DIY Detailing Keg Build

The keg is the tank. The TMCRAFT listing is a 5-gallon stainless steel ball lock keg with dual rubber handles, which is how you carry it once it is full. Ball lock is the connector style: one post for gas, one post for liquid. The disconnects on this list clip onto those posts.

Treat the finished setup as a portable sprayer for water or wash solution. It is the rig you take to a parking spot, a driveway with no spigot, or a rinseless wash where you want solution on the paint before the mitt. The pump title states 12V, 1.3 GPM, and 100 PSI. Those are the listing's numbers. Stay inside whatever the pump page and the keg page actually rate.

Water or solution sits in the keg. The liquid disconnect feeds a 12V on-demand diaphragm pump. The pump is powered by a portable 12V battery through a DC pigtail, a 2.1x5.5mm male plug on one end and bare wire on the other. The pump output goes to a TeeJet trigger gun or wand, with an adjustable tip as the nozzle. A sling bag carries the battery and the pump. The keg rides on its own handles.

Two disconnect sets are listed because one build only needs one pair. The MRbrew set is the pair to start with: a 5/16 inch gas barb, a 1/4 inch liquid barb, and MFL swivel nuts. The PERA set is the alternative or the spare: gas and liquid disconnects with 1/4 inch barbs and swivel nuts. The barb sizes are not the same on both sets, so match the hose you use to the barbs on the pair you install.

Two triggers are listed the same way. The 22650-PP-1/4 TriggerJet is the short gun, with a 1/4 inch NPT inlet. The 22670-PP-15-1/4 is a TriggerJet with a 15 inch wand and a 1/4 inch female inlet. Pick the one you want in your hand. The 38720-PPB-X8 is the adjustable TriggerJet spray tip. The Flexzilla part is a 1/4 inch reusable air-hose fitting with a swivel (RP900250S) for the run from the pump to the gun. This list does not include a hose.

Fill the keg with water or with a wash solution you already use on paint. Clip the liquid disconnect onto the liquid post and the gas disconnect onto the gas post. The liquid side is the line that feeds the pump.

Set the SEAFLO pump where it can stay dry, and carry it in the sling bag with the Talentcell pack. The pump is 12V, so use the 12V output named on the battery. The SIOCEN pigtail is 16AWG, 3 feet, 2.1x5.5mm male to bare wire. Confirm the plug matches the battery you received, and land the bare wires the way the pump listing tells you to. This page does not assign wire colors.

From the pump outlet, go to the trigger you chose. Use the adjustable tip if that trigger takes a TriggerJet tip, and use the Flexzilla swivel fitting on the 1/4 inch connection. The title on that fitting says air hose. Read the listing before you run wash water through it. Then spray a panel and set the pattern where the fan covers paint without soaking you.

A keg does not make a sloppy wash safe. Grit in the tank, or a dirty mitt after the spray, will mark the clear the same way a bad bucket wash does. Rinse the mitt, and keep the solution clean.

Start with the keg, then one disconnect pair. Keep the second pair as a spare, or buy it instead if you specifically want 1/4 inch barbs on both the gas and the liquid side.

The pump is the SEAFLO 22-series. The battery is the Talentcell pack, and the pigtail is how this list connects them. The bag is for those two, not for the keg.

Choose the short TriggerJet or the 15 inch wand. The adjustable tip is the nozzle. The Flexzilla fitting is the 1/4 inch swivel for the hose you supply.

Follow the pump's ratings and the keg's ratings. The only pump figures repeated here are the ones in the SEAFLO title: 12V, 1.3 GPM, and 100 PSI. Use the listing for duty cycle, fluids, and wiring. This parts list has no CO2 bottle and no regulator. Do not add a gas source the keg is not rated for.

Keep the electrical connections dry. That includes the power bank, the 2.1x5.5mm plug, and the bare-wire end of the pigtail. A joint sitting in the spray, or in a puddle under the car, is how a 12V setup gets ruined. If the battery plug and the pigtail do not match, stop and do not force them together.

Depressurize the keg before you open it. A ball lock keg is built to hold pressure. Use the keg listing for how to vent it and for what you are allowed to put inside.