cloged cfc chillzilla i think

[kennethm]

A friend gave me a 200 dollar copper cfc. Great I know, but the da** thing is clogged with hops. At first there was no flow at all, but after trying a small copper wire, hot water, and an air compresser I finally achieved a small trickle of water. It is currently soaking in water in the hopes of loosening what is in it. Has anybody had this problem/ ideas?

 

[outside92129]

Fill the coil with PBW solution and then boil the thing in your pot?

 

[Runyanka]

Oxyclean soak

 

[eastoak]

a blast of compressed air might do it too.

 

[day_trippr]

a blast of compressed air might do it too.

He said he put an air compressor on it.

But I'm thinking that could just prolong the problem by packing the debris together tighter.

I'd set up a pump to run recycle hot Oxyclean through it until it stops spewing chunks.

And I'd slap that friend up side the haid

Cheers!

 

[LordUlrich]

Recirculate pbw or caustic in reverse as fast as you can. Try to run the recirculation for atleast 30 minutes, an hour would be better, repeat with starsan (acid cleaner of some form)

 

[kennethm]

Thanks soo much for the feedback. I have achieced a small trickle after more hot water and the air compresser blasts. Has been soaking over

 

[kennethm]

Over night, out of oxy. I do plam on getting some pbw and oxy and running them through with a pump. But I think first I'm going to try more hot water and air at the same time using a copper t like an inline oxigenater.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Over night, out of oxy. I do plam on getting some pbw and oxy and running them through with a pump. But I think first I'm going to try more hot water and air at the same time using a copper t like an inline oxigenater.

Soak in hot water / PBW solution, wait an hour, hook up the wort in to your water line, blast it, hook it up to the wort out, blast it from the other direction, repeat as necessary.

 

[badmajon]

Fish tape, just buy a cheap one and snip off the clip at the end. Harbor freight has them for like $10.

 

[wyzazz]

Yep, fish tape or a small plumbing snake. Then a good soak in Hot PBW or even super strength StarSan or CLR should get it clean for you.

 

[samc]

Drain cleaner (lye), wear gloves and goggles and proceed cautiously - shouldn't need very much. Out of all the stuff I put into my plate chiller, the drain cleaner worked the best.

 

[wyzazz]

Maybe Draino would help?

 

[wedge421]

Wow I have yet to clog up my Chilzilla he must have really jammed that thing with hops cause it takes a lot!

 

[kennethm]

Would the drain cleaner wash all out? Drain cleaner in my beer doesn't sound good.

 

[day_trippr]

I'd be concerned about using heavy caustics on the inside of a copper CFC causing a lot of pitting...

Cheers!

 

[wyzazz]

Would the drain cleaner wash all out? Drain cleaner in my beer doesn't sound good.

Should be fine as long as you do a hot Oxi or PBW rinse afterwards.

I'd be concerned about using heavy caustics on the inside of a copper CFC causing a lot of pitting...

FWIW, I've left hot CLR in a keggle overnight (copper diptube) to remove beerstone without any ill affects.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Fish tape, just buy a cheap one and snip off the clip at the end. Harbor freight has them for like $10.

Fish tape is not going to work.

 

[day_trippr]

Fish tape is not going to work.

Ummm.....Okay, that was an apt demonstration of what happens when you don't read the beginning of a thread...

Cheers!

 

[wyzazz]

Fish tape is not going to work.

Fish tape will work just fine with a Counterflow Chiller, what you have pictured is a cutaway of a Plate Chiller.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Sorry, I thought that the Chillzilla was a plate chiller. I was thinking of the Blichmann Therminator instead of the Chillzilla.

 

[kennethm]

Omg this is sooo f****** frustrating. Y'all bear with me I've been hitting the cider a lil too hard. I tried fishing it with a greenlee and ideal fish tape and also a copper wire. The copper wire made it the farthest but anly about 3 feet. I've been running almost boiling water through it with a march pump and I'm getting a decent flow at best. Its a bit more then a trickle but not much. I'm afraid if I run a batch through it, it will get cloged again. Thinking I'm going to have to hit it with some draino or liqued snake. Somebody talk me out of it plz.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]I'm afraid if I run a batch through it, it will get cloged again.

Wow. Don't even think about running actual brew through that thing until it stops barfing up debris! That'd be crazy!

Thinking I'm going to have to hit it with some draino or liqued snake. Somebody talk me out of it plz.

Do what you gotta do, but don't risk a brew to that chiller the way it is...

Cheers!

 

[kennethm]

Well I tried fishing with everything I could get my hands on to no avail. With the first run through of flow easy I noticed a difference, on the second run now in reverse.

 

[wyzazz]

You could try baking it too, plumbing solder melts at around 350-370F so keep it under that.

 

[Lost]

How many psi are you putting into it? Have you tried it again after running water through it?

I would consider lye but I wouldn't use my pump to move it.

 

[Lost]

With the air gun how tight is the seal between the nozzle of the air gun and the copper tube? It should be tight to prevent the air from backing out of the tube. You want positive pressure.

If you are pressurizing that tube, even a few psi, I bet that clog will move.

Edit: you could try plugging the other end and pressurizing. Then pull the plug and see if the rapid pressure drop on the other side of the clog 'sucks' it out.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Have you tried PBW yet? I just noticed on Saturday as I was cleaning up a pretty nasty brew pot that soap, water, and a scrubby did *NOTHING* to get some of the gunk, but PBW took it right off.