Bucket Blaster: Worth it or Gimmick?

[Clint Yeastwood]

I have been cleaning kegs and buckets by hand. It's not a terrible job. It's pretty easy with a Torpedo Megamouth or an All Rounder.

Is it really worth it to get a Bucket Blaster? The idea of standing around doing nothing while something else cleans a keg is tempting.

 

[Broken Crow]

I've got a pump with a QD on a CIP ball I threw together, I put in in a bucket and economize by using 3 gallons of hot PBW to do any of my kegs or fermenters (Including a Sankey with the inner valve-rim cut out) .. my next project is putting a heating element in the bucket to keep the PBW at 130° and make the rinse water a bit hotter. It really does beat the elbow-grease and scotch-brites, but then I am disabled, so having something than can be as effective with less effort is pure gold to me, but if you still have your health you can probably deem it a convenience or a luxury. ...oh, the reason I put the CIP ball and a QD is so that I can use the TC mount in my kettle-lid (normally for the steam-condenser), as a CIP in the kettle as well.

 

[MajorJC]

I bought the FastWasher Rack and I bought the fittings to connect it to my gas and beer posts. It does a great job on kegs and buckets and carboys.

 

[DonT]

I bought one last year. It does a pretty good job... I use hot water and a bit of oxyclean. You may have to get in there after to get some tiny bits, but other than that, it's a work saver.

 

[wepeeler]

I got one from Morebeer and the pump died on the 3rd use! They replaced the entire system, and it seems to be running fine. I've done about 10 kegs total, and I feel like it does a great job. I mix hot water and PBW for the cleaning, then a second bucket with hot water for rinsing. I don't run a cycle for Star San, but rather put a little in the bottom of the keg with water and shake it around.

 

[redrocker652002]

I bought a pond pump from amazon and had a bunch of pvc pipe and put one together for less than 30 bucks. Drilled a few holes in the cap and made a frame out of used pvc. Seems to work pretty well. I can do both my buckets and my keg. I set it for 20 mins, grab a beer and let it do the work. LOL.

 

[tld6008]

I bought a pond pump from amazon and had a bunch of pvc pipe and put one together for less than 30 bucks. Drilled a few holes in the cap and made a frame out of used pvc. Seems to work pretty well. I can do both my buckets and my keg. I set it for 20 mins, grab a beer and let it do the work. LOL.

Great minds think alike, works Perfectly!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

So it looks like I can put something similar together for around $50. I guess the question is whether I'm willing to pay Kegland another $50 for putting it all together and adding the wire stand.

 

[redrocker652002]

So it looks like I can put something similar together for around $50. I guess the question is whether I'm willing to pay Kegland another $50 for putting it all together and adding the wire stand.

Yup, there in lies the question.. LOL. I like doing stupid stuff like that myself, and I added another pvc adaptor to the pump to run my wort chiller into an igloo and recycle the water. Out here in Cali water is at a premium. LOL So, the pump serves as a bucket washer and a re circulation pump for my cooling setup.

 

[tld6008]

So it looks like I can put something similar together for around $50. I guess the question is whether I'm willing to pay Kegland another $50 for putting it all together and adding the wire stand.

Only expense for me was the pump and I'm sure it was less than $20 from Amazon. In fact I also bought a lower volume unit to clean my beer lines and in/out port on my kegs

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Bucket, lid, pump, disconnects, fittings, tubing, clamps... easily $50 for me.

 

[kevin58]

I made my own and it works great. I have made some modifications since I made the video. The biggest is that I now have only have a single piece of tubing that attaches to the out-post.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I have a $20 gift card from a brew supply place. Looks like a good time to use it.

 

[robertz64]

I have been cleaning kegs and buckets by hand. It's not a terrible job. It's pretty easy with a Torpedo Megamouth or an All Rounder.

Is it really worth it to get a Bucket Blaster? The idea of standing around doing nothing while something else cleans a keg is tempting.

I have been cleaning kegs and buckets by hand. It's not a terrible job. It's pretty easy with a Torpedo Megamouth or an All Rounder.

Is it really worth it to get a Bucket Blaster? The idea of standing around doing nothing while something else cleans a keg is tempting.

I have been cleaning kegs and buckets by hand. It's not a terrible job. It's pretty easy with a Torpedo Megamouth or an All Rounder.

Is it really worth it to get a Bucket Blaster? The idea of standing around doing nothing while something else cleans a keg is tempting.


I have been using a drillbrush with 2 extensions for a few years and it works great.

 

[BAF]

I've got a Bucket Blaster. Easy, turnkey solution. It's survived just fine for me for a couple of years thus far.

It lets me do otherbrewing tasks while the cleaning is going, so it's great. It gets my plastic fermenters clean without any scrubbing (so no worries of scratching) and seems to get my kegs clean with little hassle.

 

[KegLand]

I've got a pump with a QD on a CIP ball I threw together, I put in in a bucket and economize by using 3 gallons of hot PBW to do any of my kegs or fermenters (Including a Sankey with the inner valve-rim cut out) .. my next project is putting a heating element in the bucket to keep the PBW at 130° and make the rinse water a bit hotter. It really does beat the elbow-grease and scotch-brites, but then I am disabled, so having something than can be as effective with less effort is pure gold to me, but if you still have your health you can probably deem it a convenience or a luxury. ...oh, the reason I put the CIP ball and a QD is so that I can use the TC mount in my kettle-lid (normally for the steam-condenser), as a CIP in the kettle as well.

We did originally try some off the shelf CIP balls for this product but to be honest all the CIP balls that are in the marketplace at the moment are designed for large pumps. Really in order to drive a CIP ball properly you need about 1 bar pressure and quite a high flow rate. Given that this is the case you might find yourself spending a lot on a chemically resistant pump to pump to this specification.

With the bucket blaster the pump we use is inexpensive, works fine and the jet at the top works better than most of the CIP balls that we tried with the same pump.

 

[BAF]

I second that. I tried a cheap CIP ball that claimed to work at low flow rates, and the jet works much better.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Great minds think alike, works Perfectly!

I have that same pump. I have debated about trying to make one.

I tend to think that by the time I get the "blaster" out of storage, set it up with cleaner, then rinse it out and put it away after, it would have been easier and faster to just clean the keg by hand. Really, it is just a 10 minute job to clean out a keg.

I know that some people set aside their dirty kegs and clean a bunch at the same time, but 1) I don't really like the idea of having dirty kegs sitting around for a month or longer and 2) my problem lately is that all my 10L Torpedo kegs are in use so I would need to clean them right after I empty them.