Shirron Wort Chiller Death?

[dleonard]

Hello knowledgeable people,
I think I'm ruined my wort chiller...
I baked it in the oven at some temperature I don't remember for an amount of time I don't remember. It was months ago after I had only used it a few times.
Black oily stuff bubbled out, and the wort chiller itself changed color.
I couldn't get that off, and just kept using it.
Now I have a funny taste in my beers, and I know it has to be coming from the chiller.
I've soaked it in PWB with the hottest tap water I can muster for several hours and 10% of the residue is gone....
Thoughts, can I save it?

This picture shows the black inside.

The fitting beside the chiller is a new brass union, so you can see the color change after the baking. (if was mostly silver)

This is a shot of the barbed hose fitting that came off the wort side. You can see the black residue caked on the inside.

Any help would be great!

 

[samc]

I have a Duda Diesel plate chiller and have baked it once. It did change color and all that came out of mine was ash. I baked it at the cleaning cycle temps (800F +).

It almost looks as if you cooked the leftover gunk inside, but not a temp that would turn it to ash.

At this point you might want to try the hotter temps if you want to go for it.

 

[lamarguy]

I suspect you reached the oven's self-cleaning temperature and soot from the food/grease burn-off was deposited on the chiller. The image you posted clearly shows soot deposition.

FWIW, I've never "baked" my plate chiller and don't plan to. I clean by recirculating 160F PBW for ~15 minutes and sanitize at knock-out by recirculating ~210F wort for a couple of minutes after whirlpooling.

 

[bull8042]

I have a Duda Diesel plate chiller and have baked it once. It did change color and all that came out of mine was ash. I baked it at the cleaning cycle temps (800F +).

It almost looks as if you cooked the leftover gunk inside, but not a temp that would turn it to ash.

At this point you might want to try the hotter temps if you want to go for it.

I think I am going to stick with Acid #5 for awhile and hope that keeps it clean enough that I don't have to bake mine. I was worried about it changing color a bit, but I didn't think it would be THAT drastic.

 

[dleonard]

So at this point what are you guys thinking?
Oven set to max for a few hours?

 

[OneHotKarl]

That thing isn't ruined it's 304 stainless. I would maybe try the oven cycle again now that the food residue has been burned off the oven? Have you tried soaking in a strong hot oxyclean bath?

 

[ScubaSteve]

+1 to oxiclean, rinsing, and then doing a mild acid bath. You'd be blown away about how clean that thing will be. If you plan on doing this again, make sure you know exactly what temp/time you need.

 

[dleonard]

I bake it last night.
Oven cleaning on High for 4 hours.
The residue is mostly gone, and I'm thinking a good acid bath will take care of the rest.
Thanks for the advice guys.
It's quick responses and great answers like this that keep me coming back!

 

[dleonard]

Wow, that was some good engrish....

 

[ScubaSteve]

You ought to post some pics once you get it all cleaned out....

 

[samc]

+1 to oxiclean, rinsing, and then doing a mild acid bath. You'd be blown away about how clean that thing will be. If you plan on doing this again, make sure you know exactly what temp/time you need.

Describe "mild acid bath" please! If it's fairly safe to do, I'd like to add that to my cleaning schedule.

Thanks

 

[olllllo]

I bake mine on the clean cycle all the time. I wouldn't worry about the color.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Well, I mentioned "mild" because I didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea. Acid can be crazy dangerous. I recently did an acid bath with a piece of HEAVILY rusted stainless...I used muriatic acid and added it to 10 times the volume of water....the metal came out spotless. It was pretty amazing. But, the stuff smokes and boils if you add it too quickly to the water, and if it's too strong and you splash it, it'll eat flesh indiscriminately. I'd just get some acid #5 and follow the directions.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I think I am going to stick with Acid #5 for awhile and hope that keeps it clean enough that I don't have to bake mine. I was worried about it changing color a bit, but I didn't think it would be THAT drastic.

+1. I'll not be baking my Therminator.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Well, I mentioned "mild" because I didn't want to give anyone the wrong idea. Acid can be crazy dangerous. I recently did an acid bath with a piece of HEAVILY rusted stainless...I used muriatic acid and cut it with water....the metal came out spotless. It was pretty amazing. But, the stuff smokes if you add it too quickly to the water, and if it's too strong and you splash it, it'll eat concrete and flesh equally well. I'd just get some acid #5 and follow the directions.

Acid 5 will do the same thing if you don;t dilute it properly.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

What's the fear in baking? I'm w/ olllllo and put mine in the oven on the clean cycle. I had a clog and no longer do. Yeah it changes color, but that's aesthetics and has no impact on the functionality.

 

[ScubaSteve]

There's nothing wrong with baking, I just wouldn't do it every time....more like every 6 months or so. Immediate flushing and soaking with oxiclean goes a long way to removing organic matter and preventing it from caking up. Likewise, I wouldn't rinse with acid every time....

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

Oh yeah, agreed ScubaSteve. It's not an every batch cleaning ritual. Like you, a few times a year when I start noticing slower flow. To clean after a batch I recirculate boiling water w/ oxi for about 15 - 20mins while I'm cleaning everything else.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I run hot PBW through mine every batch for 15 minutes. Then follow that with an Acid rinse of Acid 5 to feed the passivation of the plates.

Once a year, as needed, I acid wash (stronger solution) everything.

Not that I have any real issues with baking the chiller but, why bother when you can CIP and be done with it.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Not that I have any real issues with baking the chiller but, why bother when you can CIP and be done with it.

I completely agree with that. The big turnoff with plate chillers is the increased maintenance. If you already do CIP in an established system, it's pretty simple....but I do read about some guys who:

Bake it every time
Store it with star-san inside
Funnel star-san in before chilling
Etc.

And I think that's just overkill. No reason to make it complicated....if you do, then you're gaining very little to nothing over an IC or CFC.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I completely agree with that. The big turnoff with plate chillers is the increased maintenance. If you already do CIP in an established system, it's pretty simple....but I do read about some guys who:

Bake it every time
Store it with star-san inside
Funnel star-san in before chilling
Etc.

And I think that's just overkill. No reason to make it complicated....if you do, then you're gaining very little to nothing over an IC or CFC.

What? Are you saying that HB'ers tend to go to extremes based on minimal factual information? How dare you!

 

[dleonard]

You ought to post some pics once you get it all cleaned out....

Well here it is after 4 hours at 800F.

Not a great picture, but you can see most of the black stuff baked off.

You can see here that allot of the black cooked off.

I'm going to put it in an acid bath and then post some more pictures.

 

[wuertele]

Those plate chillers are brazed together with copper. The problem with a home oven is that there is oxygen in the air. Commercial ovens use nitrogen or vacuum. So oxidation could be a serious problem.