This is pretty much what I do.
I do close tot hat, but I store with about 1/2 gallon water. But, I’m with ya on the pressure, and if it ain’t still pressurized, you know they need some attention.
Great discussion gize…Thanks!
I’m in the store with a small amount of sanitizer in them under pressure camp.
This is exactly what I do.
If I don’t need them I will wait and clean several kegs at a time with PBW. After they are clean, I sanitize and pressurize and store them that way. They always get a fresh dose of sanitizer before filling.
FWIW, I clean in batches, too. I’ll breakdown all kegs and clean with pbw, replace o-rings yearly, and fill one keg completely with StarSan. Then I push the StarSan through to the next cleaned keg, so there’s no oxygen left in. I store pressurized and upside down. I do not re-sanitize. I have 10 waiting for me right now…
I store kegs clean and dry with the lids on. Keeping them filled with sanitizer seems like overkill to me.
Typically, I just rinse everything with hot water, but once every couple of cycles I’ll give them an oxyclean soak.
Everything is sanitized before use with Iodophor.
I store my ball locks clean/sanitized/dry upright with lid on. After reading this I might start storing pressurized. I very lightly lube o-rings with keg lube and then re-sanitize the kegs with Star San before using.
I’ve tried cleaning cornies with Mark’s keg washer, but went back to breaking them down and giving everything a good soak with PLC or PBW, via the bucket method. I am going to head down to my basement now and use the keg washer to clean and sanitize a bunch of carboys that were only rinsed out, from wine making. It works great for that!
Like most of you I clean mine in batches and leave 5 or 6 ounces of Star San in them. I haven’t pressurized the empty kegs but that is a great idea! I’ve got 4 or 5 already cleaned kegs. The next time I go down to the basement I think I will pressurize them.