The O ring for my cornie keg lid has a build up of silicone grease on it. I use a food grade silicone lubricant on the O ring everytime I seal a keg. This stuff is hard to remove from the rubber O ring. I washed it off the other day and dryed it with a towel. Now there are fuzzys covering the O ring and I’m having a hard time getting them off. I use silicone lubricant on my O rings for scuba diving and never had this problem. But the silicone wasn’t food grade and has a thinner texture to it. Not sure if that is the problem or not. I soaked the O ring for the lid in vinegar thinking the acid would disolve the silicone but that didn’t work. I dont want to use a strong chemical to clean it. Will boiling it take care of it? What do the brewers who use cornie kegs use to clean and lube their O rings?
Thanks
Brad
PBW or oxyclean has worked for me.
Thanks Flip, I used both with no success. Maybe I will give it another shot with Oxyclean but mix it stronger in real hot water. Wonder what would happen I boiled Oxyclean in a pan along with the O ring. Hmmm
I too have not had success with Oxiclean or PBW. I imagine Goo Gone would work, but I’m personally not willing to give it a try. I’d rather just replace the o-ring.
I’ve stopped using lubricant on the lid o-ring unless I can’t get a seal without it–which is pretty much never.
[quote=“kcbeersnob”]I too have not had success with Oxiclean or PBW. I imagine Goo Gone would work, but I’m personally not willing to give it a try. I’d rather just replace the o-ring.
I’ve stopped using lubricant on the lid o-ring unless I can’t get a seal without it–which is pretty much never.[/quote]
Well KC, I have to put an order in for some grain I may as well get some replacement O rings while I’m at it. I might give a call to the LHBS who sold me the silicone lube and see what he says about cleaning the O ring.That may be a big waste of time. I bet he says to use WD40 or Goo Gone. Man I thought that being food grade silicone it would clean up real nice with hot water.
Agreed with kcbeersnob, I’m not a fan of over lubricating o-rings unless necessary. I would boil it in water and PBW which I did one time with success. I boiled all 21 of them.
[quote=“Bier brauer”]
Well KC, I have to put an order in for some grain I may as well get some replacement O rings while I’m at it. [/quote]
For replacement o-rings, I suggest checking out McMaster Carr. You should be able to basically buy a lifetime supply for <$20 plus shipping.
Just use a paper towel to remove as much as possible. Then a soak and wipe down with oxyclean or PBW will get the rest off. I’ve done this many times and never had an issue.
This is weird stuff. I never had silicone lube act this way. I used a ton of silicone grease for my scuba gear O rings in the past. They always cleaned up nice, and never had build up on them. Never had an issue. But this stuff sticks like crazy. I guess that’s a good thing actually. I’m going to mix some PBW or Oxyclean then boil the crap out of the O ring and see if it helps.
Tomorrow if I have a chance I will add the name of the product to this thread. I have always soaked the cornie lid and O ring plus the gas and beer posts overnight in PBW when a keg kicked and cleaned it. Don’t know why this is being difficult.
Have you tried the CIP lube? The melting point is 120 F. It cleans off with dish soap.
I hate to say it, but I believe that is what I have. When I get home from work tonight I’ll check.
I checked out the tube of silicone lube I have. Although it looks like a tube of CIP, it is not. It is a white tube with blue lettering. Close but no cigar. I talked to a fellow brewer who has the same lube as mine. He has the same problem. The stuff just doesn’t want to come off the O ring. I believe I will look for CIP and ditch the stuff I have.
Have ya’ tried rubbing alcohol?
O-rings are cheap. Just throw it away replace it with a new one. Like KC said, you can get a lifetimie supply from McMaster Carr for little money. Here’s a little primer with some good info on kegs. Towards the end the author supplies the McMaster part numbers for 0-rings.
