Ball lock valves

[AzOr]

quick q;
I have an Igloo mash tun with bazooka screen attached to a ball valve-
In between batches, should I store it with the ball valve open or closed?

Thanks

 

[Sammy86]

quick q;
I have an Igloo mash tun with bazooka screen attached to a ball valve-
In between batches, should I store it with the ball valve open or closed?

Thanks

Normally, I would say it doesn't matter...but I guess that depends on where you are in the world and where you store it.

I always closed mine out of habit while cleaning and then stored in the basement but I'm sure others will chime in.

TLDR/ I don't think it matters

 

[day_trippr]

I have no idea what's the "right" thing to do but after the brew-day clean-up I leave all of the ball valves open...

Cheers!

 

[Robert65]

Yep, I leave everything open between uses. No need to provide potential hiding places for nasties.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I leave my valves half way open.

This allows the inside of the mechanism to dry.

 

[Bobby_M]

I leave my valves half way open.

This allows the inside of the mechanism to dry.

Agree

 

[Robert65]

Well isn't that clever...

 

[AzOr]

Thanks to all.

The reason I was asking is that I have noticed when storing open I notice quite a bit of friction when closing.

 

[kh54s10]

Out of curiosity, I went to look - all of mine are closed. Never thought about it before, but half way makes sense.

Unless you store your equipment somewhere that small critters could find it the doorway to a nice home.

I once started the boil and a lizard came out of the valve when it started getting hot. My rig is on my back porch here in Florida.

 

[Robert65]

Out of curiosity, I went to look - all of mine are closed. Never thought about it before, but half way makes sense.

Unless you store your equipment somewhere that small critters could find it the doorway to a nice home.

I once started the boil and a lizard came out of the valve when it started getting hot. My rig is on my back porch here in Florida.

I store mine in the basement under the stairs. I learned long ago, before using, take a quart or two of water and flush out the spiders.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Mine are closed. I'm in no way advocating that's the "right" way. Just that's where mine landed right before putting it away. I don't have any issues with nasties or sticking valves.

 

[grampamark]

I disassemble the valve, clean and sanitize the parts, then vacuum seal them, disassembled. I clean and sanitize the cooler, stuff a large, microfiber blanket which I have irradiated in the microwave, inside the cooler, along with the sealed valve components. I then double bag the cooler in 30 gal. trash bags (sanitized, of course) and store in a climate controlled room. This only adds a couple of hours to each brew day, but the peace of mind is worth it.

 

[firerat]

I disassemble the valve, clean and sanitize the parts, then vacuum seal them, disassembled. I clean and sanitize the cooler, stuff a large, microfiber blanket which I have irradiated in the microwave, inside the cooler, along with the sealed valve components. I then double bag the cooler in 30 gal. trash bags (sanitized, of course) and store in a climate controlled room. This only adds a couple of hours to each brew day, but the peace of mind is worth it.

 

[kh54s10]

 

[AzOr]

I disassemble the valve, clean and sanitize the parts, then vacuum seal them, disassembled. I clean and sanitize the cooler, stuff a large, microfiber blanket which I have irradiated in the microwave, inside the cooler, along with the sealed valve components. I then double bag the cooler in 30 gal. trash bags (sanitized, of course) and store in a climate controlled room. This only adds a couple of hours to each brew day, but the peace of mind is worth it.

You wanna come over to my place? I have a few projects in the garage...

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

I store all of my mash tun's and fermenter's with ball locks in the open position. I also leave the lids off. I made a mistake a few years ago when I left the lids on. I hadn't let the mash tun dry completely. Came back to that a few weeks later with a case of black mold. Some scrubbing and a Star-San soak solved the problem. Wasn't going to learn that lesson again.

 

[Spartan1979]

I tend to close them as I sometimes forget to close them before running water/wort into my vessels.

 

[AzOr]

For those of you in Florida- make sure these don’t get into your mash tun. Not sure iguana beer is something I’d try.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cn...guanas-florida-overpopulation-trnd/index.html

 

[RocketBrewer]

I leave my valves half way open.

This allows the inside of the mechanism to dry.

Many brewers don't realize that there's a cavity around the ball that gets liquid in it while opening or closing the valve, but is sealed off whenever the valve is all the way open or closed. This cavity can get pretty nasty if it doesn't get flushed and dried properly. When cleaning up after a brew, I always flush the valve thoroughly with the valve 1/2 open and leave the valve in that position to dry. A shop vac can help get some of the water out too, once again 1/2 open. periodically I still take the valves apart for a thorough cleaning. If you haven't taken apart your valves, you may be shocked how nasty they can be inside. One more tip, if cleaning multiple valves, keep the parts to each separate from each other as the teflon cups on either side of the ball can be different thickness'. I disassembled about a dozen to clean once and had a devil of a time getting them all pieced back together right. There were a couple I never could get to seal up completely again.

 

[Robert65]

If you haven't taken apart your valves, you may be shocked how nasty they can be inside.

Truth! One of the best decisions you can make is to use 3 piece valves, which makes taking them apart for cleaning as often as you like a real breeze, without having to remove them from the equipment. @Bobby_M sells really nice ones. Just sayin'.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I repeatedly open and close my ball valves while circulating my cleansers and rinses so they get into the ball valve mechanism cavity. Combined with heat I don't feel the need to open and clean the hot side valves.

If I used stainless valves on the cold side I definitely would open and clean them.