Help cleaning beer engines

[Landladybecks]

Hi there, I have just moved into a house with a bar. The previous owner must have spent so much time and money creating his little pub under the stairs and we love it. However, it hasn’t been used and cleaned for years. The beer engines are pretty sticky and the hoses are a dark brown colour. I know absolutely nothing about this but I would like to clean it all up and get it working. My main questions are:

1. Which parts can I easily replace? I’m assuming seals and hoses. Could anyone recommend somewhere to get these from?
2. I’ve read a lot of posts about gas and water cooling systems - this is all really confusing me. Do I need any of these things to start with? Or can I just clean the pumps then stick a keg or beer box on and pump away?! Thank you to anyone who can offer me advice on this.

 

[Landladybecks]

I should say that the engines are Homark

 

[Joust]

Photos please!

 

[Dads_Ale]

I would probably try and pull some water through them first to see if they still work and if there are any leaks. Then pull some cleaning solution such as ChemClean or PBW through. You can reuse the cleaner and pull it through repeated times leaving a soak break in between so as the solution sits in the cylinder for a while.
You can put the water/cleaner in a bucket and just put the beer engine inlet tube in that as it will simple pull it through on its own. You will almost certainly need to replace the inlet tubing.
If you search beer engine on this site there are a lot of posts on thee subject.
Can't help with parts as mine is an Angram and I got my spares direct from them.

 

[Mavroz]

Try pumps with like warm water checking they work and have no leaks.

Do not use and sort of PBW cleaner as such through it.

If they work and you want to use them you need purple line cleaner which is made for cleaning beer lines.

It will turn green when being drawn through the lines if there is any residual bacteria or grime in them. Keep drawing the liquid through until it stays the same purple colour it went into the pump as.

All is needed then is a few litres of lukewarm water drawing through until the water is fine to the smell and has no off tastes of the cleaner.

All should then be good to go.

 

[thegrantickle]

Try pumps with like warm water checking they work and have no leaks.

Do not use and sort of PBW cleaner as such through it.

If they work and you want to use them you need purple line cleaner which is made for cleaning beer lines.

It will turn green when being drawn through the lines if there is any residual bacteria or grime in them. Keep drawing the liquid through until it stays the same purple colour it went into the pump as.

All is needed then is a few litres of lukewarm water drawing through until the water is fine to the smell and has no off tastes of the cleaner.

All should then be good to go.

+1

 

[Landladybecks]

Thanks, I shall try water to start with then. My brother-in-law had best get a brew on the go if they are good to go.
Someone asked for pictures...these are not great but you can see they are Homarks.

 

[Landladybecks]

So one of the engines works fine and probably just needs a clean. The other one didn’t work at all.
I’ve removed it from the bar and started to take it apart to see what it might be. I have literally no idea what I’m doing here, so god knows if I’ve done the right thing. Anyway, it looks like one of the seals has perished but I can’t work out how I should get it out to replace it. Any ideas? Should I just unscrew the nut at the bottom (in the last photo)?

 

[hughjamton]

Look on YouTube, there's several good videos on there.

 

[thegrantickle]

So one of the engines works fine and probably just needs a clean. The other one didn’t work at all.
I’ve removed it from the bar and started to take it apart to see what it might be. I have literally no idea what I’m doing here, so god knows if I’ve done the right thing. Anyway, it looks like one of the seals has perished but I can’t work out how I should get it out to replace it. Any ideas? Should I just unscrew the nut at the bottom (in the last photo)?

Yo. Firstly, the piston seal looks a bit worn out, but it should still work. It might just cause an inefficient pull but shouldn't kill it completely. Let's take a look at the input to the cylinder please? I suspect the valve there is either gone or missing.

 

[thegrantickle]

Also, yes to get to that seal you unscrew the nut at the bottom. You'll probably also need to hold the inner nut if there is one, or the rod will just spin. For replacement seals, you can get a set from Harry Masons for that style of pump (Replacement Seal Kit) but at £16 its not so cheap and they don't guarentee they will fit any other manufacturer than their own cylinders, so will likely tell you your best option is to replace the cylinder, which is about £70.

I've had success making my own piston seal from a piece of silicone cut to size... This is what i got, white so it's not dyed and 1.5mm thickness worked great (WHITE SILICONE RUBBER SHEET FOOD QUALITY- VARIOUS THICKNESSES & SIZES -HIGH TEMP | eBay)

But if you're getting no pull through at all its more likely something else, hence why I was asking to see the input port, when you get a chance :)

 

[Landladybecks]

Also, yes to get to that seal you unscrew the nut at the bottom. You'll probably also need to hold the inner nut if there is one, or the rod will just spin. For replacement seals, you can get a set from Harry Masons for that style of pump (Replacement Seal Kit) but at £16 its not so cheap and they don't guarentee they will fit any other manufacturer than their own cylinders, so will likely tell you your best option is to replace the cylinder, which is about £70.

I've had success making my own piston seal from a piece of silicone cut to size... This is what i got, white so it's not dyed and 1.5mm thickness worked great (WHITE SILICONE RUBBER SHEET FOOD QUALITY- VARIOUS THICKNESSES & SIZES -HIGH TEMP | eBay)

But if you're getting no pull through at all its more likely something else, hence why I was asking to see the input port, when you get a chance :)

Thanks for all this. I don’t really know which part you are referring to! Is the input port where the hose/line connects into it?

I couldn’t get that nut off because there was nothing to grip! The piston rod (?) - the metal rod that comes out of the top of this part and connects to the moving part and then the handle just wants to twist when I try turning the nut and I’m worried about bending it. It has a complex looking joint like an elbow which can turn from side to side a bit as well as allowing the pump movement.

I ‘think’ the pictures here are of the input port...probs got that wrong though. This is a whole new world for me. I don’t even know terms to google them. It took me a few days to find out that this is even called a beer engine. I **** you not. haha.
it’s very exciting though.
The seal on the part I have put a pic on of seems fine.

 

[thegrantickle]

Thanks for all this. I don’t really know which part you are referring to! Is the input port where the hose/line connects into it?

I couldn’t get that nut off because there was nothing to grip! The piston rod (?) - the metal rod that comes out of the top of this part and connects to the moving part and then the handle just wants to twist when I try turning the nut and I’m worried about bending it. It has a complex looking joint like an elbow which can turn from side to side a bit as well as allowing the pump movement.

I ‘think’ the pictures here are of the input port...probs got that wrong though. This is a whole new world for me. I don’t even know terms to google them. It took me a few days to find out that this is even called a beer engine. I **** you not. haha.
it’s very exciting though.
The seal on the part I have put a pic on of seems fine.

The second image there. It's the non-return valve. That's what I was looking for. It looks like it has some of the ball bearings missing but it's hard to tell from the picture. Could you post on of that looking down on it?