Help! Black soot inside chrome elbow tower shank.
I was giving my beer lines/ faucets a much needed cleaning last night and took a Q-tip to the shanks pushing deep into the elbow. One of the three kept coming out pitch black with some sort of soot. Anyone know what this might be? Will I be dead soon?
Also, anyone know where to get a good deal on 100% stainless tower shanks? Good or bad, I don't think I can get myself to drink out of these shanks again.
Posted Nov 12, 2015, 8:54 PM UTC · edited
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My first thought was some sort of an oxidation, but I don't think so. How long had it been since you used that line? Could it be... mold?? Other than the psychological issue, you should be able to clean and sanitize the stainless parts. May want to replace the tubing. Check out my recirc draft line pump. Personally, in this case, I would run solution through, for a good while, without circulating. After you've flushed it well, you can start to re-circulate.
Your post yesterday motivated me get off my ass and clean my lines after a few months. The shank that had the black stuff in it was pouring beer as of three days ago.
I use the same setup you posted to flush 1 gallon hot water per tap. Then recirc hot BLC for 15 mins per tap. The flush with 1gal hot water. That black soot was there after the cleaning cycle in just the one shank.
My lines are in pretty good shape. I use the anti bacterial, silver lined tubing from Morebeer.
I think I will pull the shank out of the tower to take a closer look tonight.