clean up after I forced and cracked a QD

That reminds me - I don't currently lube up the O-rings ... is this something folks typically do or do you skip it? After going through 4 sets of o-rings in the last 2 10 gallon batches, i'm thinking i should start.
 
When I'm too lazy to disassemble and clean the parts, I'll dump a pot of boiling water into the cleaned keg, pressurize to about 50 psi and use a picnic tap to flush the tube and poppet with hot water and steam.
 
so for the past 2-3 years I have just slipped the end of my beer QD inside the tubing on the auto siphon, and pumped away with my PBW mixture in the keg. On a whim, i pulled one apart. I had not had off flavors with the beer, just wanted to see if this practice was good. As stated, the amount of crap trapped up in the poppet was amazing. Even more amazing was not having issues with the beer! For the 2 min it takes to pull it apart and clean correctly, I"ll do that from now on.

re: the pin locks. I bought three of these that I converted to ball locks. But i never bought a special tool to get them off. I think you can get enough of a socket on the post before it his the pin to turn it. Either that or I used a spanner wrench. I do not recall.
 
That reminds me - I don't currently lube up the O-rings ... is this something folks typically do or do you skip it? After going through 4 sets of o-rings in the last 2 10 gallon batches, i'm thinking i should start.
I don't lube anything that comes in contact with my beer, I found that if you lube the locking pins on the QD's they slip right over the o-rings.
 
I took my gas pin lock coupler apart to clean it for some reason. I lost the rubber gasket. Am I screwed?
 
dgoldb1 said:
I took my gas pin lock coupler apart to clean it for some reason. I lost the rubber gasket. Am I screwed?

The coupler on the keg or the actual QD gas fitting? You can get O-rings for just about everything on eBay, or get them in bulk from mcmaster Carr. Is lost one somewhere for may gas QD the other day and had a bunch of replacements on hand
 
Any recommendations for or against storing sanitizer in a cleaned keg between brews?
 
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