Sanitizing my Bottle bucket valve/spiggot

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Rubberband

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I have a standard bottle bucket spiggot that came with a kit from Midwest. I am wondering if I need to tear this thing apart to clean it? I take it out of the bucket and clean the nut, washer and valve separatly. I generally soak the thing in oxiclean with all of my brew gear overnigt, rinse with hot tap water (140 F) and then soak it in Iodophor before using. Is this standard procedure?

I am a little unsure about it because the last batch that I bottled, the first three bottles tasted funny and the rest of the batch was good. My thought is that there was something in this valve that was washed into the bottles and that everything after was not affected.

It looks clean and this is the first time I have had this problem. I don't want to risk future brews because of sanitation. (And no, I don't want to keg!)
 
I generally take my spigot apart after every use. I've got the same exact one you have, and honestly it's so easy to dissasemble, it's not worth the risk not to do it. I fill the bucket with water and PBW or Oxiclean, let it sit overnight, then open the spigot and let a gallon or two drain out. Then I unscrew the spigot, rinse off each piece thoroughly, then give each piece a light spray with Star San.

All in all (except the waiting time on a CIP cleaner) we're talking 10 minutes of work. It just doesn't make sense to me not to do it.
 
it is a good idea to dissasemble anything that has tight tolerance that the beer may come in contact with just to be sure you get eveything clean. im so glad that i keg and dont have to worry about damn spigots anymore.
 
Has anyone had a problem with those damn spigots resealing on the buckets?

I've taken mine apart and cleaned them, but its always a chore to get them to reseal properly. I have two types of spigots, both do the same. They both just have a seal inside the bucket. Outside just didn't seem right, the nuts were putting a lot of pressure on the bucket. Some came with two seals, but even without the bucket in the middle, the spigot threads weren't long enough to hold both seals and still apply the nut. It seemed really odd...

Suggestions? I think that a front seal and back should just about do it...I might try some saran wrap, or some other plastic on the front to help it seal up.
 
Teflon tape along the threads might help a bit. If you have silicon cookware around the house, you can cut a new gasket out of that.

Mine has two o-rings, one on the inside and one outside. I've never had a problem with the seal.
 
Yea, I need to just break down and buy something to gasket the outside with. I'm stopping by home depot after work today, so I'll look for some type of thin rubber material that's of the right type.
 
My MW spigot also came with TWO rubber washers; one inside the wall of the bucket and one outside, and no sealing problems. As far as disassembling the spigot itself (after the nut and two rubber washers are off), I haven't figured out how to do that yet. Can't persuade the part that turns to come up out of the housing, and I'm afraid I'll break it. Fortunately, no problems yet.
 
+1 on two washers, one inside and one outside. Mine seals on the bucket but leaks a little bit on the front of the valve. Thanks to everyone on the advice. I have been soaking my valve in oxyclean but I have not been taking the thing apart fully. Tonight, I deal with the dirt, she's coming apart one way or the other.
 
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