Secondary regulators ruined?

[Belmont]

This is a first. I have a 5lb tank hooked up to a good primary regulator. From the primary is a length of tubing that runs to 3 secondary regulators that are plumbed together with pipe. There is another series of 3 secondary regulators connected to those via another short length of clear tubing. That piece of tubing has some dark beer in it so I'm guessing that I have some beer in at least one of my secondary regulators. The primary was showing that the tank was out of gas so I'm guessing that this was due to the kegs regulating the pressure between them. No I didn't have any check valves and now I know to get them. My question is... is there anything that I can do to recover from this or do I have to throw all of my secondary regulators away due to the suspicion of future infections?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I think you just need to take them apart, clean them out well, dry them well and reassemble. Nothing is going to live in a CO2 pure enviroment with no food source.

 

[Belmont]

Ok. That makes sense. Is taking them apart a trivial procedure? I think someone told me that parts can go flying when you take them apart.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I have never disassembled one but I would imagine its not terribly hard except that there may be some threadlock on some parts. Do a google search for the brand/model and you might be able to find an exploded view of it with all the parts to give you an idea of what you are facing.

I'm sure there are others around here more knowledgeable about this than I am soooo.......

 

[jspence1]

Just back off the pressure adjustment screw and it will release the pressure on the spring. Just clean them up and you should be good to go.