DIY Keg and Carboy Washer

[daryl]

There has been a suggestion that we have a tech meeting for members to construct their own Keg and Carboy Washer.

Here is a link that will show you what we would be building:
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/ ... oy-washer/

I have built one of these and would be willing, with Tony's assistant, to facilitate a Tech Meeting and to have the parts available for those who attend.

There would be a fee for those materials...probably less than $20 - which would not include the pump. Based upon the number of attendees, we might see if we can get a bulk discount on the pump...which is the most expensive part of the build.

I have the tools and may have the space to accommodate the meeting; so that will not be an issue.

If this interests you, please post here so that we can gauge the interest of the club.

[Josh_Jensen]

Yes! This sounds great, I'm in!


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[JimPotts]

Thumbs-up from me.

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[mjensen52402]

I recieved a "Mark's Keg and Carboy Washer" for my birthday. It's ok. I like the model you have linked much better. I'm in. Im going to do some side research about attachments to recirculate through beer lines as well.

[daryl]

I recieved a "Mark's Keg and Carboy Washer" for my birthday. It's ok. I like the model you have linked much better. I'm in. Im going to do some side research about attachments to recirculate through beer lines as well.

Let me know what you find...I am getting some MFL couplers from Joe and will be experimenting with mine.

If I put one quick disconnect on the MFL connector on one of the feeds to the in/out of the keg, that will block that line.

Plug the main tube with a cap (looking for a screw-on version so I do not have to how it down while the pump is on).

Then I use the coupler (male to male) to attach the other feed to the input of the first tap. Then connect the output of Tap 1 to the output of Tap 2 using tubing. If there were only two taps, then I would drop the beer line that feeds Tap 2, back into the washer bucket.

Fill the bucket with cleanser and the desired volume of hot water.

Open the taps.

Turn on the pump, and away you go.

Repeat to rinse with hot water.

Repeat with StarSan.

Drain...and the lines are ready to go.

Will probably give it try next week.

[mjensen52402]

As far as kegs and carboys it would be nice to have one to wash, one to rinse. Compared to the Mark's model a 5 gallon bucket full of dirty water to carry is 20x easier.

[tony b]

The BYO gang has this one, too. I'm not eager to sweat copper pipe, but they had a couple of ideas that could easily be incorporated, like the rotating spray nozzle.

http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1992- ... r-projects

Update: Holy Cow, didn't realize that their silly little spray nozzle was $220!!! Did some digging around and found reasonably priced ones.

http://usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx? ... &catid=858

I liked these options, too.

https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Female-Sa ... B01NCKZRY7

Or for the spinning variety. Downside is that per the homebrewer comments, it doesn't fit through the neck of most carboys, but should work on Better Bottles and would work great on kegs and other larger mouthed vessels.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Rotary ... B0152FG7UE

[daryl]

As far as kegs and carboys it would be nice to have one to wash, one to rinse. Compared to the Mark's model a 5 gallon bucket full of dirty water to carry is 20x easier.

I usually store dirty kegs until I have at least three to clean...then I clean them with the same wash water (might add hot water and more cleanser half way through).

Then rinse (10 mins each).

Then sanitize (about two minutes or less, since it is contact sanitizer.

Dump any liquid in the keg, close it up, pressure it up until it seals...and then store until I need them.

But two setups would go faster.

[TappedOut]

I've got a Mark's keg washer. It does pretty good, but doesn't work for yeast ring when I've fermented in kegs. That requires a soak, w/ maybe a bit of scrubbing. Other stuff is fine. I had to get a utility pump (1/3 hp) for water from a clogged drain in the basement, and am thinking of a a way-overengineered keg washer w/ a spray ball. Because why not?

If you want to add heat, one of these http://www.theisens.com//heated-buckets ... eater-742g would do the trick.

[Jethro1211]

Sounds good to me. When is the tech meeting.

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[Eric B]

I recieved a "Mark's Keg and Carboy Washer" for my birthday. It's ok. I like the model you have linked much better. I'm in. Im going to do some side research about attachments to recirculate through beer lines as well.

Let me know what you find...I am getting some MFL couplers from Joe and will be experimenting with mine.

If I put one quick disconnect on the MFL connector on one of the feeds to the in/out of the keg, that will block that line.

Plug the main tube with a cap (looking for a screw-on version so I do not have to how it down while the pump is on).

Then I use the coupler (male to male) to attach the other feed to the input of the first tap. Then connect the output of Tap 1 to the output of Tap 2 using tubing. If there were only two taps, then I would drop the beer line that feeds Tap 2, back into the washer bucket.

Fill the bucket with cleanser and the desired volume of hot water.

Open the taps.

Turn on the pump, and away you go.

Repeat to rinse with hot water.

Repeat with StarSan.

Drain...and the lines are ready to go.

Will probably give it try next week.

Just know not to use scorching hot water. About 90* is perfect. Using super hot water will cause most beer lines to swell and then you lose their restrictive values. So anytime you pour a beer it will fly out like a rocket.

[karl]

Even though I have a Mark's washer I'm in too. A second setup for Starsan rinse would be handy.

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[aerizel]

I'd be interested as well


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[czubak]

I'd be interested and could also host in my garage if need be.

[Matt F]

Super easy to build. If you can find a utility pump and do one like mine I would go that way versus a pond pump. Utility pump much more robust. I scored a 1/6 hp pump at Menards for $19.99 during a Crazy Days years ago. The adapter screws off the pump so I can also use it for things like recirculating ice water through my immersion chiller or clean beer lines on my keg fridge. The top pipe also unscrews and I have a shorter pipe I put on top for my shorter 2.5 gallon kegs. Very similar to the example provided by Daryl.