S-Type kegs

[valdid_shaw]

Hi, think this is my first post but have scoured the forum plenty in the last 18-months since becoming a home brewer. Hope someone can help as think I may have caused myself a problem.

I acquired a couple of Sanke style kegs from a fellow home brewer - one 25-litre and one 50-litre. I’ve been using cornies but wanted something larger for a project I’ve got going on. I think they are s-type - they look like the ones with the removable circular clip to get the spear out but there’s no external clip.

I managed to remove the spears following an online tutorial involving part-wedging screwdrivers. Bit of a faff but successful.

Having done this I thought I’d save myself future trouble and bent back the internal retaining clips on the two spears so now they are easily insertable and removable by simply screwing them in and out, and are secured by the screw thread alone.

Seems great - but I’ve been warned by a local cellarman that I’m taking a massive risk. The keg could blow and without the internal retaining clip I’m done for.

So a few questions:-
1) how likely will it blow when screwed in? I don’t doubt the internal retaining clip is there for a reason and is a safety mechanism I won’t have. But realistically, how often is it required? I’d have thought it improbable that the screw thread would fail.
2) if it is a high risk, can I replace the spears of s-Type kegs with the ones which have the external round retaining clip around the connector head? (D-Type I think?) will the thread of the d-type spear be the same as the thread of the s-type?
3) or am I best just writing them off or converting to something else!?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Seems great - but I’ve been warned by a local cellarman that I’m taking a massive risk. The keg could blow and without the internal retaining clip I’m done for.

I doubt anyone here is going to tell you its safe to use them without the internal retaining clips especially when a local cellar man has already told you they could blow.

.

 

[Drunkula]

You get Sanke S with circlips holding them in, too - and with those there's a little maze you have to pull, turn, push, turn, pull to open it - they're not compatible with the screw types. The type you've removed the safety from are the ones that are really easy to open if you put 5ps in the spear and then get your coupler despressed far enough to retract the safety. So you could put them back. Test it with 5ps before reinserting it so you can check it works.

As long as you degas the keg before then I consider it safe - but note this - I mean degas right before you remove it. If you've vented a keg and then took it outside to clean and leave it in the sun the warming of the keg will build up more pressure than you'd imagine.