Long item sanitizer

I fab'd this up yesterday after thinking about it for a little while. I get real annoyed with mixing up larger volumes of Star-San just to sanitize long products. Plus, it will be a great way to sanitize my new Dry hop screen I purchased from StainlessBrewing.com
Picture and shameless plug for a great vendor: (picture came from StainlessBrewing's website.)



Here is my solution:


It is a 4" foam core PVC 3 feet long. Has a 4"-2" reducing coupling then goes to a 2" to 3/4" NPT bushing. PVC 3/4" Nipple joins the valve to the pipe. I already had the valve so that is just what I used. It would be cheaper to probably bushing down to 1/2" threads and use a pvc ball valve.
It holds almost 5 liters of Star-San nicely. I can sanitize longer items half lengths at a time. Let one end soak, then turn it over and soak the other end. What I really like is that I put a hole in the side wall of the tube near the top. I had a hook and some nuts and washers and affixed it to my shelving unit near the brewery. It is mounted at a height so that I can just place an open corny under the valve and drain it directly into the keg.

That looks really handy. I have a dozen or so feet of 6" I need to look at from this angle.

6" would pretty dramatically increase the volume of sanitizer needed to fill it up. I would only use a size large enough to fit your largest diameter item needing to be sanitized. For me, it was that dry hopper. it fits very nicely in there. If I didn't have that, I would have built it out of 2" pipe, but made it about 4 foot long.

An item just like this is used to clean pipettes in the lab, they run about $500 for a set. Nalgene Pipet Washers/Rinsers

Wow!

I use a wall paper tray to sanitize my long items. They cost about $5 at a hardware store like ACE.

It's a good idea.

How does it stay upright? By hanging it?

Depending on how long you intend to store Starsan in that tube, but brass and copper fittings get attacked (dissolved) by the phosphoric acid in the Starsan and gives the sanitizer a strong metallic flavor and odor. Not sure how much would transfer but still worth considering.

I inadvertently cleaned a few brass fittings that way by leaving them soak in Starsan for a few days.

I can even smell the metallic odor from soaking bottle caps in Starsan after half an hour.

these are great, but I just use a 30" wallpaper tray

amandabab said:

these are great, but I just use a 30" wallpaper tray

Click to expand...

Ditto. The most useful accessory I've ever purchased, after acquiring my initial setup. Simple and cheap.

http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-140212/Detail

I've tried to use those as well. They are pretty flimsy when full. I've tried a few.
(Funny thing is, Dad hung wallpaper for almost 40 years. I started working with him any day I wasn't in school when I was in first grade. We never used a "wallpaper tray" lol)
And oh yeah, I don't store the star san in there. I drilled a hole in the sidewall about an inch down and use a hook to hang it from the shelving rack.

Just spray with bottle of star San. Looks cool but might spend alot on sanitizer

Man... It's like 7 cents worth of sanitizer...
I can't trust the spritz bottle to soak the dry-hopper I built this for...

Here's something similar to what I use. Much more sturdy than the wall paper trays and dirt cheap lol:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/203398...&N=5yc1vZbx4rZ12kx&R=203398706#specifications

You can also place a coupler about 1/4th of the way down and add another section of PVC pipe and a cap to just keep the star san in that tube. If you decided to go that direction I would use PVC ball valves and eliminate any metalics just in case. That consequently is exactly how I store my TIG filler rods to keep the clean and moisture free. I just throw a desicant packet in to absorb any humidity that might get in when opened. Doesn't eliminate the need to clean the rods thoroughly prior to use, but makes the task much easier with reduced dust and grime and lack of surface corrosion. A green pad with a dab of lacquer thinner and a quick swipe and your ready to burn it up.

Wheelchair Bob