Easy Keg 5L

[Berry454]

Added a Schrader valve to the top. Salvaged the valve from a bike inner tube and left some of the rubber on the base of the valve. This makes the fit snug and the more pressure in the barrel the more compression it creates holding the valve tightly in place.

Not sure if it will work or hold pressure. How many of the little 16g Co2 cartridges do I need to pressurise the mini keg for a test run?

Apparently my brand of mini keg can hold 4 bar of pressure. Not sure what that number is in psi.

 

[RichardM]

Added a Schrader valve to the top. Salvaged the valve from a bike inner tube and left some of the rubber on the base of the valve. This makes the fit snug and the more pressure in the barrel the more compression it creates holding the valve tightly in place.

Not sure if it will work or hold pressure. How many of the little 16g Co2 cartridges do I need to pressurise the mini keg for a test run?

Apparently my brand of mini keg can hold 4 bar of pressure. Not sure what that number is in psi.

View attachment 71346

4 bar is about 60 psi. Do you want to pressurise the keg to force carbonate or just for serving? Either way you won't need more than a few psi

 

[Berry454]

4 bar is about 60 psi. Do you want to pressurise the keg to force carbonate or just for serving? Either way you won't need more than a few psi

Got to say, I'm surprised that this little keg is rated at 60psi. I'm going to prime with sugar for when I'm using the actual kegs with beer and the co2 will just be for serving and preserving the beer after I take a pint from the kegs. I'd like to be able to take a pint out, put a bit of co2 back in and preserve the rest of the contents for a month or more.

I may try force carbonating a keg once just for the experimentation. But that would be a huge waste of co2. So that definitely wouldn't be a regular thing.

 

[Berry454]

Well I fired some Co2 in from a 16g cartridge in a Co2 bike tyre inflator. The valve works! But the bung sadly does not work.

Using the soap and water technique I could see that the leaks was coming from the edges of the red bung and the outer black rubber bung.

This brings me to my main question, anyone know if these 2 part bungs are reusable in the mini easy kegs?

Two part bung. You remove the small red hard plastic stopper from the centre of the bung. Then you have to pry the black rubber bung from the keg.

 

[Dutto]

Got to say, I'm surprised that this little keg is rated at 60psi. I'm going to prime with sugar for when I'm using the actual kegs with beer and the co2 will just be for serving and preserving the beer after I take a pint from the kegs. I'd like to be able to take a pint out, put a bit of co2 back in and preserve the rest of the contents for a month or more.

I may try force carbonating a keg once just for the experimentation. But that would be a huge waste of co2. So that definitely wouldn't be a regular thing.

I’ve “bold” the bits I would as you to consider:

1. The fact that a brand new “anything” is rated to a certain pressure doesn’t mean that it can be operated at that pressure! The “rating” means that the thing won’t blow up in your face, but other things like seals, valves etc may give way after a single use!
2. Forced carbonation can be at “high pressure/shorter time” or “low pressure/longer time” and both will be affected by the brew’s temperature.
3. Forced carbonation at 5psi to 10psi will result in a “head” on the brew. A higher pressure can result in a 90% “head”!
4. Back when I used 5 litre kegs I limited my sugar addition to (I THINK) 4g per litre; and I could still have “over-pressure” problems with blown seals!

Hope this helps.
:hat:

 

[RichardM]

I’ve “bold” the bits I would as you to consider:

1. The fact that a brand new “anything” is rated to a certain pressure doesn’t mean that it can be operated at that pressure! The “rating” means that the thing won’t blow up in your face, but other things like seals, valves etc may give way after a single use!
2. Forced carbonation can be at “high pressure/shorter time” or “low pressure/longer time” and both will be affected by the brew’s temperature.
3. Forced carbonation at 5psi to 10psi will result in a “head” on the brew. A higher pressure can result in a 90% “head”!
4. Back when I used 5 litre kegs I limited my sugar addition to (I THINK) 4g per litre; and I could still have “over-pressure” problems with blown seals!

Hope this helps.
:hat:

I usually prime with 10 to 12 grammes of sugar per keg and add CO2 as I consume the keg.
I haven't tried reusing the red bungs that come with full kegs from the supermarket. I use the grey, reusable bungs that you can get from home-brew suppliers.

 

[Berry454]

I'm honestly having so much trouble trying to get a valve to work in the bung of these kegs it's getting mind blowing.

Can someone please advise me on how to get Co2 into these mini kegs without a party star deluxe tap? I just want to be able to pour a pint, put a little Co2 inside then keep the rest of the contents fresh for months before pouring another pint.

I installed a Schrader valve in the center of the red inner piece of the bung. Surprise surprise it leaked. I then tried putting a generous amount of silicone around the Schrader valve.

Then I tried gluing the entire inner red section of the bung into the black rubber part of the bung using silicone.

This appeared to work. I added a few seconds of co2 using a bike tyre inflator. About a minute later the red section of the bung blew out of the keg making a huge pop.

Can anyone please help me on getting Co2 into these kegs somehow? I'm happy to buy new reusable bungs.

I just need some method at getting the valve into the bung so it doesn't leak under pressure.

Party star deluxe tap simply isn't a viable option as it would require a new tap for each keg and I would want 10-20 kegs filled at once. Buying 10-20 party star deluxe taps for £55 each just isn't viable.

I've been following this guide which just didn't work for me. The valve just leaks and leaks even with silicone.

https://justinview.com.au/2011/03/diy-mini-5l-keg-co2-system/

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Reusing these used to be popular but if I remember correctly they rust and most members gave up usung them.

Have a look at these from our forum sponsor.

https://www.darkfarm.co.uk/5l-mini-keg-beer-dispenser/