Newbie keg question

[briandickens]

I just bought my first kegs from someone on ebay. he promises that they are in good condition, etc. Is there someway I can test them out when I get them to ensure that they won't wreck my precious beer?

thanks

[Fast_Eddy]

To check for air leaks you can pressurize the keg and then use a soapy solution around the in and out, and around the pressure release value and around the lid. If you see bubbling then the keg is leaking so replace the seal(s).

You should also probably sterlize the hell out of it, including pulling sanitizer through the spear.

[briandickens]

Thanks. I'll make sure of that. The description says the seals are good, but I'll probably replace them anyway. You never know. And I am going to sanitize them like crazy.

I'll probably be asking a lot more questions before I make my beer. I don't want to ruin beer due to not knowing how to use a keg.

[toneyc]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
You should also probably sterlize the hell out of it, including pulling sanitizer through the spear.

Spear? What's that?

:)
Toney.

[Fast_Eddy]

The spear is the name of the tube that goes from the outlet poppet to the bottom of the keg.

[danno]

whenever I buy more kegs, the fist thing I do is replace all the o-rings, except for the big lid ring. Since these keg's previous life was probably for soda, you'll probably end up with a lovely soda smell that doesn't seem to come out. Soaking the big o-ring in some macro swill/beer for a few days is quite effective at reducing or eliminating the "soda" (or "pop", as we call it up here in Minnesota) smell...

Another thing to remember, there are a half a dozen different kinds of poppet valves and posts, so if you replace any, be sure to take the old ones along and match them up... Correspondingly, when cleaning/sanitizing, I recommend doing them one at a time so you don't mix up the pieces...

the hints keep coming... when disassembling your keg, notice the difference between the gas and liquid posts. You will regret mixing these up, putting the wrong disconnect on a post can be a pain to get off...

(all of the above only applies to Pepsi, or ball post kegs...)

("spear", huh? I've always heard it referred to as the dip tube. Learn something new every day, I guess....)

[toneyc]

Ah. Dip tube is the term I am familiar with, as well.

:)
Toney.

[MagTheGrate]

edit: i thought i was replying to a different thread.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by toneyc
Ah. Dip tube is the term I am familiar with, as well.


Toney.

Hehe - you guys made me doubt whether or not I had just made that term up so I went and did a few searches just to reaffirm it ;)

[mrwaz]

Correct me if I'm way off base here, but I've been kegging for a little over two years now and there is one trick I've found for making sure all will seal correctly when adding my brew. I set the keg on its side and add about 7-10 lbs of pressure. So far, all has tured out fine.

This is a question mostly for briandickens about purchasing on e-bay. mostly, where you searched on e-bay, and is there a large volume of products out there?

[briandickens]

mrwaz,

as far as kegs go there seems to be a lot. the guy i bought them from seems to sell 5 at a time in dutch auction format. this means (if you don't know) that you bid on as many as you want and the lowest bid price is what goes. so if i bid $10 on two and you bid $15 on 3, we get them for $10.

anyway, i think i searched for cornelius kegs. that seems to turn up a bunch. soda kegs turns up a few too. I bought 2 for $10 each, so i think i got a good deal. hopefully i get them soon and they are in decent condition.

here is a nice looking auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2548019020&indexURL=1#ebayphotohosting) , though not for kegs.