Pump for 15.5 gallon keg CIP?

[vonZwicky]

Hello all. I'm looking for advice on the choice of pump to handle the following duties: 1) move ice water through future plate chiller, 2) power a cip system for keggle & keg MLT, and most importantly 3) generate enough pressure and flow to clean the inside of full sized sankey keg (inverted, dip tube installed).

I already own a March 809, which I'm very happy with, but I think this second pump will require a little more power. I'm leaning towards the march AC-3B-MD. Would it be powerful enough to cascade the entire interior surface of a 15.5 sankey? Anyone out there use this pump for this purpose?

 

[PintoBean]

I would think so. It has a rated head of 20.5 ft, and the only head you'll have to overcome is the vertical distance the water travels up into the sankey. What are you using to disperse the water inside of the sankey? Do you have a spray ball attached to a spear or something?

 

[vonZwicky]

If I were to use a spray ball, I'd be fairly confident in the pump's ability, but I'd like to be able to clean without removing the dip tube, i.e. using the pump to cycle pbw through a coupler and using the dip tube itself as the spray mechanism (the way kegs are professionally cleaned). Since there is little restriction on the end as there would be with a spray ball, I'm not sure there would be enough pressure to generate adequate spray.

 

[vonZwicky]

Both of my sankey's have threaded valve stems, which are a snap to remove. I use them for fermentation and serving. So far I've been using the overnight pbw soak to clean them. I may wind up using the spray ball technique if I don't think I can make the other method work economically.

 

[PintoBean]

If I were to use a spray ball, I'd be fairly confident in the pump's ability, but I'd like to be able to clean without removing the dip tube, i.e. using the pump to cycle pbw through a coupler and using the dip tube itself as the spray mechanism (the way kegs are professionally cleaned). Since there is little restriction on the end as there would be with a spray ball, I'm not sure there would be enough pressure to generate adequate spray.

Yeah, that's a good point. Looking at the pump curve, at the head pressue you'll be at, you'll be pumping between 9-10 gpm, but the restriction of going through a coupler will up that head pressure, threfore reducing the flow of the water. It's hard to say that it will have enough flow to come out of the spear with enough force to effectively distribute the water. A slick solution would be to have the spear shortened a tad and a spray ball welded to the end. Would also act a filter for serving like the screens they make to slip over a dip tube in the cornys.

 

[Randar]

I have a DIY keg-washing station using an LG 5.5-MD-HC pump. If you aren't going to use it with boiling water or on the potable water side, there are probably better high flow/pressure options for much cheaper. There was recently a CIP sprayball pressure requirement thread where a guy had a very powerful pump that ran him about 150 bucks and had 2-4 times the PSI rating as the LG 5.5 I have been running.

That said, I dunno how you are going to adequately clean and rinse a sanke without removing the spear. There is no way to normalize pressure (or for water to exit as fast as it's being pumped in). Perhaps I am failing to understand your intentions?

 

[vonZwicky]

... A slick solution would be to have the spear shortened a tad and a spray ball welded to the end. Would also act a filter for serving like the screens they make to slip over a dip tube in the cornys.

That would be pretty slick. I'd be worried about it getting clogged with trub and hops debris during transfers & serving. Would have to go to greater lengths than I currently do to keep trash out of my fermenters.

 

[vonZwicky]

Randar, I've seen some other threads where folks have used relatively cheap submersibles for this. I'd be uncomfortable using one in a, not quite boiling, but hot caustic or pbw solution. I would like to keep my options open for future use on the potable side.

 

[vonZwicky]

Also, I've thought about the flow rate vs. drainage rate. It would require some attention- stopping the pump periodically to allow it to drain, or filling the keg with the desired amount of solution, then cycling, pumping from the gas inlet then back into the dip tube, in which case the flow would be equal. Sabco sells a special CIP coupler for this purpose, with a larger opening on the gas inlet to facilitate flow, but I've seen several claims that a normal coupler works fine.

 

[vonZwicky]

I know that all but the smallest breweries and brew-pubs do not remove valve stems to clean their kegs. Then again, most breweries do not ferment in kegs either (kegs less likely to have gunked on krausen), so maybe a higher level of cleanliness is required for the homebrewer who uses sankey's to ferment. Whatever CIP routine is adopted, I will be removing the valve stem every time for inspection until I've found a system I'm confident in.