(apologies if pics are too big. I tried to get them as small as possible. Still got the L's on as far as posting pics go...)
Had a crack at one of these a few years ago. Couldnt get it to seal where the beer line came out. We then moved 3 times in 14 months and project sort of got lost in the mix.
Had a crack again a few months ago. This time I got 4 brewing mates at work to make one as well. They are all Engineers, (whereas Im a toolhard sales guy), so I was able to piggyback on their skills which helped.
We were originally going to cut a plug from a nylon breadboard but engineers being engineers the plans got more and more ambitious and we ended up bribing one of the fitters with some HB to turn us up some nice ally plugs.
Next we needed the valve. My previous attempt had used a valve that I scrounged from a local JAX tyre branch. I was planning on this again but one of the guys mentioned that we use Schrader valves in one of the products we make. DOH !! Ive worked here almost 8 years and hadnt made this connection. The valves are great for this application as well, with a nice flat bottom. Perfect for carbonation caps as well.
Next we needed a way to gas up and decided on the bike pump method. We found this guy on EBAY who does the Innovation ones for US$11.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Innovations-Ultrafl...1QQcmdZViewItem
We did a bulk buy of 5 with him and landed them for US$16 each, a tad under $20 each.
Best bet is to get a few mates together and do a bulk buy with him direct. His email address is
[email protected]. I used PAYPAL. Ordered on a Tues and they were delivered the following Monday.
The cylinder they come with doesnt last too long, so I bought a box of 10 from David Jones, (kitchen ware), for $7.95 which is not a bad price and easy to get. The David Jones ones were the smaller bulbs, so I put a marble and a couple of 5c pieces in the bulb holder which worked well. If you buy one of these CO2 injectors make sure they can take both the threaded and non threaded bulbs.
Last off is the tap. We did a bulk buy from Ross, (Craftbrewer sponsor link above), and grabbed 5 of the picnic taps with the beer line attached. These attach easily to the line out of the original sprayer.
So in summary construction is:
- open top and pull pump assembly out.
- Put in some sort of plug, (can be a cut out section of Perspex or plastic bread board or a fancy turned plug from ally or brass.
- Schrader valve goes in hole in the plug.
- Replace the original poison out line with your new beer out line and tap. (hot water and rubber washing up gloves help here)
- Cut a few cms off the bottom of the dip tube.
- I cut the bottom of the handle out as well so the CO2 injector can stay attached with the handle on as well, (perfect for walking around parties with !!).
Filled with beer, primed, left 2 weeks and it served well. When serving pressure drops and pour gets a bit slow you just give it a quick squirt of CO2 from the injector thingy.
First fill:
First pour
I havent tried to force carbonate with it yet.
Next step is to make one from the bigger sprayer version which I think would be perfect for small batch brews.