cleaning procedure for conical

[mb2696]

i currently ferment in 1/2bbl sankey kegs and am toying with the idea of a fermenator. to clean the sankeys, i just rinse the trub out the best i can and fill it to the brim with PBW. i guess i could do the same with a conical, but was just wondering what you guys do?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

with my conical i remove my ball valves, weldless thermometer, and clean them very well... Its a just in case thing that I don't mind taking extra time to do.

 

[dstar26t]

How exactly do you clean?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

For my conical here is my step by step:
1. Dump out all trub/hops/yeast
2. Remove silicon gaskets on top
3. Remove weldless thermometer and Ball valves
4. Disassemble Ball valves and take them and thermometer and scrub with toothbrush in and out with pbw then soak in star san for 10-20 minutes
5. Clean threads on outlets for ball valves with toothbrush pbw
6. Clean the inside first with pbw using only a sponge and hot water
7. Rinse
8. Add ball valves and thermometer back on and Soak in star san for 10-20 mins
9. Air dry and then put fresh garbage bag over the top... Done...

 

[dstar26t]

Do you clean in place or take it to a sink or outside with a hose, etc?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I have an ideal situation... I have a jacuzzi indoors that we no longer use so I clean it in there... however if you have a shower or outside works just as well.

 

[dstar26t]

"8. Add ball valves and thermometer back on and Soak in star san for 10-20 mins"
Do you fill the entire conical with starsan or just spray it down?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

for me I soak the entire thing but thats usually be cause i will use it as a dual purpose and also soak my hydrometer, test tube, 3-piece airlocks, etc. etc... Being that Starsan is an acid it is best if some contact time is there spraying down works but what is the guarantee that you hit every spot?

 

[dstar26t]

No, I agree. If I get a 14 gallon though, that's a lot of starsan.

 

[mb2696]

ya i was mainly wondering about cleaning the conical itself. parts/fittings could easily be soaked. so are most people just scrubbing down with a sponge? anyone doing cip?

 

[Bob]

CIP is difficult with homebrew-size conicals. For one, you need to fabricate a spray ball (unless someone is marketing one now and I'm not aware of it). For another, you need a pump that will put enough pressure through the spray apparatus to really make it work. I don't know that a March pump - seemingly the standard for home breweries - will effect that type of pressure.

PBW works really well in CIP applications. StarSan, not so much. Foams too much. SaniClean is a far better choice for CIP.

You can probably fabricate a "spray ball" from copper pipe and drop it through the airlock hole in the lid. Just thinking out loud here ... I'd make it from 1/2" copper pipe. 90-degree elbow - one end gets attached to the pump line, the other gets cut to drop down about 4" into the fermenter (depending on size; I'm assuming the 14-gal fermenter here) and gets a U-bend soldered on. A short length of pipe is installed in the open end of the U-bend and has a cap on it. Drill a whole bunch of little holes in the cap so you get complete coverage on the inside of the conical. You want the fluid to shoot straight up and at all angles onto the lid, so it gets the lid and flows down 100% of the straight sides. Pull the fluid for the pump input from the very bottom of the conical.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Bob]

Here's a half-assed GIF I just made.

Just gotta get enough pressure to make the thing actually spray.

Bob

 

[mb2696]

bob, that sounds like a great idea...

[URL="https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/sanke-fermenter-conversion-128262/index16.html#post1970599]these[/URL] are able to get decent spray, although going up and over the top of the conical would be more backpressure. or maybe i could use that design as is, with a thinner feed tube going up through the bottom of the cone (dump valve removed). the tubing would have to be relatively thin though, again resulting in more backpressure. i'll have to look into some utility sump pumps to see what they can handle.

as far as sanitizing, i'd be ok with soaking the parts/fittings in starsan and simply spraying down the conical walls/lid with a spray bottle of starsan. but as far as cleaning, i'd have to do a full soak or cip w/ pbw - wiping it down just wouldn't be good enough for me. although i guess if i had a cip loop, i might as well cip sanitize as well w/ saniclean.

i know there are a lot of homebrew conicals out there...how are you cleaning yours?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

not sure if this will help but there is a link on Wortomatic.com that will help you fabricate a a carboy and keg cleaner from a pump and some copper...

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Heated-Keg-and-Carboy-Cleaner

 

[wetzie]

I have a stainless steel 7.2 gal conical and I clean in place. It is smaller than most but usually it is garden hose with 170f pbw water and a green scrubby. Then store 5 gal StarSan in it while sanitizing the other brew items and gaskets. I haven't taken the valves off yet. After 7 batches no prblems so far.