I clean with hot PBW and rinse with the hot water that exits it when chilling. I then run sanitizer through it to store. I then blow mine out with an air compressor. When I brew I recirc with my pump the final 15 minutes of the boil. If I didn't have a pump, I would slowly drain sanitizer through it. I've not had any issues with this process. I did coil a 12 gauge copper ground wire around the outside of my chiller tube. Mine is 1/2" copper tube inside 1" rubber hose. It did make it more efficient, but I bought a small submersible pump that made the biggest difference. I freeze gallon jugs of water and mix it with water in a kiddie pool. I pump ice water through the CFC and can chill my 20 gallon batch in literally minutes, even in summer.