New equipment, new cleaning routines

[Snafu]

I'm doing a lot of upgrades right now and its great fun, but thinking ahead to the extra hassles I'll be facing.
1. Added a march pump, how often do these get taken down and cleaned?
2. Added a CFC, I use PBW pretty much exclusively, just cycle this through the CFC? How long? Reverse path?
3. Bought Silicone hose for march pump, same as with the CFC?
4. Bought some of those expensive polysulfone disconnects, ok to soak these in PBW, do you put a dab of o-ring lube on each use?

 

[Coldies]

I'm doing a lot of upgrades right now and its great fun, but thinking ahead to the extra hassles I'll be facing.
1. Added a march pump, how often do these get taken down and cleaned?
2. Added a CFC, I use PBW pretty much exclusively, just cycle this through the CFC? How long? Reverse path?
3. Bought Silicone hose for march pump, same as with the CFC?
4. Bought some of those expensive polysulfone disconnects, ok to soak these in PBW, do you put a dab of o-ring lube on each use?

All these items can pretty much be cleaned in 1 re-circulation with oxy or PBW. I run RIMS and when I'm done brewing I will run hot water and oxy through my system. The pump, RIMS tube, and my hoses and mashtun manifold all get cleaned in-line with eachother. I do this while im cleaning my BK and IC, usually for around 15-20 min. When I use my CFC I bypass the RIMS tube after its been cleaned and will then circulate with my CFC in-line. I collect around 5 gallons of water and fill my MT from the IC water that spits out hot water when I'm cooling my wort , saves water as well.

 

[Snafu]

So you never actually take apart the pump head?

 

[Coldies]

Nope. Although I did about a week ago, only because Chugger sent me a new impellar so I had to replace it. It was clean as a whistle. Looked just like it did when I bought it. Of course if you have constant problems with keeping prime or stuck mashes I would get in there and take a look. Also if you wanted to be safe my Chugger head comes off with 4 screws and I could always do a long soak in oxy or PBW in a bucket if I wanted to.

I never use my pump post-boil so I only do a oxy or PBW circulation followed by a hot water rinse and call it a day, plus my RIMS tube is at a slight angle that allows water to run down and drip out of the quick connect. No sanitizer for me. When I use my CFC I gravity feed it to the fermentor, of course I then oxy or PBW it followed by some sanitizer. I also sanitize my CFC before I use it as well.

 

[audger]

So you never actually take apart the pump head?

i only do that once every few months, or probably every 40-60 hours of use. hot water and oxiclean gets circulated after each use, and every 3-5 uses i switch it up with some starsan (acid) to combat beer scale. i really only take it apart for inspection, ive never found anything inside that needs to be cleaned. thats on a march pump, but should be similar for a chugger.

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

Poly disconnect should be lubricated often. They make a spray food grade silicone lubricant.

 

[Snafu]

I'm pretty sure the silicone lubricant I have at home is not food grade

 

[wildwest450]

I only took a pump head off recently to check it out, and it was clean and nice inside after 15+ batches. I just recirc pbw through my brewkettle, pump, and cfc. Drain and hot rinse.