Combo keg/bucket/carboy/KETTLE washer - need advice please

[ILMSTMF]

Yeah, I want to clean ALL of those vessels with the same setup. :-D

Top priority is something to wash the corny keg through the posts. I don't use the carboy much so bucket would be next most important to be able to wash. Thank you, but I am tired of scrubbing the bucket by hand; hence the build. And yeah, same remark about the kettle. Problem there is that, at 16.5" diameter, it's wider then a typical bucket. Not sure how I would accomplish that.

I wouldn't mind getting a CIP ball for this build. I am not handy but can probably screw threaded fittings together. Glue / cement? I'd rather not use it if I can fasten parts together another way.

Thank you in advance!

 

[eric19312]

I use Mark's keg washer for most of that
https://www.kegwasher.com/

It cleans my buckets, kegs and speidel 60L fermentor. I think the fermentor is 15.75" diameter and is about maximum diameter vessel the thing could handle.

The pump does a decent job, maybe you could do better with higher flow and a CIP attachment instead of just the upward spraying nozzel but it does the job for me. Only challenge I've had with it was getting krausen ring off carboys. Still need some sort of rag or sponge I find working with PBW as a cleaner. Maybe some stronger cleaner would do better but this does a decent job.

You can certainly DIY but I see these things on sale pretty often for about $80 and think the design of the basin alone probably justifies the cost. The beauty of the basin is that you are able to run the pump non stop with only about a gallon of cleaning solution. The advantage of the low volume of cleaning solution is the ability to work with pretty concentrated solutions without spending all of your kid's college money on PBW. The other attachments including in the hose adapters are also nice to have although I've added a couple along the way to accomodate flare fittings etc. I use the pump with a flare fitting to clean my beer lines in my keezer.

 

[govner1]

+++1 on the Marks Keg washer. You can also get an adapter from Bobby at brew hardware the let’s you connect two liquid disconnects and you can use it for cleaning kegerator lines.

 

[ILMSTMF]

I am still interested in building something to wash all gear. Washed a bucket by hand last night and it reminded me of what a time hog that process is. Any suggestions for build plans? Thanks.

 

[Veets]

If you search the forums for Superior Pump 91250 you'll find a few ideas.
I made one using a 360 degree CIP spray ball with 1/2 inch threaded fitting from eBay (Exa-Spray-0102), one of those pumps, and some pvc fittings. I put the rig in a 2.5 or 3 gallon bucket (with lid and handle) from Home Depot, and drilled a bunch of holes in it. Had to cut an opening in the lid for the vertical pvc piping coming up out of the pump, and the handle and cord bits on the top of the pump. Now I just put a gallon or two of water or cleaning water in a 5-gallon bucket, drop in the pump contraption, and lower a corny keg over the CIP head and plug it in. I usually let it run for 15 minutes or so, and it's spotless.

 

[day_trippr]

I have a Mark II and while it does a good job on kegs with hot water and PBW it's not great at large vessel with serious dried krausen in it. It might work on my glass carboys if I was willing to thermal shock TF out of them with the same hot water I use for kegs, but I'm not.

Hence I still clean my carboy by hand one way or the other [one way: fill with tepid water with two tablespoons of Oxyfree and let them soak for a few hours to overnight, at which point they're pretty much rinse, dry, and store; or the other, a gallon of tepid water with a half tablespoon of Oxyfree, a carboy brush for a couple of minutes, followed by a rinse]

What's needed is some actual blasting force to knock the crud off the sidewalls of a bucket or carboy. Easily done for the former - a decent size sump pump with a riser to a spray ball will do that. Not so easy for a carboy - can't fit a decent size spray ball through the neck...

Cheers!

 

[mongoose33]

I am still interested in building something to wash all gear. Washed a bucket by hand last night and it reminded me of what a time hog that process is. Any suggestions for build plans? Thanks.

I have the Marks II as well. I used it for a long time to clean plastic fermenters and, while it did a pretty good job, I always needed a few swipes with a wet paper towel to get the krausen ring clean.

The same would work for a fermenter bucket.

But I think there's a more serious issue here: if one wants to brew, one needs to be at peace with cleaning. That's just how it is.

Here's an interesting thing: I now have a Spike CF10 conical fermenter. Love it, but what it does is make cleaning more time-consuming. I used to be able to clean a plastic BMB fermenter in about 5 minutes; the conical is 30 minutes at least, especially if I remove the valves and such and soak them separately. I do use a CIP ball, but I have cleaning w/ hot water and PBW, then a really good rinse, then sanitizer.

It's the cost of brewing with this equipment. Yeah, I wish it was easy to clean all this stuff. The cost is longer time spent cleaning; the reward is the beer.

 

[Baglorious]

If you wanted something big enough to handle buckets (or something with a 16.5" diameter)... the solution is to build a DIY washer (similar to the many that are out here) and just use a bigger exterior bucket, or a rubbermaid tub.

If you have an "old school" keg tub, that would work. Something like this:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ZORO-SEL...Qni51_2ao1_qTn4MIURhRG1a-Is-Fc_0aAo-EEALw_wcB

You can fashion the top/rack in some manner for the keg/bucket/whatever to sit on. An idea that just came to mind would be a charcoal grill grate. Weber makes one with a removable center section. That would be perfect... but they're probably $40 new. (Hole might be too big for some uses?)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044EQM9Q/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I'd probably suggest finding a stainless grate of some kind, and just snip enough of the bars with bolt cutters to make a hole in the middle for the shaft of your cleaner. (Not like weight is going to be that much of an issue.)

Or fabricate something out of PVC, as I did... just on a bigger scale. PVC is so easy to work with, and stupidly cheap. (I did spend $20 for a ratchet PVC cutter... which makes the whole tinkering process easier and fun.)

Here's a pic of mine.

 

[ILMSTMF]

Here's a pic of mine.

View attachment 611650

All good stuff, thanks!

I meant to update the thread. Search here on HBT, to put it nicely, leaves something to be desired. But, someone finally linked to a thread I've bookmarked. Ultimately will do a build based on this:


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/scrub-master-3000-version-2-0.481451/

 

[TexasGuy]

Hi guys. I used both a Mark II and a purpose-built washer (one cleans, the other rinses). That said, I just got my first 10-gallon kettle, and it is 1/2" too wide for the Mark II.

Question: Any thoughts on how to funnel water back into the Mark II basin? I'm not willing to give up the Mark II basin for the sheer fact that I can do all my concentrated cleaning with just a gallon of PBW solution.

Also, for those of you who are still wiping your Krauen rings, try putting an immersion circulator into PBW solution to maintain 110 degrees. I get crystal clear carboys with a 45-minute heated wash.