Cleaning plate chiller

[theQ]

Hello,

I have a 30 plate chiller - I run water and wort thru it.
How do I clean it, the wort has the tendency to build film on it.

I noticed that it's not cooling as it was in the beginning.

When I finish a batch I run cold high pressure water thru it to make sure it's clean and unclogged.

Thanks!
Q

 

[ColoHox]

You should probably use a more intensive cleaning schedule for a plate chiller, especially since it is usually the last thing to touch your cooled beer before the fermenter. You might have clogged plates.

Even after passing 180F PBW through my chiller, I still find debris coming out.

My current method to clean after a brewday is 180F PBW, 180F rinse, 100F Starsan, and rinse. I know, starsan is a no-rinse, but leaving an acidic solution on the copper is not ideal. Occasionally, I will include an alkaline wash/rinse.

Every few brews, I bake the dry plate chiller at 400F for an hour. A surprising amount of junk comes out when I rinse the baked chiller.

 

[helibrewer]

A cold water rinse prior to the cleaner is a good idea. ColoHox's regiment looks good, I have also put mine in my pressure cooker (every 3 brews or so). The 400F oven is a good treatment since it will turn all that crap inside into ash which can then be rinsed out. At least with the high thermal treatment you know everything is dead. There is such a thing as sterile dirt....but no such thing as sanitized dirt.

EDIT: I have ordered NaOH from Duda Diesel so I can make up my own 2% caustic solutions and will start including that in my plate chiller as well as beer line cleaning regiments.

 

[WissahickonBrew]

I blast the crap out of it, reversing directions repeatedly until everything runs clear. Install a double female hose on your utility sink and just keep switching the fittings the hose gets connected to.

 

[theQ]

Right on guys!

I did forgot to meantion that prior of cooling I do run boiling wort for 10-15 minutes back into the BT. THat does 2 things for me aerate the worth and kill bugs that might be in it. Post brew I do run really high pressure water thru it both ways.

I did contact Duda Diesel, the maker, they recommend backing at 350 for 15 or so minutes. They also recommend PBW soak (just fill it with PBW).

That's something I might do, does the baking removes the film ?

THanks all!
Q

 

[Gavin C]

I was wondering if prior to baking the chiller I need to remove the stainless fittings and Teflon tape beneath. Can the tape withstand 350F?

I'm guessing I need to remove the tape although Teflon is resilient stuff.

 

[ColoHox]

I was wondering if prior to baking the chiller I need to remove the stainless fittings and Teflon tape beneath. Can the tape withstand 350F?

I'm guessing I need to remove the tape although Teflon is resilient stuff.

I have read that teflon tape is resistant up to 400-600F (big range). I remove my QD fittings and tape before I bake it. The tape is so cheap, it's not a big deal.

 

[Gavin C]

I have read that teflon tape is resistant up to 400-600F (big range). I remove my QD fittings and tape before I bake it. The tape is so cheap, it's not a big deal.

Thanks for the info.

 

[schematix]

sodium hydroxide - dangerous but effective.

EDIT: I talked to some of the process mechanical engineers at work about this and they said don't do NaOH with a copper heat exchanger. If it's all 304 or 316 stainless then you're good to go though.