domonsura
Beer stuff maker
- Joined
- 13/4/06
- Messages
- 1,669
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Hi,
Well I had occasion to have to remove the spear from a CUB style keg today, and since this can be a slightly frustrating process, I thought I would take some pics to help others out. Please note that I said CUB style keg, not an actual CUB keg. This particular one is a generic un-named keg from Europe. I do not condone theft or conversion of brewery owned kegs, it's a crime, and there are legal ways to obtain kegs even if they are few and far between. The breweries DO prosecute those they find in possession of stolen kegs.
You will need;
A ball point hammer or other similar thing to depress the outlet ball.
A supermarket shopping bag or rag etc.
A large pair of pliers.
Lets start with the untouched keg. Most likely the keg will still be under pressure from what was previously in it. This pressure will at best make a mess when you try to release it, or at worst can be hazardous sending beer/dust and crap everywhere. Wear some goggles just to be on the safe side.
What you will need is a largish ball point hammer to depress the ball in the middle of the coupler connection to release the pressure. This will obviously expel gas, but it will most likely expel stale beer as well, this is where the plastic bag comes in.
.
Take the hammer, and place the ball end on the ball in the coupler.
Cover the hammer and the entire keg outlet with the plastic bag.
Slowly depress hammer to depress the ball. You should hear gas being expelled, probably quickly followed by beer. DON'T PRESS TOO HARD TO BEGIN WITH. There may be quite a bit of pressure in the keg, you don;t want to let it all out at once, you want to do it carefully and slowly so you don't make too much mess.
OK, now the pressure is off, you can look at removing the spear. You will notice a small sir-clip just inside the rim of the coupler. One end of the sirclip will be angled one way, and the other will be angled the other way, Take a sharp object and gently lever the end between the wall of the inlet and the sirclip to get the end away from the edge, out of the holding slot and up.
You can then gently lever the rest of the sirclip out, but take care as this is spring steel, and may pop out as you get over halfway out. Put this to one side. If you are putting this back together (ie, just taking apart for cleaning) you WILL need it.
Now the spear is held in place by some lugs inside the neck of the keg, it will need to be turned clockwise as you look it from above. Spread the jaws of your pliers out, till they sit behind the lugs of the spear, and turn clockwise. This may be a little difficult to turn, and can be assisted by a couple of light taps with the hammer on the pliers and not the coupler lugs themselves. You damage the lugs, and the coupler may not fit/seal properly when you've put it back together. Remember that this is not a brute force thing, if it has to be forced, something is not right.
Well I had occasion to have to remove the spear from a CUB style keg today, and since this can be a slightly frustrating process, I thought I would take some pics to help others out. Please note that I said CUB style keg, not an actual CUB keg. This particular one is a generic un-named keg from Europe. I do not condone theft or conversion of brewery owned kegs, it's a crime, and there are legal ways to obtain kegs even if they are few and far between. The breweries DO prosecute those they find in possession of stolen kegs.
You will need;
A ball point hammer or other similar thing to depress the outlet ball.
A supermarket shopping bag or rag etc.
A large pair of pliers.
Lets start with the untouched keg. Most likely the keg will still be under pressure from what was previously in it. This pressure will at best make a mess when you try to release it, or at worst can be hazardous sending beer/dust and crap everywhere. Wear some goggles just to be on the safe side.
What you will need is a largish ball point hammer to depress the ball in the middle of the coupler connection to release the pressure. This will obviously expel gas, but it will most likely expel stale beer as well, this is where the plastic bag comes in.
.
Take the hammer, and place the ball end on the ball in the coupler.
Cover the hammer and the entire keg outlet with the plastic bag.
Slowly depress hammer to depress the ball. You should hear gas being expelled, probably quickly followed by beer. DON'T PRESS TOO HARD TO BEGIN WITH. There may be quite a bit of pressure in the keg, you don;t want to let it all out at once, you want to do it carefully and slowly so you don't make too much mess.
OK, now the pressure is off, you can look at removing the spear. You will notice a small sir-clip just inside the rim of the coupler. One end of the sirclip will be angled one way, and the other will be angled the other way, Take a sharp object and gently lever the end between the wall of the inlet and the sirclip to get the end away from the edge, out of the holding slot and up.
You can then gently lever the rest of the sirclip out, but take care as this is spring steel, and may pop out as you get over halfway out. Put this to one side. If you are putting this back together (ie, just taking apart for cleaning) you WILL need it.
Now the spear is held in place by some lugs inside the neck of the keg, it will need to be turned clockwise as you look it from above. Spread the jaws of your pliers out, till they sit behind the lugs of the spear, and turn clockwise. This may be a little difficult to turn, and can be assisted by a couple of light taps with the hammer on the pliers and not the coupler lugs themselves. You damage the lugs, and the coupler may not fit/seal properly when you've put it back together. Remember that this is not a brute force thing, if it has to be forced, something is not right.
