uberg33k
Well-Known Member
So this all came about because I was in a hurry in my last brew day and used muslin instead of fine mesh bags for some hops pellets. They melted into the pot and ended up partially clogging my plate chiller. No big deal, I think, I'll just back flush it with hot Oxy. That seems to clear out or so I thought. Flash forward a couple of weeks and I'm prepping a few days in advance for my next brew day. I happen to put the plate chiller on it's side while doing something else and come back to find a puddle of green ooze. WTF? I cycle between letting it sit filled with hot Oxy and backflushing it. Every time produces more gunk. Ok, time to bake it. When I unscrew the QD's off it, every single thread has some level of brown in it. This leads me to unscrewing every fitting off my kettle and pump, disassembling the pump head, and disassembling the ball valves. Brown film everywhere. It's not a lot, but it is pervasive. I'm not sure how, since all threads are wrapped with 5-10 turns of teflon, I never saw any leakage, and I run hot Oxy through the system for at least 30 minutes after every brew day, but it's there. So after a lot of scrubbing and baking parts, I think I'm back to clean, but I'm officially over it. I'm sure the brown film I found wouldn't bother most people, but I'm too OCD to let it go. I used to think triclamps were overkill, but now I see why people opt for them. Tell me about your triclamp gear. I want to know where you got it, how you designed your system, and what you think now that you have it. I'm especially interested in learning your solution to the pump and HEX equipment component since I can find zero pumps and only one chiller with TC connections. Thanks.