Tap and line cleaning

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Cleaned my beer lines this morning. The Pilsner line was quite mucky…

 

[gingerneil]

I've just made the same with a selection of fittings from Ali. Should be able to clean all 4 of my lines and taps using a 1.5l pepsi pet bottle of purple cleaner followed by a few flushes of chemsan. Pressure will be from my CO2 tank rather than hand pump. It'll need so little gas that it's probably cheaper than buying the pump! Pretty cheap cleaning setup.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I've made and tested my line cleaner gadget. Decided on the loop so that pressure would be even across the 3 outflows.

Only had to buy the yellow jobs the rest of the bits were lying around. Used a tube with 8.5 mm external but 6 mm internal to help the flow, fiddly to get into the connectors but has helped flow.

 

[gingerneil]

I've made and tested my line cleaner gadget. Decided on the loop so that pressure would be even across the 3 outflows.

Only had to buy the yellow jobs the rest of the bits were lying around. Used a tube with 8.5 mm external but 6 mm internal to help the flow, fiddly to get into the connectors but has helped flow.
View attachment 73917

Interesting that you used the jubilee clips. Have you found that the pressure pushes the pipes off the disconnects without these? I dont have them, and am yet to test the setup! I was only expecting to use about 2-3psi

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Interesting that you used the jubilee clips. Have you found that the pressure pushes the pipes off the disconnects without these? I dont have them, and am yet to test the setup! I was only expecting to use about 2-3psi

Only used the jubilee clips because the tube I used isnt standard beer line so has a thin wall about 1mm so internal diameter is bigger than standard line and on those yellow things it was loose. They would have been forced off. I also have another use for this device as well. I can put my spunding valve on one of the yellows and plug the regulator on another, that way I can tune the spunding valve to the pressure I want to start with. So the system would be subjected to up to 30 psi.
I also got a pile ( lifetimes supply ) of the jubilee clips.

 

[jayk34]

Only used the jubilee clips because the tube I used isnt standard beer line so has a thin wall about 1mm so internal diameter is bigger than standard line and on those yellow things it was loose. They would have been forced off. I also have another use for this device as well. I can put my spunding valve on one of the yellows and plug the regulator on another, that way I can tune the spunding valve to the pressure I want to start with. So the system would be subjected to up to 30 psi.
I also got a pile ( lifetimes supply ) of the jubilee clips.

I'm hoping I don't need jubilee clips as the line and barbs were a pretty tight fit. Will find out on the first use in the next week

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I'm hoping I don't need jubilee clips as the line and barbs were a pretty tight fit. Will find out on the first use in the next week

View attachment 73960

That looks like beer line and quite hard , my tubing is food safe but not beer line and it's flimsy stuff, I don't have a jubilee clip on the line out of the garden sprayer to the same metal ball lock and it's been on there absolutely fine so far with one tap at a time method I was using before.
I think getting the connectors in parallel is worthwhile as in your and my " roundabout" design, if in a long line I think the pressure and flow at the last connector and tap might be less.

 

[gingerneil]

Cleaned mine this morning... 4 disconnects on 3/8 Eva barrier kegland line, John Guest splitters from one disconnect t piece. Pushed 1.5l of purple through the lines and then flushed with chemsan. Took about 10mins and worked perfectly.

 

[YeastFace]

Finally got around to this having ordered some Purple Line Cleaner a month ago and not using it.

Ordered one of these yokes from BrewKegTap.

Already had a JG two-way splitter so could do two lines at a time. Swapped one of the carb caps for a yellow one I already had to avoid any confusion with gas/liquid connections.

Really quick and simple to do. Filled one pop bottle with diluted line cleaner, another with clean water, and a third with sanitiser. Did all three taps in half an hour and assume that will be quicker the more I do it (and I'm sure I have a JG three-way splitter somewhere...)

Only minor annoyance was I'd just fitted some self-closing springs to my taps so had to hold them open.

Will try to do this every fortnight from now on.

Now just to wait for my Irish Red to carbonate and brew another Stout.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I don’t use my taps a lot so flush through after every ‘session’ with starsan so beer is not sat in the lines. With every keg swap I use purple line cleaner. No issues at all so far.

For party taps again flush through with starsan after every use/session.

For all my flushing duties I use a garden sprayer.

 

[soupdragon]

I take it that this purple stuff is the most common product used to maintain beer lines.
I've handled acid and caustic while working in the food industry using all the correct PPE but what's the best (safest) alternative to the purple stuff for home use, something that won't do you any harm if you have an accident with it? I know what sodium hypochlorite smells like and it's not something I'd like to inhale ever again.

So, are any safer options available that do a similar job?

Cheers Tom

 

[hoppyscotty]

Think the active ingredient in purple line cleaner is bleach. The trick is it helps identify if the line is clean…flush with line cleaner if it comes out dirty green it’s dirty. Flush until it come out purple again then leave to soak In the lines for 20 mins or so then flush through again until it runs purple. You could just use your usual pbw/sodium percarbonate and give the lines a soak but you’d miss out on the confirmation of the purple stuff.

 

[Branny]

Used it today on my lines as I thought the faucet brush plug was starting to smell of vinegar. For the past 6 months I've been storing with beer in the line on active kegs or Starsan on disused lines. Surprisingly came out purple straight away. 5 minute soak and no crud. Simple enough job taking no more than 20 mins start to finish. I'll probably go to doing this once a month from here on in.

 

[soupdragon]

I usually use the oxi stuff to clean my kegs and vwp for the rest of my gear. I did email the people at vwp and they assured me it was safe for stainless but not cheap metals. I presume the bits in a disconnect are stainless along with the spring in a party tap but what about the metal bits in the push fits?

Cheers Tom

 

[JockyBrewer]

I usually use the oxi stuff to clean my kegs and vwp for the rest of my gear. I did email the people at vwp and they assured me it was safe for stainless but not cheap metals. I presume the bits in a disconnect are stainless along with the spring in a party tap but what about the metal bits in the push fits?

Cheers Tom

They shouldn't really be touching the liquid. The metal locking teeth grip onto the outside of the beer line.

 

[soupdragon]

They shouldn't really be touching the liquid. The metal locking teeth grip onto the outside of the beer line

Right. I've never investigated the inner workings of push fits. Sounds like they should be ok to run some vwp through

Cheers Tom

 

[AnimatedGIF]

After following this thread last year I today used purple line cleaner on 5 taps on keezer/kegerator and my beer engine, as well as my 2 party taps and jumper line. I must admit, I expected them to be dirtier than they were, although each has only had about 1 or 2 keg loads of beer through them since I made the keezer in July. The beer engine was second hand and I soaked all the parts when I reconditioned it so I think that's why it appeared to be not too dirty.
Took about an hour in total, and would certainly have benefited from using a manifold of some sort.

 

[YeastFace]

Found I did have a three-way John Guest splitter already, so today's clean was much quicker. Hoping to bottle some NHC entries this week.

 

[LeeH]

I’ve been using TFR after my line cleaner ran out. Swapped to that from OXI and haven looked back.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Cleaned my beer lines this morning. The Pilsner line was quite mucky…

View attachment 73509

Do you still do this when you're halfway through drinking a keg? Just planning my cleaning routine for my kegerator

I think I'm gonna make one of those loop things that @RoomWithABrew made.

I have a problem though - neither the black plastic nor the black rimmed stainless steel disconnects will fit on the carbonation caps.
The stainless ones have a notch that doesn't allow them to go on at all, and the plastic ones (despite dismantling and cleaning properly) refuse as well.