The cure for your short hose troubles

[MW66]

what about a length of SS rod inserted into the dip tube? This might be an option, albeit expensive: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FN1LAA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[starrfish]

steel rod may constrict too much... I'll be cleaning mine this weekend... using 90% rubbing alcohol as suggested in earlier post as they don't leech anything in alcohol. will be completely removing the one from my keg as my next batch is going to be a low carbonation mild. will post how it cleans up.

 

[Jeepninja]

sorry i ment 12.5' as in feet

 

[repomanz]

Has anyone using these things (or not) confirmed what material these are made out of? In the thread, i've seen them called out as Derlin or Polypropelene.

I've reached out to mcmaster but get nothing but a canned answer about how they don't know. I've even asked to be put in contact with the supplier so i can confirm myself. crickets.

I like the idea of this solution but I'm not the only person enjoying the homebrew sitting in my kegs.

JJ

 

[Eisendrath]

No confirmation of matl, but, I've been using one in each of 5 kegs for about 6 months now. My beer belly has grown some......

 

[hafmpty]

I live in Cincinnati and I have a Grainger Industrial Supply a few miles from my place. Rather than buying them from McMaster-Carr and paying S&H I thought I could pick them up in the store. I checked Grainger's website and they seem to carry this same product. I was wondering if someone could verify that they are in fact the same thing though. I haven't bought the ones from McMaster-Carr so I don't know what to look for when I go into the store tomorrow to pick them up. Here's the website:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/LOCTITE-Mix-Nozzle-3NVL6

Thanks for the help. I'll edit this post later once I confirm these are in fact what McMaster-Carr sells.

 

[starrfish]

looks like the same thing. I put 1 each keg, and plan to double up for a hefe. they seem to work great. I've cleaned with Rubbing alcohol, and avoided the starsan on these parts. haven't grown a third eye.

 

[jb721]

I've cleaned with Rubbing alcohol, and avoided the starsan on these parts.

Why no starsan? I was thinking about trying these ... or the plastic icemaker line. With standard 5' kegconnection lines and picnic taps my pour is WAY too fast at 12psi. One day I'll get some proper taps and go 10' of line. One day. :cross:

 

[hafmpty]

Why no starsan? I was thinking about trying these ... or the plastic icemaker line. With standard 5' kegconnection lines and picnic taps my pour is WAY too fast at 12psi. One day I'll get some proper taps and go 10' of line. One day. :cross:

This seems to be why:

Has anyone using these things (or not) confirmed what material these are made out of? In the thread, i've seen them called out as Derlin or Polypropelene.

I've reached out to mcmaster but get nothing but a canned answer about how they don't know. I've even asked to be put in contact with the supplier so i can confirm myself. crickets.

I like the idea of this solution but I'm not the only person enjoying the homebrew sitting in my kegs.

JJ

I am missing the part on formaldehyde in the MSDS for Star San:

Link to MSDS

I looked at McMastercarr as well for an MSDS for the swizzles and see nothing listed. What's your source for the MSDS that clearly states the issue with leaching formaldehyde.

Thanks!

Dean

AFAIK a "strong" acid is anything lower than pH 3 (and arn't you meant to keep starsan under 3 for it to be effective?), "strong" alkali was something like pH of 11+.
The MSDS doesn't seem to suggest it is an oxidiser but I might be wrong, but as with most things don't mix with sodium hypochlorite (bleach) or you will probably die from chlorine gas. MSDS

Hey all - first post, just wanted to try to give back to the community... great thread, and thanks to the OP for the suggestion - works like a champ!

Here's the Delrin MSDS from DuPont.

I'm no chemical engineer, but looks to me like you shouldn't burn it, or use with "strong" acids or bases, or oxidizers.

The last part got me - might not want to hose the swizzle down with Star-San without a good rinse afterward... I like preserving the flavor of my beer, but preferably not with formaldehyde. I'm pretty sure Star-San is considered an oxidizer, but it's definitely an acid-based cleaner: StarSan Tech Sheet. Whether or not it's "strong" enough in diluted form to affect the swizzle is anyone's guess.

With that said, I'll give them a good wash and rinse with bottled distilled water, then pop them in tonight to see how it goes... but I think I'll take my chances avoiding the StarSan...

 

[forcabrew]

wouldnt rubbing alcohol also cause the chemicals to leach out? im thinking of just letting them sit in some cooled down boiled water for a few hours then poping them in the kegs. what you think?

 

[jb721]

So it seems like the water line might be the way to go... I love my starsan!

 

[repomanz]

what about idophor as a sanitizer?

 

[orangehero]

In Chemistry, strong acid doesn't mean concentrated acid.

 

[jb721]

So I was at home depot today for some living room remodeling supplies and decided to grab some 1/4" od tubing. Shut off CO2 bottle, closed cutoff valve, unhooked qd's and vented keg. Pulled keg out of kegerator and proceeded to unhook dip tube. (anybody know where this is going?) Loosened qd fitting and BAM beer geyser! Stuck my face in there like it was a water fountain before I thought to vent keg again and open the lid. Stuck some of that tubing in the dip tube and put it all back together. First pour was foam but I'm chalking that up to picnic tap line sitting out at room temp while I was putting water tubing inside the dip tube. Guess I'll just have to keep testing. Darn. hopefully this helps my crappy pour problems from 5' kegconnection.com 3/16" lines. Unfortunately I was drinking a proper drink at the time that I had poured rather heavy handedly so this first beer is taking a while to go down. It may take all night to complete the testing but I'm sure going to enjoy the ride. Cheers!

 

[hafmpty]

I live in Cincinnati and I have a Grainger Industrial Supply a few miles from my place. Rather than buying them from McMaster-Carr and paying S&H I thought I could pick them up in the store. I checked Grainger's website and they seem to carry this same product. I was wondering if someone could verify that they are in fact the same thing though. I haven't bought the ones from McMaster-Carr so I don't know what to look for when I go into the store tomorrow to pick them up. Here's the website:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/LOCTITE-Mix-Nozzle-3NVL6

Thanks for the help. I'll edit this post later once I confirm these are in fact what McMaster-Carr sells.

I can confirm that these are the same as what McMaster-Carr sells. Brought them home, vented the keg, sanitized them and threw them in. I've now got 3' of 3/16" ID tube and 2 sticks in each keg. Pour is great and my PSI is at 12.5. Thanks for the great idea.

 

[Bruin]

Just read this entire thread and will be buying some of these swizzel sticks. As for leeching concerns with bases/acids, why not just drop them in boiling water for a few minutes? Isn't that the original sanitizer? Glad I came across this thread, I have 0.25" ID beverage tubing, and I would need about 38 feet to serve up a Heff at 4.0 vol CO2.

 

[jb721]

I tried the water tubing in the dip tube (5' kegconnection.com w/ picnic taps @ 38* F) and my pours were still all foam at 12psi. I turned the pressure down to about 10psi and it was good. At this point I'm good with slightly less carb to get a better pour until I can upgrade my taps and lines. Plus the difference in carb isn't noticeable to me anyway. My 2¢

 

[Bruin]

These devices, also known as in-line mixers or static mixers, I've seen for sale on ColeParmer.com (at a much higher price than those in the mixer tubes from McMaster Carr. I've noticed they are frequently made from Delrin, which is Dupont's trade name for Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as polyacetal. This material is FDA approved for food storage. As other posters have mentioned, exposure to strong acids/bases will cause degradation of the material. You should avoid exposing it to oxidizers as well (bleach, One-step). Studies have shown the amount of chlorine in potable water supplies, especially when used in hot water supplies, is enough to cause the material to break down. I plan on giving them a quick boil to sanitize them before using. Just ordered 12 from McMaster.

 

[DocksideBrew]

Just poured first pint out of keg that I put two mixers in. Wow what a difference! I have 5' of 3/16" line set at 10 psi. I am actually bumping my psi to 12 now.

 

[JDBrewing]

Damn McMasters is quick I ordered yesterday around 3 in the afternoon and the package is already here.

 

[Bruin]

Cool. They are just South of you in Georgia. Hopefully I'll have mine before the weekend too.

 

[Bruin]

SWMBO just got home from work and called me to tell me package is already there! Wow, that's crazy fast, I just ordered them yesterday afternoon!

 

[robertvrabel]

This is probably a dumb question, but where guys buying ethanol or isopropanol to use since you can't use StarSan to sanitize them? Is there a specific product I should get? Just got mine in but want to make sure i use the right stuff to sanitize them.

 

[starrfish]

drug store rubbing alcohol

 

[camiller]

isopropanol =

drug store rubbing alcohol

ethanol = everclear from the liquor store.

 

[Bruin]

Or just boil 'em in a small saucepan! Seems like everyone forgets this easy approach to sanitizing small parts.

 

[gleytch]

Just a word of caution for you folks with less severe "short hose problems": These things REALLY restrict the flow of beer. Like a lot.

I have a commercial Summit kegerator that I bought in 2000. It balances almost perfectly at 11 psi with its 5 feet of 3/16 hose and dual tap tower that is about 3 feet above the center of the kegs. That gets me 2.4-2.5 volumes of Co2 at 38F.

I do mostly wheat beers and wanted to increase the carbonation level to a more suitable level for that style so I added two of the sticks to each of my kegs before my last kegging session. That was a couple of weeks ago.

Today I finally get around to hooking one up and it is barely flowing at 11psi. Remembering the sticks, I crank the pressure up to 15 psi, then 20 psi, then 25 psi (which is the very upper edge of carbonation sanity, even for a wheat beer), and it is still pretty slow. On the plus side, it doesn't seem to increase the foam from turbulence or anything like that. If you are using a picnic tap, these things might just be the best thing since... well, the last really cool thing.

Now I have to figure out how to get one of the sticks out of each of several full kegs... Any ideas?

 

[Bruin]

Unscrew the beverage side fitting, then try turning on the gas quick and they might pop out under pressure? I would recommend doing this outside as it might be a little messy. Hopefully you don't lose much beer. Or just pull out the diptube, and they'll come out with it or drop out into the beer, either way you're good to go. Nice to know how much they reduce flow rate, they should be perfect for my Heff, which I plan to carb "at the upper edge of carbonation sanity" as you put it!

 

[ekjohns]

they wont go into the beer cause of the bend in the diptube. Just take out the diptube, invert and they should slide out. Spray with some starsans and pop it back in. Word of caution, unscrew the pressure relief valve a little so after you bleed the pressure it wont build back up and give you a spray to the face (thats what she said)

 

[worstbrewing]

they wont go into the beer cause of the bend in the diptube. Just take out the diptube, invert and they should slide out. Spray with some starsans and pop it back in. Word of caution, unscrew the pressure relief valve a little so after you bleed the pressure it wont build back up and give you a spray to the face (thats what she said)

For what it's worth, I use pin lock kegs and most of them appear to have completely straight dip tubes. I only mention this because I had the same logic of removing, but when I removed the dip tube I found it was empty... Upon testing one of the sticks with the dip tube out of the keg, sure enough it fell straight through. Not a huge problem, but not what I had expected originally either.