Plastic pressure barrels?

[Cheshire Cat]

I used plastic 2" necked PB for years with mixed success. They used to be relatively cheap but they are unreliable. They leak mainly due to pressure and especially in warm weather. The cap washers are a nightmare and the taps are not fit for purpose. I had to leave just filled and primed barrels on the draining board if we were going away for a few days. So I moved to bottling but since I joined this forum have bought two Cornelius keg which are great.

 

[kelper]

@terrym Were they King Kegs?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

No just the ones Wilco sold.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Cheshire, I have 2 wilko barrels with the 4 inch cap, what I find is if you over tighten the cap it leaks you only need a quarter of a turn once you feel resistence and they are a doddle to clean

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've got 5 and they're 2" caps and a pig to clear, so much so I've scrapped one. Haven't used them in a while but will make some use over Xmas

 

[Rodcx500z]

+1 on cleaning I have a youngs one with a 2 inch cap it's a nightmare to clean

 

[Clint]

I find to clean the 2" ...oxi and hot water...lots of shaking..

 

[Rodcx500z]

Cheers Clint will try that

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Because friction is a good cleaner I've got a big brush which I can bend and then a lot of hot water soap and shaking.

 

[Dave 666]

Hi Cheshire, I have 2 wilko barrels with the 4 inch cap, what I find is if you over tighten the cap it leaks you only need a quarter of a turn once you feel resistence and they are a doddle to clean

In my first experience of a new PB from Wilko the first usage requires as tight as tight can get via normal hand tightening. Because my testing indicated that whilst I thought it was tight enough that pressure testing indicated it was not seal tightened. Another 3cm tighter, seems fine and holding pressure.

Of cause, my experience does not account for that the ring seal was a flat as opposed to an apparent round one in the past in Wilko PB's, that it was pre Vaseline coated & the thread tightly wrapped with PTFE tape. And even then the Vaseline & PTFE suggestions for a better seal seems to have mixed opinions on if its worth doing.

But I'm sure I read that being a 4" lid, that the king keg lids are a great alternative replacement. If so, surely the barrel is fine, but more issues are with either the original tap or lid?.

 

[Druncan]

Look 30+ years ago I had rota kegs with a float and started again 10 years ago with plastic pressure barrels. Now got back into barrels with Cornelius kegs.

Same for me! love em cornies .

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

Recently bought a Wilco PB and stuck 40 pints of Cider in it - first thing I noticed ?

Moulded handles are not big enough for me. I thought at the time what a good idea and when you are cleaning it initially and shaking it around great because there is not much weight in there

However as soon as it was barrelled and did a couple of days in warm spot and was ready for moving to Garage suddentl those "great idea" handles showed their flaw in that Barrel was then weighing 22 Kgs ish and was hard to pick up with 4 fingertips in each recess so I had to get 2 hands under the Barrel which I noticed was wet

Then arriving at the conditioning spot I saw the Barrel Tap was leaking very slightly. Brand new Barrel leaking - not ideal. So I tightened the Tap even more that it was (I put vaseline on Gasket and PTFE on thread as soon as I bought it) and still there was a very slight leak. The tap will rotate within the housing so I conquered the leak I hope by rotating the tap through 180 degrees so it is now pointing upwards.

To serve in 10 days or so I will have to spin it back downwards dispense the Cider and then rotate back upwards. Does anyone know if the tap comes apart to add vaseline inside to stop the leak or is there another way ? Or should I take it back ? Hoping it might seal itself