Tap and line cleaning

[RoomWithABrew]

Do you have links to the connectors please? Thanks.

Easier and cheaper to fit one of these on the pipe.
https://brewkegtap.co.uk/products/p...y1QdurQGgg4B6qKiwFRWYYd5Scfo58ogaAsOxEALw_wcB

 

[DocAnna]

Oh my giddy aunt just spent an hour cleaning all my lines with purple line cleaner and urgghh.... filthy wee critters they were despite being stored with chemsan in them,yuck . All cleaned rinsed and reloaded with chemsan, but crikey that took ages. I need a cleaning manifold to connect all my pipes and lines to rather than all that disconnecting stuff, a bit of a project I think...

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Oh my giddy aunt just spent an hour cleaning all my lines with purple line cleaner and urgghh.... filthy wee critters they were despite being stored with chemsan in them,yuck . All cleaned rinsed and reloaded with chemsan, but crikey that took ages. I needed a cleaning manifold to connect all my pipes and lines to rather than all that disconnecting stuff, a bit of a project I think...

You may well taste the difference after.

I’ve though about building a manifold myself but not got there yet.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Cleaned my lines yesterday with PBW pumped through then rest with PBW and then reflush. I like that you can see the grot coming out when you start the next flush and then it's clear.
Finished off with Starsan flush through and then beer!
Six taps does take some time, a manifold would be expensive with 6 posts on it, I just flush the beer out and run the pbw a bit, leave for a while, throw away the first brown bit that comes out next flush and leave again. Once it is clear I then flush through a couple of litres and leave the lines full into blowout and starsan flush through.
The connectors just dangle out of the fridge with the door shut so it's pretty easy.

I do need to set a calendar reminder for this though.

 

[jayk34]

Oh my giddy aunt just spent an hour cleaning all my lines with purple line cleaner and urgghh.... filthy wee critters they were despite being stored with chemsan in them,yuck . All cleaned rinsed and reloaded with chemsan, but crikey that took ages. I need a cleaning manifold to connect all my pipes and lines to rather than all that disconnecting stuff, a bit of a project I think...

I have line cleaner arriving tomorrow and like you mine haven't been fully cleaned since the keezer was built ! I normally just run starsan through after the keg has kicked !!

I cleaned them all on Sunday with starsan and they have been left disconnected from kegs until this line cleaner arrives. Will be interesting to see how bad they really are

 

[jayk34]

Cleaned my today. One of the ones I had "cleaned" on Sunday was a tiny bit infected. The other 2 I cleaned were fine and the one that still attached to a keg for the last 2 months was strangely fine as well.

Overall about an hour but as @DocAnna and @Hazelwood Brewery mention a manifold would make it quicker as would having 3 separate line cleaners for clean water, line cleaner and one for starsan when needed. With regards to a manifold would the gas manifolds do for this task ?

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I've been thinking about the manifold, realised there is a cheaper alternative than using bulkhead connections for ball locks.

Say for four taps to clean you would need
Three of these Duotight - 8mm Push-Fit Tee

Four of these Carbonation And Line Cleaning Cap - Plastic

and the tubing to connect them, ideally the largest internal diameter compatible with the connectors.

This would cost 43 dollars + pipe.

If bulkhead ball locks were used the cost would rocket up, you could drill thru keezer / keg fridge and fit connectors so you could just plug on the outside but you don't need this in keg fridge all the time so can't really see the point. The fridge or freezer seal can easily cope with the tube hanging out.

Tempted now to build one with three on and then it's only 2 goes rather than 6 washings.

 

[jayk34]

I've been thinking about the manifold, realised there is a cheaper alternative than using bulkhead connections for ball locks.

Say for four taps to clean you would need
Three of these Duotight - 8mm Push-Fit Tee

Four of these Carbonation And Line Cleaning Cap - Plastic

and the tubing to connect them, ideally the largest internal diameter compatible with the connectors.

This would cost 43 dollars + pipe.

If bulkhead ball locks were used the cost would rocket up, you could drill thru keezer / keg fridge and fit connectors so you could just plug on the outside but you don't need this in keg fridge all the time so can't really see the point. The fridge or freezer seal can easily cope with the tube hanging out.

Tempted now to build one with three on and then it's only 2 goes rather than 6 washings.

Never thought of the duotight/John guest fittings. Thanks

I am going to try 3 of these John guest y splitters to make a 4 line cleaner. 1 splitter coming from the pressure sprayer and then another y splitter attached to each of the two outputs to make up 4 lines.
There may be a more elegant/simple solution like a 4 way splitter but I already have the y splitters in the garage.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Yes I have loads of T connectors. Just need the red or yellow caps and the 8mm od 5mm internal or some other tube 8mm od and bigger internal.
I'll post pictures when built.

 

[Alastair70]

Followed this thread on holiday. Got back 3 hours ago, excessively jet lagged. The first thing I did was learn Smooth by Santana on the guitar, then I had a Pliny and then I did this.
Total kegerator tap strip down, now soaking in VWP. New beer line was purchased a couple of months back, it’s ready to go on. Purple line cleaner ordered last Thursday evening (US time) arriving mid week.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I use one of the pressure bottles that baldbrewer uses to clean my taps, with the purple line cleaner from TMM. I do it every time I finish a batch of beer. However when I get round to getting a kegerator it will be a bit more of a chew I think.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Oh my giddy aunt just spent an hour cleaning all my lines with purple line cleaner and urgghh.... filthy wee critters they were despite being stored with chemsan in them,yuck . All cleaned rinsed and reloaded with chemsan, but crikey that took ages. I need a cleaning manifold to connect all my pipes and lines to rather than all that disconnecting stuff, a bit of a project I think...

Starsan/Chemsan is a surface sanitiser, it's not very good at killing anything submerged.

Run it through the lines after cleaning with PBW/Caustic by all means, but then blow a bit of CO2 through the line to mostly empty it out.

 

[JockyBrewer]

Generally when I clean a keg I'll fill it with hot PBW, and before I empty the keg I'll flush the PBW through the beer line and tap the keg has come off. I leave it to soak a minute or so before pushing a bit more through, and will do again if I see any discolouration of the liquid coming out.

I'll then rinse out any PBW residue with star san, and then empty the line with CO2.

I did a full strip down after a year of having my taps and found nothing inside taps or shanks - they were as clean as the day I got them, although it's about time I do that again.

 

[Broomfleet Brewery]

On the subject of Chemsan.. I have made up 4 litres and put in a plastic pump sprayer with a lance for convenience of use. Does anyone know if this will keep indefinately, or will its effectiveness reduce in time?

 

[JockyBrewer]

On the subject of Chemsan.. I have made up 4 litres and put in a plastic pump sprayer with a lance for convenience of use. Does anyone know if this will keep indefinately, or will its effectiveness reduce in time?

The stuff I’ve made up in the past with either RO or low carbonate water (Tesco Ashbeck) has lasted for a year.

The stuff I make up with my hard tap water (270ppm CaCO3 alkalinity) won’t last anything like that time. I make it up and use it on the same day.

 

[Broomfleet Brewery]

Very helpful.. I didn't realise that the water type affected it in this way..

 

[Baldbrewer]

I had a go at knocking up a cleaning manifold of sorts using some spare JG fittings (hence the 2x90 degree bends lol)
The idea being I can connect all my beer lines and taps using the Corny keg connectors in one hit and use 5 litres of water with 50mL purple beer line cleaner and pump through using my garden sprayer!
then rinse out with 2x 5 litres of cold water then a small dose of starsan to finish off.
I'll report back after Thursday's trial

Please excuse the small amount of the liquid previously known as "rain" on the table there's a drought on don't you know!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I had a go at knocking up a cleaning manifold of sorts using some spare JG fittings (hence the 2x90 degree bends lol)
The idea being I can connect all my beer lines and taps using the Corny keg connectors in one hit and use 5 litres of water with 50mL purple beer line cleaner and pump through using my garden sprayer!
then rinse out with 2x 5 litres of cold water then a small dose of starsan to finish off.
I'll report back after Thursday's trial

Please excuse the small amount of the liquid previously known as "rain" on the table there's a drought on don't you know!
View attachment 73467View attachment 73468

That pretty much looks like the plan suggested above. I'm still waiting to get the red connectors. Hope the sprayer can generate enough pressure for all the taps to be flushed effectively. Lifting the bottle above tap height will help in the pressure issue / water flow.

 

[Baldbrewer]

That pretty much looks like the plan suggested above. I'm still waiting to get the red connectors. Hope the sprayer can generate enough pressure for all the taps to be flushed effectively. Lifting the bottle above tap height will help in the pressure issue / water flow.

could be an added benefit of a good arm workout lol

 

[Baldbrewer]

Glad to say worked a treat, next time I wouldn't make a 5 ltr batch of the solution as I only used 2.5Ltr.
I had a good flow of the purple liquid straight away which given it was 2 weeks since I cleaned each line individually with oxiclean and a hot water flush I was pretty pleased with.
For the MKII version I would want some more flexible 3/8" pipe as it was very hard to get it tight enough on the small jubilee clamps to stop any leakage.

Have to say I had loads of pressure from the garden sprayer , only cleaned 3 taps as the other is still sterile waiting to be used.
I gave it a 15ltr flush of cold water.

apologies for the side on video, lol