Beer Forum

I'm heading over to a friend's house tomorrow to watch him do an all grain batch or 2. I'm going to bring 2 of the recent kegs I got to have him help be through the seal replacement process.

I ordered 1 of each of the 3 sockets morebeer sells and I have 4 seal kits. I'm going to bring 2 kegs, 2 seal kits, all 3 sockets and a ratchet. He's got the lube (heh). Is there anything else I need?

Hi MM,
I am no expert but I have a half dozon cornies and have dealt (successfully) with a few leaks already as I am learning the reconditioning process. Here is what I have onhand:
-seal kits (one large ring, 2 medium rings, 2 small rings)
-ball lock posts (hopefully you and your friend are using all ball lock, pin lock is not common)
-poppets (the spring plugs that go in the posts)
-pressure releif valve (I have one bad one and wish I had a replacement onhand)

I have had leaks from posts, from a pressure relief valve, and from the lit itself. Sometimes you just need to flip the lid around 180 degrees and it makes a better seal, sometimes your o ring is bad. It looks like you have just about everything you need though.
What I learned to do every time I clean and prep a keg for use it a pressure test. I clean my kegs (almost always break them down and soak the parts in PBW unless I know I just cleaned it then I might do a rinse, starsan, refill) and then I shake then up with a gallon or so of starsan. I hold it upside down and look for the big leaks, if it seems sealed I then set it down and put a CO2 line on it for a second, just a quick charge of C02, then shake it up. The Starsan should bubble through any leaks. If you really want to play it safe, drizzle soapy water over the entire top of the corny and look for bubbles. I hate bringing any soap around my brewing equipment though so I tend just to trust the starsan.
If you are ready to fill it, fine, even better, let it sit for a few days on pressure. Then when you go to drain the starsan back out you should get a nice "whoosh" from the pressure releif valve as your CO2 vents. If you don't have pressure left then you probably have a slow leak. Good think you didn't find that one by losing 10 pounds of CO2...over two different fills...until finally finding the leak (yeah, I did that, it sucked).

MexicanMafia wrote:I'm going to bring 2 kegs, 2 seal kits, all 3 sockets and a ratchet. He's got the lube (heh). Is there anything else I need?

Here's some things you may need (if you are trying to think of anything that could go bad and be prepared).
You may need poppets or a pressure relief valve (PRV).
If the kegs had soda in them and you are rebuilding them for the first time, you might need a hammer or rubber mallet to dislodge the lid/seal.
Pliers to remove the PRV.
Punch to remove poppet from ball lock body connects.
Small screwdriver or punch to remove o rings.
3 bowls large engough to hold all of the parts once disassembled (PBW, rinse water, star san)
5 gal star san
co2 for pressure testing/purging

Here is the process with pictures.
http://www.wikihow.com/Assemble-a-Cornelius-Keg

I don't use soapy water near my kegs either, I always have a spray bottle full of StarSan nearby when I'm working on my kegs....hit them with a few seconds of pressure, then spray the tops/gas connections....if there is a leak, it will bubble.

"If the kegs had soda in them and you are rebuilding them for the first time, you might need a hammer or rubber mallet to dislodge the lid/seal. "

make sure you relaese the pressure before whacking (ya whacking) it, I heard dislodging the lid before releasing pressure can be bad, it can hurt, seriously bad.

Danny