Cleaning Reconditioned Corny Kegs

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SkyBlue

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Good evening!

I have just spent the past 90 minutes cleaning my re- conditioned Corny kegs using 10 x 5ml teaspoons of TSP in 19litres of warm water. The solution was left for an hour with the occasional vigorous swirling! After a good rinse through I still have some black deposits left on the kitchen towel when wiping dry the inside.

This may be a simple (aka stupid!) question but is it ok to proceed and fill the Corny once I’ve sterilised it with Starsan or should I clean again?? What actually is the black stuff??

Thanks
 
Trisodium Phosphate. I was told it was the ‘dog’s dangly bit’ when it came to cleanining stainless steel but clearly not. I will clean again and hopefully that will do the trick.
 
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I definitely bought the right stuff: TSP not TCP!!!
 
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Lol, well I'm no expert and certainly can't say for sure but if that's safe to put on human lacerations I can't see it being powerful enough to clean stubborn stains
 
Strip it, every part, every "O" ring every popet, get your hand in there with a scourer and give it a good scrub. Don't forget to wash through the beer out tube.

When it's clean reassemble spraying Starsan as you go then flush with Starsan drain and use.


AAmcle
 
TSP is a powerful degreaser used for cleaning new stainless steel to get rid of grease left over from manufacturing. I can't imagine what the black stuff is that you're seeing in a reconditioned keg but Barkeepers Friend works wonders on my kit.
 
TSP is a powerful degreaser used for cleaning new stainless steel to get rid of grease left over from manufacturing. I can't imagine what the black stuff is that you're seeing in a reconditioned keg but Barkeepers Friend works wonders on my kit.
Hey @foxbat
Would you clean with bar keepers friend or passionate with it

I am new to kegging and have had a couple of beers with a metallic taste

I did strip and clean thoroughly with chemclean and wiped till the towel came out with no more black marks but have had 4 beers with metallic taste still and have just recleaned a keg as found I could smell metal on my fingers if I rubbed inside the keg.

I have also just let water sit in the keg for 24 hrs and re tasted and can get some fruity hope flavours from the water even after hot chemclean for 4 hour soak?
 
Hey @foxbat
Would you clean with bar keepers friend or passionate with it
Both. I do exactly what it says on their website. I can't say whether that'll cure the metallic taste or not because I've never had that issue. Both of my kegs were reconditioned and arrived apparently clean but I still went over them with TSP first then BKF to finish.
 
Thanks guys
Hopefully this will sort it
Surprised it wasn’t passivated
Bought from a reliable site
 
Sorry for cross-posting as I already stuck this up earlier, but it's worth reading this from the John Palmer 'how to brew' on the subject of re-passivating stainless steel:

A situation that often comes up is, "Hey, my stainless steel is rusting! Why? What can I do to fix it?"
Stainless steel is stainless because of the protective chromium oxides on the surface. If those oxides are removed by scouring, or by reaction with bleach, then the iron in the steel is exposed and can be rusted. Stainless steel is also vulnerable to contamination by plain carbon steel, the kind found in tools, food cans, and steel wool. This non-stainless steel tends to rub off on the surface (due to iron-to-iron affinity), and readily rusts. Once rust has breached the chromium oxides, the iron in the stainless steel can also rust. Fixing this condition calls for re-passivation.
Passivating stainless steel is typically accomplished in industry by dipping the part in a bath of nitric acid. Nitric acid dissolves any free iron or other contaminants from the surface, which cleans the metal, and it re-oxidizes the chromium; all in about 20 minutes. But you don't need a nitric acid bath to passivate. The key is to clean the stainless steel to bare metal. Once the metal is clean, the oxygen in the atmosphere will reform the protective chromium oxides instantly. The steel will nearly as passivated as if it was dipped in acid. Nitric acid passivation creates a more chromium-rich passive surface, but is not necessary for brewing use.
To passivate stainless steel at home without using a nitric acid bath, you need to clean the surface of all dirt, oils and oxides. The best way to do this is to use an oxalic acid based kitchen cleanser like those mentioned above, and a non-metallic green or white scrubby pad. Don't use steel wool, or any metal pad, even stainless steel, because this will actually promote rust. Scour the surface thoroughly and then rinse and dry it with a towel. Once you have cleaned it to bare metal it will re-passivate itself.
If you have straw-colored or bluish tinted oxides on the stainless from welding or soldering, it should be cleaned off with a scrubby and cleanser before use. The colored oxides are not passive and will lead to rusting of the stainless steel if not cleaned. You should not have to do this procedure more than once, but it can be repeated as often as necessary.
 
Sodium Percarbonate is the stuff to use for that job - safe on all metals, degrades to harmless byproducts after an hour, and also works a treat to soften baked-on crud on the oven shelves.

Sterilisers, Chemicals and Sundries - Sodium Percarbonate Cleaner - The Malt Miller | The Malt Miller
View attachment 48603
Actually have some old brewsafe
Which is sodium percarbonate and never used it 🤦‍♂️
will give it a go then use barkeepers friend after
Hopefully that does the trick
 
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