Coil Cleaning

[ZmannR2]

I'm buddies with a local brewery owner here in Corpus and he was telling me last week he switched to natural gas and was so glad to because it was getting tiresome cleaning the coils in the large kettles. Said they would scrub n scrub and it had become a pain.

This first brew I did worked great but I also noticed my coils needed a good scrub. It wasn't too terrible though and PBW got it off fairly easy. But it has me wondering if over time it gets worse.

Anyone have any tips or "tools" you use for your set up?

 

[BlkWater_brewer]

Used both setups and one isn't any easier than the other. We undo the clamps on the elements and set them into a bucket of cleaner after each use. It's only a 4bbl with 4 elements but it adds maybe 5 minutes. If you don't regularly clean them it will build up. But there is a difference between build-up and normal discoloration.

 

[LarMoeCur]

My coils are petty flexible. I just run a green scrub pad in between the coils, rinse, and done. Takes about 2 minutes when cleaning out the boil kettle. Every 5 or so batches, I'll run hot PBW through the pumps. More to clean the pumps then the kettle and coils. But, after about 20 minutes of holding the PBW at temp the boil coil looks brand new. I try not to do it to much because I've heard it may cause cracking in sight glass.

I've never cleaned my HLT coil. It just heats water.

And here I thought I was the only electric brewer in Corpus.

 

[rudylyon57]

I'm buddies with a local brewery owner here in Corpus and he was telling me last week he switched to natural gas and was so glad to because it was getting tiresome cleaning the coils in the large kettles. Said they would scrub n scrub and it had become a pain.

This first brew I did worked great but I also noticed my coils needed a good scrub. It wasn't too terrible though and PBW got it off fairly easy. But it has me wondering if over time it gets worse.

Anyone have any tips or "tools" you use for your set up?

A local brewery with a 10bbl electric system made s stand of vertical pvc pipes filled with PBW (guess). They soak elements submerged in these pipes to remove scale and gunk. Works well for "straight"elements but not for "S" shaped ULWD types.

 

[ZmannR2]

My coils are petty flexible. I just run a green scrub pad in between the coils, rinse, and done. Takes about 2 minutes when cleaning out the boil kettle. Every 5 or so batches, I'll run hot PBW through the pumps. More to clean the pumps then the kettle and coils. But, after about 20 minutes of holding the PBW at temp the boil coil looks brand new. I try not to do it to much because I've heard it may cause cracking in sight glass.

I've never cleaned my HLT coil. It just heats water.

And here I thought I was the only electric brewer in Corpus.

Lol!! Hey dude what’s up? You with Lorelei or Rebel Toad? I was speaking with Corey from Lazy Beach in my post.

I’m really liking how our city is shaping up in local breweries. Been fun to watch!! Just sad I’m late to the party...I would have loved to be involved....maybe one day!!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[LarMoeCur]

Lol!! Hey dude what’s up? You with Lorelei or Rebel Toad? I was speaking with Corey from Lazy Beach in my post.

I’m really liking how our city is shaping up in local breweries. Been fun to watch!! Just sad I’m late to the party...I would have loved to be involved....maybe one day!!

Thanks for the advice!

We need to talk over some beers! Long story short. I'm still active duty military. My plan was to retire (got 18 months left) and open a brewery here in Corpus. I drafted my first business plan about 7 years ago. At that time there were NONE! I cried every time a new one opened reducing the market shares. Now to the point where I think the market is saturated. My wife wants to move to San Antonio or DFW and open a brewery.

 

[SanPancho]

if you're friends with brewery owner i'd advise you to get a hold of some of his acid wash/rinse.

helps get rid of beer stone and other deposits that discolor and lower efficiency. in mash/brewkettle/HX you want to acid rinse first, then alkaline wash. cold side its the opposite.

alkaline can get your gear clean, but eventually there'll be a film on everything. thats when you need the acid. we're kinda lazy and only do it when necessary. but not the elements, they always get the good treatment.

 

[ZmannR2]

So toss in some BLC first, then some StarSan after that?

 

[ZmannR2]

We need to talk over some beers!

Damn straight! Fridays at Lazy Beach! I’m there

 

[augiedoggy]

So toss in some BLC first, then some StarSan after that?

star san is far from being an acid wash...it wont clean much of anything.

 

[SanPancho]

So toss in some BLC first, then some StarSan after that?

id guess you'd have to use star san at a very expensive concentration. and even then not entirely sure it would work.

acid rinse/wash is typically nitric or nitric/phosphoric acid mix. cant recall. but not the same as star san.

birko version is called ultra niter, or acid brite? 5 star chems is called acid #2 i think? i get them all confused.

ask your buddy what he uses.

 

[ZmannR2]

Ya this new SS Brewtech kettle said it recommended an acid wash for passivation:

Passivation: It’s good practice to periodically passivate all stainless steel equipment with an acid based solution to establish a uniform passive oxide layer that will maximize corrosion resistance. Following the pre-clean step, fill the kettle with Star San at a concentration of 1 ounce per gallon at 70-80°F for 30 minutes. Moving forward, for best stainless performance, passivation should be performed at least once a year or anytime you believe you may have inadvertently scratched the surface.

but like you said that sounds expensive if I need to fill the whole thing

 

[DemonsRun]

Ya this new SS Brewtech kettle said it recommended an acid wash for passivation:
but like you said that sounds expensive if I need to fill the whole thing

You could try a Citric Acid Passivation. 4% Citric Acid @180F for 120 min.

there is also a commercial product CitiSurf $$$- that has some other anti-corrosive agents added.

And If your water has high levels of chloride it could counter the passivation process.

here is a long PFD of studies on Citric acid passivation by NASA
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110001362.pdf

 

[SanPancho]

Ya this new SS Brewtech kettle said it recommended an acid wash for passivation:



but like you said that sounds expensive if I need to fill the whole thing

not talking about passivation. totally separate. although similar chems. the acid wash gets protein scum, beer stone, etc. off that the alkaline cant remove.

passivation is to lay down a new stainless layer. the scum can still stick to the layer, it just wont be able to penetrate and interact with the metal underneath to rust, oxidize, etc.

 

[augiedoggy]

I clean my elements with bar keepers friend and a white scotch brite pad... passivates it as well.