Looking for advice on cleaning keg lines

Remove and replace the lines. It is easier than cleaning used lines of unknown quality. We can help you with the type and length of line if you need. I always advocate for new lines but others clean the lines and that is the usual method.

Pull apart the faucets and clean everything. It is not a complex design but pay attention so you don't lose anything. A good hot water rinse is usually all that is needed. You can use BLC if you like. Mix it exactly as directed. Do not over concentrate the cleaner, it is quite caustic. Really, it ain't ordinary cleaning solution. Be sure to get the vent holes clean. The faucet should be bright and shiny when done. A small brush helps here, and you can get a faucet brush if you look.

You can, but shouldn't, disassemble the coupler. Just use the brush. There is a ball check in there. It's obvious. Remove the ball and it will roll under the cabiner if you're not careful. Run the brush through the liquid stem. Put the ball back and install the retainer. Clean the gasket good too.

Better yet, spend $25 on a new quality faucet. And if you have self closing faucets, then you pretty much need to get new faucets.

Cheers.

 

Self-closing faucets are not inherently evil...just not well made. Feel free to enjoy them at will.

That said, once you experience the sheer joy of a Micromatic 304 Stainless Steel faucet, you won't let your shirttail touch your butt before you order a pair.

The owner of an old Honda Civic likes the sound of how his doors close...until he hears (and feels) the satisfying 'thunk' of a well made European sedan.

 

Yeah, what Ice says.

Pouring yourself a draft beer is a very satisfying experience. Don't know why, it just is. It is much more gratifying than pouring a bottle. So use a good and heavy faucet if you can. With a quality faucet handle, not the crazy black plastic knob they sent to you.

Self closers are kind of gimmicky. They won't ever be used on anything professional. You don't see them being used in an actual bar for a few reasons. There is more junk up in that than there needs to be. All that spring crap is just waiting to fail and a great place for beer to get sticky and unsanitary.

Plus, I can't think of a time I ever thought "This standard faucet is nice but how I wish a spring loaded faucet would remove the burden of having to close it manually."

For now if you are happy that is what matters. But the MM s/s or a nice Perlick forward seal. Hell even a Perlick standard. These are the Cadillac of faucets.
Cheers.

 

Most likely self closing faucets are some sort of cheap metal with a shiny finish. Take a look at your faucets after a few kegs and you'll start to see degradation in the shiny finish. That made my original decision to move to SS Perlicks. After I got them and I took them apart to clean I realized how significantly different a good faucet is vs a cheap faucet. They aren't that expensive in the grand scheme of things and they are a luxury item comparatively.

 

I was fortunate enough to have gotten four new Ventmatic faucets before they were pulled from the market a few years ago for something like $28 apiece, as I recall. These are the original Shirron version of the forward seal faucet. The quality is second to none, IMO. Perlick once sold a very similar design, but, as I understand it, they, too, were stymied by some patent issues. The Shirron version popped up again for a short time about 5 years or so ago, and I bought my son a set. This looks like the same product, but I can't say for sure:

http://kegworld.com/vent-matic.html

 

I was able to grab some of the vent-matic faucets as well and they are still going strong. Someone may have better info but I think the patent/design might have been sold:

https://www.morebeer.com/products/intertap-sealing-stainless-steel-beer-faucet.html

 

I use the standard one available on almost every site that has the mix which you remove the faucet and connect to the tower. I take off the coupler and clean that separately. The mix has a plunger that you depress and the liquid flows through the lines. You then run it a few times with clean water to rinse it out. It probably takes me a half hour or so but its mainly because I spend a lot of time cleaning the faucet while I let the mix sit in the line for a bit.

 

I also use a pump bottle. I take the faucets and couplers off, drop them in a 5 gallon bucket, put the lines in the bucket and back feed a quart of cleaner in each line. Then go back with a quart of clear water in each. Take apart the faucets, scrub and rinse, take the ball and retainer out of the couplers, scrub and rinse. Cycle the probe in the coupler to make sure it is free and moving (really need some pump and probe lube for this, but haven't had it in 5 years). Dry it all off, and put it back together. Half hour for two lines. I replace the lies every so often.

 

I bought an aquarium pump at Harbor Freight a few years ago for around $7, as I recall. I disconnect the line from the keg and connect it to the pump, put the pump into a bucket with, maybe two gallons of hot BLC-water solution, then run a hose from the faucet back into the bucket. I circulate the solution for maybe 10 minutes, then move it to the next line and do the same until all the lines are cleaned. I disassemble the faucets and clean them with nylon brushes. I then flush them with clear water and connect everything back up. (It probably goes without saying that you want to run the 'dirty' hose to the drain for the first few seconds on each line)
Since mine is a homebrew setup, I installed a ball lock connector on the pump so I can connect the lines directly to it.

 

I’ve cleaned taps and serviced them commercially for over 10 years. Since they are new lines just flush the lines when you change kegs or when you let the line sit without a keg for a period of time. Just don’t leave water sitting in the line for any length of time. Drain the line the best you can. As long as you scrub the coupler down and break the faucet down each time you change kegs, you will pretty much stay satisfied.