Cornelius vs. Firestone kegs

[I'mRocketMan]

Has anyone had any experience with both Cornies and Firestone kegs?

I don't like the way the Firestones pressure relief works... Depress the poppet to release the pressure???

I'm wondering if the Corny lids will work on the Firestone kegs.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers! Rocket

[toneyc]

I may be wrong here, but I thought "Cornelius kegs" was a general name for the type of soda keg that Firestone makes. Corny kegs are getting pretty cheap these days. You can probably pick them up at your local homebrew shop for under $20 each. All mine have a pull ring for the pressure relief valve, I haven't run across the type you describe.

:)
Toney.

[danno]

Cornelius and Firestone are the two major manufacturers of these types of kegs. "Corny" is the "Kleenex" of 5 gal keg manufacturers, I guess...

The lids are interchangeable, but I'm also thinking that lid replacement would be pretty expensive, relative to the cost of aftermarket kegs...

(OK, some actual research...) Looking at Northern Brewer's repair parts page, http://www.northernbrewer.com/keg-repair-parts.html, you can replace just the pressure relief valves themselves, but $10 to $19 each gets you pretty close to the going rate for whole keg...

[I'mRocketMan]

The Firestones do NOT have a relief valve that the brewer can "pull" to release the pressure. Their method is to depress the gas-in poppet (after, of course disconnecting the gas line)

I need to rebuild these two Firestones if I'm going to use them (orings, poppets, etc.) I guess what I'd like to find is a corny which is dented too badly to be used and rob the lids... Either that or give them back to my buddy. The great thing about them is that they are shorter and the fittings are in the "front" of the keg so they'd work WONDERFULLY in the back row of the keggerator.

Thanks for the info!

Cheers! Rocket

[tjthresh]

What the heck is a firestone keg?

[danno]

Originally posted by tjthresh
What the heck is a firestone keg?
Firestone and Cornelius kegs started life off as soda kegs. Now that the soda industry is switching to syrup bag-in-the-box setups, these 5 gallon, stainless steel canisters are extremely popular for homebrewers (I've also seen 3 gal and 10 gal sizes, but "corny keg" generally refers to the 5 gallon size). They can be found both new and used, if you're paying more than $20 in the US for them, you're not doing enough shopping...

here's a link with some pics.. http://www.northernbrewer.com/draftsystem-kegs.html

[tubetek]

Howdy All-
My recent experiences...
The 4 original kegs I started with were all made by Cornelius in Anoka Minn. These are the ones to get if you have the choice; Most of the spare and replacement parts will fit these correctly.
Recently, I was traded (6) 5 gal. kegs and observed the following-
One was marked "Firestone".
Five were marked "Spartanberg"

1)The lid on the Spartanberg definitely will NOT fit the "Corny" Brand Keg; They are shaped differently AND the lid O-Ring is square cross-section as opposed to the round cross-section of the "Corny" brand.

2) The poppet valves (inside the posts) are different.

3) The pressure-relief valve (in the lid) is different.

4) My "Corny" dip-tubes are curved to meet the low spot on the bottom of the keg; The others have a strait tube to meer the low spot along the edge of the bottom.

Other than this, I have no reason to believe one is better than the others;
jist make sure you order the parts that actually work with the kegs you have.

Guess what I'm really saying is try to stick to one brand if you can, It'll make the spare-parts inventory easy to manage and prevent using the wrong part, leaking etc.
Just My .02 YMMV
TT

[swampstander]

I hav'nt started homebrewing yet, but have a kit on the way and will brew my first batch in a week or so. I have been reading this forum for a few days and I already have learned alot. I found a good deal (free) on about 10 of the soda kegs your refer to. They have been out in the weather for at least two years along with the CO2 bottle that supplied them. I picked them up tonight and after reading this thread I went out to take a better look at them. Some have them still have the syrup in them from when they were abandoned. The one I brought in side says Firestone on the side. What should I know about cleaning them up and refurbishing them? How long can I expect beer to stay good in them? Thanks in advance.

[Jughead]

You will want to replace the rubber gasket around the lid, and the rings around the posts at the very least since you cannot get the soda smell out of them. Other than that, just clean em up. You might want to take the poppets and dip tubes out to clean them, or not.

[barley ben]

You will want to replace to o-rings since they will have a soda taste that will not go away and it's the best way to insure that you will not have a pressure leak. The kit only cost a couple of bucks. Also a good idea to give it a cleaning with PBW and the a sanitizing before your first use. You can buy a single PBW at the homebrew store for like a buck. This stuff clean anything in it's way no matter how old.

[danno]

If you have a quantity of o-rings to replace, may I suggest McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com) for your purchase. You can save significant coin compared to your average LHBS. I bought 100 each of the two small o-rings and 20 large lid o-rings for $32 including shipping. Here's the part numbers:

Dip Tube O-Rings
9452K172 BunaN #109 Pkg 100/$2.24
Post O-Rings
9452K23 BunaN #111 Pkg 100/$2.77
Lid O-Rings
9452K218 BunaN #417 Pkg 10/$12.50