CFC prep and maint.

[BrewKnob]

Okay, broke down and bought one.

Here's my plan. Gonna clean it out of the box by pumping PBW and then IDOPHOR through it.

Prior to use I'm going to pump boiling wort through it for 15 minutes prior to end of boil.

Then run hot water from my sink (made an attachment) PBW and then IDOOHOR.

not planing on storing it filled with idophor...this seems like overkill.

 

[TheHopfather]

I use the CFC that came with my Grainfather, it works very well. For initial cleaning I just pumped hot PBW through it for 30 minutes followed by a 10 minute rinse with cold water. I always blow mine out with an air mattress pump after using and cleaning it and store it as is. On brew day I pump boiling wort through it for ~5min to sanitize, works like a charm.

I must say being able to pump boiling hot wort straight into the fermentor in 1 pass is really, really nice. I really like my CFC.

Edit: Standard Grainfather cleaning procedure involves pumping hot PBW through the recirulation pipe and CFC. I usually pump PBW through it for 10 minutes and then pump clean rinse water through for a couple more minutes after that. I just brewed a NEIPA on the weekend and the PBW water coming out of the CFC turned really green really fast.

 

[ancientmariner52]

That will work, but I think it might be more work than you really need to do.

An initial cleaning with PBW, followed by a hot water rinse, is a good idea, to clear out any oils from the manufacturing process. After that, all you need do is circulate the boiling wort, as you planned. After use, a thorough rinse with hot water will suffice. I follow up with compressed air, but carefully draining should be sufficient. As long as you rinse away all the sugars, neither copper or stainless steel will support growth of any nasties.

I'm not any kind of professional cleaning guru, this is just my experience from several year's use of my homebuilt cfc.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I use the CFC that came with my Grainfather, it works very well. For initial cleaning I just pumped hot PBW through it for 30 minutes followed by a 10 minute rinse with cold water. I always blow mine out with an air mattress pump after using and cleaning it and store it as is. On brew day I pump boiling wort through it for ~5min to sanitize, works like a charm.

I must say being able to pump boiling hot wort straight into the fermentor in 1 pass is really, really nice. I really like my CFC.

Edit: Standard Grainfather cleaning procedure involves pumping hot PBW through the recirulation pipe and CFC. I usually pump PBW through it for 10 minutes and then pump clean rinse water through for a couple more minutes after that. I just brewed a NEIPA on the weekend and the PBW water coming out of the CFC turned really green really fast.

Interesting about the green color. That's the color of many copper corrosion products. PBW might be doing something bad if your cfc has copper parts.

 

[TheHopfather]

Interesting about the green color. That's the color of many copper corrosion products. PBW might be doing something bad if your cfc has copper parts.

I appreciate your concern of my CFC but I'm sure its just hop oils coming out. I'm not doing anything to the CFC that the official cleaning instructions don't specify and it does eventually run clear after cleaning.

 

[thekraken]

Was it like a blue/green? That's corrosion/verdigris. Verdigris is toxic. Enough pbw or acids will do that, could be washing off existing corrosion inside your copper or reacting with the copper itself. You would want to keep cleaning until you don't see anymore discoloration.