New to Kegs

[james1988]

Hello all,
Up until tonight my brews (Ginger beer, Turbo Cider and Ribena Wine) have all gone into plastic pop bottles. I was lucky enough to pick up some kegs off a chap local to me who put an add up on Freecycle (if you're reading this I'm very grateful). I have a couple of questions regarding them as I'm a complete dunce when it comes to them.
First up what is the best way to clean them?
Secondly how do I know which valves to fit?
Finally how do I know when the beer is carbonated?
Hopefully the pictures will be able to explain better than I did.

Thanks,
James

 

[Wendy1971]

first clean with oxy action and very hot water you can add thin bleach too
Dont know about the valves as they have a hole in the lid maybe another lid with a c02 valve in it would be better
when you syphon from fv to keg add sugar and let it carbonate you will need good seals so no leaks. Then you can gas it through the valve or just let the beer carbonate for a couple of weeks

 

[PhatFil]

hehe beerspheres i didnt think i would ever see one of those again.. i used them a lot 20+years back..

try n replace the plastic pipes which attach to floats to feed the beer to the taps with softer silicone tube, the ridgid plastic pipe can twist the float as the beer level drops and can lift the feed tube out of the beer into the gas.

enjoy kegging