Kegs Locking style

Thanks. I have thought about doing something similar (with regular cornies), but just can't seem to bring myself to use all that CO2 for cleaning. I'm sure it's pennies, but it must be a mental block.

This one worries me a little. I wonder if this is a fluke, or if one out of four kegs can be expected to have a problem like this. At this point I'm thinking I'll just be pragmatic, and switch to the new kegs if/when I actually have to.

 

You can have the full keg higher than the empty keg and use gravity for almost all of the tranfer. Here is how. You need jumpers for the beer side and gas side. Start the transfer with CO2 (have the lids on both and sealed). Pull the CO2 and install the gas jumper. Gravity does the rest, you end up with liquid in the lower keg, and gas in the higher keg. It takes longer, but you can do other jobs in your brewery.

 

Again. I use my sump pump to clean my corny. It feeds both in and out connections. When I'm cleaning the ones with a rubber handle I use a lid that I converted. I removed the pressure valve and installed a hose so the water doesn't cascade out and down the sides. The PBW was reacting w/the rubber and making it soft. I didn't want rubber water running through the corny.

 

I pretty much use the same method, but clean mine 1 at a time right after it kicks without a jumper. I let the oxyclean sit overnight and use the Starsan again for racking the next time. I make sure to vent liquid out of all connections. A 20 # CO2 tank used just for pushing Starsan seems cheap enough (costs $5 more to fill than a 5#). Has worked for 2 years anyway.

Apologies to OP for thread jack

 

More apologies for thread jack...
I was at my LHBS, talking to the guy, he said that it was the pin lock that's getting harder and harder to get, and the ball locks that are more and more available.
I got an email today from Midwest saying the opposite, and I saw an email about a four-pack of ball lock kegs for pretty cheap.
So, who's right? is it the ball locks that are basically going away or the pin locks?

 

It seems to me that the ball-locks are looking worse than a few years ago. I'm just getting the new ones. The ones with the rubber bottom are better than the all metal ones. None that I've seen have the rubber top.

My LHBS said the ball-locks are drying up. But frankly it could be both and I don't see why the pin-locks the used pin-lock market wouldn't be in jeopardy too.

 

Your LHBS guy has it backwards. Shocking.