Anti Tamper Micromatic Regulator - pulling apart?

[pcqypcqy]

I got beer in my regulator. I know, I know - new to kegs, rookie mistake, will buy a check valve.

Most advice I've read in other posts here suggets pulling apart and cleaning asap. However, it seems that this is a newer version of the Micromatic that has an anti-tamper cover over everything, meaning I can't access anything to pull apart. Is it just a matter of tearing this thing off?

Do I need to? As soon as I did it, I blew all the beer out with a heap of gas, let it warm up, blew it again.

I then opened every valve I could manage and washed with water, then blew it again with the gas. I also then charged an empty keg, and lowered the pressure on the regulator to blow the gas backwards through the regulator and out the same relief hole that the beer came out.

I was thinking of backwashing some sanitiser through it (similar to how I did it with the beer), and then forcing the gas backwards through the regulator again.

Any thoughts (other than buying a check valve)?

 

[MHB]

I think you have two options, if you do want to pull it apart, which I would because based on experience cleaning it properly is a very good idea.
Where the key fits in to adjust the regulator it looks like there are a couple of slots where you could put the points of some small or needle pliers and unscrew the cover.

The other option is to grab the bottom of the chromed cover with a large pair of multigrips and unscrew it from there - bound to leave marks on your new reg.

What I usually do is clean the internals with an electrical contact spray cleaner (residue free) and spray some into the stem where the reg joins the bottle and press the little button to clean the needle and seat.

If you don't clean the reg properly there is good chance it will rust internally, also that you might get some infections later.
Mark

 

[Darrens]

I had the same issue with my Keg King Regulator mate, I got beer up into mine and it wasn't working well... I just put poured some sanitizer through it then put the gas through the lines . Has worked a treat ... Working well at the moment .
Regards Darren.

 

[pcqypcqy]

Cheers for the advice. I'm reluctant to pull apart a brand new regulator (literally the first keg I was carbonating when this happened), but I'm also reluctant to let this problem fester to the point of the internals rusting and becoming useless. What to do, what to do...