Almost ready to keg

tominboston · May 4, 2017, 12:00am

Well my new keg came today, 5 gal ball lock. I have my taprite regulator, and a 5 lb co2 tank and pre assembled gas in and beer out lines are on the way. Also some keg lube coming.

I am thinking as a test maybe it would be a good idea to fill the keg with a sanitizing mix and connect up to the c02 and then spray the connections to check for leaks ?

Should I use lube on the o- rings for the in and out connections before attaching the in/ out lines?

I guess I would like to be confident in the set up and my ability to seal the keg correctly before I have 5 gal of beer at stake.

After bottling 96 bottles last weekend I am really looking forward to a keg or two.

I found a local co2 supplier that has 10lb tanks so my long range plan is to have a 10 lb as my primary and the 5 lb as the back up to swap in when needed.

efuller · May 4, 2017, 12:30am

I just got into kegging myself. I can’t provide much insight on the lubrication part, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out as well, but filling the keg with a sanitizing mix and attaching the lines is what I did. Just to make sure the lines were clean and flushed.

My recommendation, from a rookie, is definitely look for leaks with the spray, but before that, each part just go and tighten. Then hook everything up, and from the CO2 tank all the way to the beer line, do an extra check and tighten everything again. Just to do a quick audit of everything before going live with everything.

And this is key, make sure you’re using the gas connector on the “in” ball lock, and the liquid connector on the “out” ball lock. Seems pretty obvious, but I absent mindedly didn’t do that, and ruined a gas ball lock connector.

I only realized I ruined that connector until it was too late and lost almost all of my CO2. Oops. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

loopie_beer · May 4, 2017, 12:38am

Good plan with the back up CO2 tank. They seem to kick at the most inopportune time.

When you get your keg you’ll want to clean it well. I don’t normally condone using dish soap on brewing equipment but you’ll want to use something that can take any grease off the equipment from the manufacturing process. After that, rinse it very well in as hot of water you can use. Then soak it in PBW (or equivalent) to ensure that all soap residue is removed.

You’ll then want to sanitize the keg. Fill it with a little sanitizer and shake it well. Pressurerize the keg and get some to come out of the liquid out to sanitize the tube and post.

When filling, purge with CO2 to help eliminate oxidation (as much as possible). Rack your beer over and seal. Purge again and set the lid. Leave the gas on. Now take a spray bottle of star san and spray the lid and posts to ensure you don’t have a CO2 leak.

Not a bad idea to spray your regulator connections as well to check for leaks.

loopie_beer · May 4, 2017, 12:40am

In regards to lubricant. Good practice to live the o-rings on the posts as well as the lid. Not only will this help save the o-rings it will assist with sealing leaks on the lid.

tominboston · May 4, 2017, 1:10am

Great information !

As always, thank you for the help!

Tom

uberculture · May 4, 2017, 1:24am

My dumb mistake… those nylon washers are pretty important. The sheepish look on my face as I brought 2 tanks in for exchange and added on a fistful of washers said it all…

tominboston · May 4, 2017, 10:00am

Oh…what nylon washers? Should they be replaced often?

uberculture · May 4, 2017, 10:30am

If you have MFL connectors, a washer goes between any metal to metal connection. They last a while, but theyre also cheap enough to keep a bunch on hand. One of my pre-assembled gas lines turned out to have been sold without one… burned through a lot of gas before I figured it out.

hd4mark · May 4, 2017, 11:15am

You will need the tiny washers where the line connects metal to metal but not where it connects to the QD (quick disconnect) They are plastic on the end so the washer is not needed and if you try to use one it may be difficult to get the fitting to thread. I found this out the hard way. It was tough to dig out the not needed washer. There is a large one between the CO2 tank and regulator too of course.

Definitely get yourself a spray bottle from the dollar store, fill it with a little dish soap and water and start looking for bubbles.

About keg lube. It’s not a bad idea. You can buy food grade Petro-Gel lubricant from food supply stores or online cheaper than “Keglube”. Just wetting the QDs and O rings with water first works for me.