New to kegging - My questions

[snowcapt]

#10 will be perfect for your purposes. I have a #5 and it seems to run out pretty quickly. I think I am going to get a #20 in the future and keep the #5 as a back up or for doing transfers.
Also, +1 to aj for making me feel dumb, again! I never thought about doing that. Perfect. I dont usually worry about the last of the starsan, but if I can remove it easily, like that, I'm going to everytime.
Thanks, aj! and welcome to the wonderful world of home draft beer!

[Cody]

The only other consideration I would mention is, while talking to the guys at the welding store, they mentioned that 10 lb tanks are actually more expensive to fill (per pound) than 5 or 20 lb tanks. The reason is that the 10 lb tanks are less common. It's only a couple bucks, but over a few years...

[keelanfish]

I'll look into that Cody, thanks for the heads up. Unless it's a huge increase in cost per pound of CO2, I'd think that burning half as much gas on trips to fill it would more than compensate. I already hate remembering to get propane tanks filled, so I'll probably end up with a 20 lb tank at some point and use the 10 lb as a backup.

I tested two of my rebuilt corny kegs last night with a little CO2 pressure from one of those cartridge style portable thingies. These are two of the four kegs that I bought used, and cleaned and rebuilt myself. They seem to be holding pressure fine, so that's good news! I didn't do a thorough test or anything, just assembled with a little keg lube and injected some CO2. Let them sit overnight and then vented this morning and found they were still under pressure. I'll do a more thourough soap bubble test before filling, but good to know they at least did that.

[mthhurley]

My 10lb tank costs me $15 to fill and lasts on my 2 or 3 tap system for months. That includes purging, force carbing...etc.

IMO, get the 10lb and then also get the little hand co2 cartridge deal. You will inevitibly run out of CO2 on a Friday night and be kicking yourself that you can't run draft. Those little carts will allow you to create enough pressure to run for a couple days.

[HoozierDaddy]

To get the last bit of sanitizer out just make sure there is some CO2 pressure on the tank and then invert it so that the sanitizeer pools on the lid over (i.e. on the inside as the tank is upside down) the pressure relief valve. Then crack the pressure relief and the gas will blow the last of the sanitizer out.

This is brilliant! I can't believe I hadn't thought of it. Thanks for sharing.

[keelanfish]

Atlanta Area BN'ers, where do you go to get your CO2 refills?

[snowcapt]

I have no idea about there, but I get mine from a local auto shop. Try one of those.

[keelanfish]

So, Beverage Control filled my 10 lb tank for $10. Not too bad I think due to my limited calling around. Cheapest I found by a lot as most others were in the $20 to $30 range.

Tonight I'm beginning to piece everything together and so far, it's going remarkably well. Let's just hope the kiddos (3 year old boy and 10 month old boy) stay asleep so I can get all this finished and put up before tomorrow.

More questions:

1.) I chose threaded fittings for everything so that it would be easier to disassemble and clean everything without having to cut tubing off of barbed fittings. I've got nylon washers that I'm sure I'm supposed to use in between metal to metal connections. However, the pin lock and ball lock connectors both have a bit of plastic exposed above the steel threads that is in the correct shape to fit the metal on the barbed piece. Should I use a nylon washer here?

2.) in all these barbed and threaded connections, should I use the keg lube to help ensure an airtight seal, or should I just leave them dry?

3.) What psi should a newly filled CO2 tank be reading at room temperature? Mine's reading at 750 psi and the gage goes up to 3,000psi. Less than 500 psi is labled as, "order gas".