Pre Brew Equipment Cleaning

[Zgreens]

I am currently gearing up for 15-20 gallon batches with a brand new system. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f29/hello-home-brew-talk-478295/ I am running into two problems.

First, I have recieved all (or a lot) of my stainless parts coated in manufacturing oils, residues, greases, etc. At least one of my ball valves has visible grease in it. Would PBW/rinse/Starsan/rinse and a good scrub (as good as I can do on things like ball valves) work, followed by a water only test of the system be enough to clean these out? How worried should i be about manufacturing residues? I was thinking to clean everything as stated above, then do sort of a test run with hot water of the assembled system, then see if i detect any off flavors in the final product. would the pwb or starsan do better as part of the hot test/flush? I dont know, I think I might be overthinking this.

Second, a number of my ball valves take substantial force to turn, and a few of them glide like nothing. Is this a product of where I bought them/Manufacturing Lot etc. or is there anything I can do to loosen some of them up? I have attempted taking them apart, and i cant really tell if i loosened them up at all. Any advice would be great.

 

[Renoun]

Components with grease/oils are going to need cleaning with a detergent prior to other cleaning attempts. Dish washing soaps (Dawn, etc. preferably unscented) with hot water are one approach. De-greasers like Simple Green (especially unscented Crystal Simple Green if you can find it) are another approach. Steam cleaning is also an appropriate method in the unlikely event that you have access to large amounts of steam. I use a ultrasonic cleaner for my scuba regulators and if you have easy access to Harbor Freight Tools it can be a great way to clean smaller components.