Cleaning Options with Smart Keg Couplers

[dougg]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to line cleaning and have run into a couple of situations where customers use what I believe are called smart keg couplers. Anyway, they are the ones with three settings. I believe they are "ON", "OFF", and "CLEAN".

How are these supposed to work in the "CLEAN" position? Do you just remove the keg coupler from the keg, put it in the "CLEAN position, then submerge the coupler into a bucket of cleaning solution mixture then use the CO2 to draw the cleaner up through the faucet?

I'm thinking in the "CLEAN" position the CO2 source is still open, the path to the KEG is closed and the path towards the faucet is open permitting the flow of cleaning solution to the faucet.

Any information including other options will be appreciated. There's one situation I'm looking into where I know I can disconnect the KEGs from a wall mount and connect each line with a separate hose to a cleaning adapter. To do all 8 of these lines together I would need to fabricate 8 short hoses with female beer connectors on each end. Also, this means that the short line between the KEG and the wall wouldn't be cleaned .... only the long line from the wall to the faucet.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Doug

[mctripj]

if it is the coupler i am thinking of, then the "cleaning" position on it simply opens up the output vlave to where there is no restriction. the way that coupler is built, with that three way valve on the top of it, you can shut off the beer flow, set it to run normally with restriction, or set it to clean with no restriction for higher flow rate. if you take the beer and co2 line off the coupler and look thru the top you can see that it is just a ball valve that you can create restriction with.

[dougg]

Originally Posted by mctripj

if it is the coupler i am thinking of, then the "cleaning" position on it simply opens up the output vlave to where there is no restriction. the way that coupler is built, with that three way valve on the top of it, you can shut off the beer flow, set it to run normally with restriction, or set it to clean with no restriction for higher flow rate. if you take the beer and co2 line off the coupler and look thru the top you can see that it is just a ball valve that you can create restriction with.

Thanks for the information. I'll take one of these apart the next time I see one to make sure I know how it works. When I saw these smart keg couplers a few days ago, I started to take the beer and CO2 lines off starting with the beer lines but had a problem getting the beer line loose. The HEX nut didn't break loose because the metal where it was screwed onto was turning with the HEX nut.

There was very little space to use pliers or something to stop the male part from turning with the HEX nut. Instead of potentially having a problem, I decided to do some research before going further. Do you know if there is a special tool or technique to use to disconnect the beer line from these smart keg couplers?

The last ones I ran into may have been different because I didn't have any problem disconnecting the beer lines from them. Or possibly they were the same type but the male part was tighter such that it didn't turn when the beer line was removed.

Thanks!

[mctripj]

i have a little technique for disconnecting those from the lines.
i make sure the co2 is turned off to the coupler, then engage the lever or handle as if i were tapping a keg. mind you this is with the coupler in your hands and not attatched to a keg. then i place the flat of the faucet wrench in the slot on the bottom of the probe and hold the hex nut with a pair of channel locks or another wrench and loosen the nut. this is also handy for making sure the nut is tight when you are reattatching the line.

did that make sense?

[Beer Dr]

Perlick also makes a wrench that fits this fitting on one side and a hex nut on the other