# Taps v Pluto gun. Thoughts?



## jeddog (6/1/14)

I have been using my three taps (2 gold Celli taps and 1 Andale) on my fridge for many years now but recently have used a pluto that stays in the fridge. 

1. The taps seem to gum up and need cleaning far to often. If I only pour from one tap once a week its a dead set pain in the arse having to flush that beer line/tap
2. The taps are warm when you start using them which means foaming
3. The pluto gun keeps cold in the fridge
4. The pluto also stays fresher for longer than the taps
5. I have a gas manifold for the three kegs in the fridge and I don't have pouring issues eliminating the need for me to mess with the flow restrictor on the Celli taps
6. Less mess outside the fridge from dripping.

What are the thoughts of you other brewers?

I might have some gold Celli taps up for some swapping.


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## sp0rk (6/1/14)

I did this for a while because I was too lazy to order new seal kits from Andale for my DA taps
It made the fridge run a lot more due to all the cold air spilling out when I opened the door, but did pour a better beer
I have lock in shanks, when I've finished a session I remove the tap, flick the handle forward and pour some water through it in the laundry sink (next to the fridge), I've got a spray bottle of starsan on top of the kegerator that I quickly spritz in/around the shank to stop it going nasty before my next session
The tap then goes back inside the fridge to keep it cold and I've made some little socks to go over the shanks using some armaflex with one end hot glued closed
Keeps the shanks nice and insulated and the fridge doesn't run as much


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## jeddog (6/1/14)

not a bad idea Sp0rk. 
Still?
By the time I've finished a session the last thing I'm thinking is to remove and clean a tap or more to the point I don't really know when I've finished a session. I think the older I'm becoming the easier I want thing to be. Not that its hard.


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## sp0rk (6/1/14)

If you had taps on a snaplock/fatlock/lockin shank, you could remove them the next day or whatever, throw them in a bucket with some PBW or nappisan for a couple of hours and then inside of the fridge until your next session
I agree it's a bit of stuffing around, but it solves the problems of warm and dirty taps


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## jeddog (6/1/14)

Thanks sp0rk for the input.

Is there any interest in swapping Celli taps for S/S Pluto guns?

I will post in the correct thread soon.


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## beerbog (6/1/14)

Perlicks. No gum. :icon_drool2:


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## GalBrew (6/1/14)

Slightly OT, but I keep a pressurised keg full of starsan at the ready and flush my lines and taps after each use. Takes 5 minutes even after a few pints and eliminates tap sticking. Either way I don't think a Pluto gun is going to change anything. I would much rather use a celi tap than a Pluto gun.


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## jeddog (6/1/14)

But the Pluto has worked faultlessly for the last 4 month and the Celli's have given me so much grief. :unsure:


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## GalBrew (6/1/14)

When I 'turn on' the beer from my kegerator, I flush out the lines with cold beer which pretty quickly cools the tap down. I also pull the pressure release valve on the kegs to make sure it is at serving pressure and this reduces any foaming issues from the first pour.


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## Edak (6/1/14)

Perlick 545, pour slowly to cool trap then speed up. No waste and forward sealing is so easy to keep clean!


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## MastersBrewery (7/1/14)

I have Perlick 545's and have had no dramas with gumming up, though I do like the idea of snap locks. The brew assistant turned 3 yesterday and before he's in high school I want to have figured out how to lock down the kegs, this seems the easiest way.
I'd keep the taps and do as sp0rk suggested
cost $65 per tap plus postage.... will start saving yesterday? :unsure:


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## ajmuzza (7/1/14)

I've been using a pluto for the last month, saving to buy some taps. I've pulled the gun apart once and its gets flushed with PBW and Starsan when I clean my kegs. The gun pulls perfect beers. The only issue I find is that opening the keezer means that you're introducing warm air which means it cycles more frequently (which probably negates one of the benefits of a keezer v kegerator).

I'm in a similar boat in that one keg might not get pulled for a week. I didn't realise the whole cleaning thing with taps was such a big issue.


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## QldKev (7/1/14)

Keep a glass of water and a 20ml syringe on the fridge. At the end of the session just squirt some water up into the tap and you need to clean the taps a lot less.


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## DJ_L3ThAL (7/1/14)

I've got the cheap Brumby chrome taps from Keg King and the first keg I had through it the tap gummed up (I too will only pour beers from it on 2-3 nights per week and sometimes only a couple of beers).

If I pour 20-30mL first then let it sit the tap cools down within a few seconds to eliminate the foaming from first pour.

After the first gumming I pulled the tap apart, soaked in PBW, rinsed and then applied food grade lube to the contact components and seats within the tap. It did gum up again, but when I next cleaned/flushed my lines the tap came good so I think the lube is the key to ensuring it does not need disassembly at each line flush (I assume eventually it will but at least Ill get a few kegs/months our of the tap before I need to). Happy to disassemble and clean taps/lube them once or twice a year, it's by far the least labour intensive part of brewing.

I also have a starsan spray which I spray up the tap when I am finished with it (TWSS).


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## jeddog (8/1/14)

Thanks for the ideas fellers. I might have to have a rethink about how to approuch this delema.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (8/1/14)

I had some curly hose picnic style taps inside my fridge (when I was living in BNE).

Not a problem with them in the 18 months or so I had the kegging system. I'd wash the tap (and the beer lines inside the keg), by filling with napisan and water, light layer of CO2 (enough to put some pressure in it) and pour through the lines).

Never had to pull it apart.

Always a good pour, and I could control it (soft pour to 'foam up' and decarbonate English beers served on the same lines as APA, one-motion pour for higher carbonated beers).

I'll be going that way again, when I get a new kegging system. It worked and whilst not as glamorous as the good taps, it works and is cheap.


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