What the heck is this in my ball valve?

[Razvan V]

Hello everyone,

I just took apart my ball valves and other stuff to clean them properly, after like 5-10 brews. They were purchased new, a couple of months ago, from china.
They had some gunk in there but to my surprise there is this mineral/stoney-like buildup + some rust in the housing of one of them. It's a 2-piece 1/2'' SS valve.
I tired to scrape it off after boiling, soaking in sodium percarbonate, vinegar overnight, but it doesn't come off.
Could it be that it being Chinese I just bought it like this?

Thank you all!

 

[doogie]

Are you saying that you didn't take them apart and clean off the machining oil BEFORE using 5 - 10 times? That's the most important cleaning and inspection. To me, the rust on the threads and body look like steel (not stainless or even galvanized) material. The other part, maybe epoxy used to hold the seat in place didn't get cleaned up before it set. I take apart my ball valve after every brew.

 

[MaxStout]

It's best to disassemble and clean ball valves after each use, as crud builds up quickly in the nooks and crannies. A test tube brush with some PBW solution works well.

 

[MikeCo]

It looks like rust. Maybe it's not really stainless, or just a low grade of stainless.

 

[PberBob]

Strong oxidizers like bleach and even PBW will corrode stainless with time. Should be able to get it out with CLR (sulfamic acid) and some elbow grease.

Definitely recommend disassembling valves to clean them.

 

[Bobby_M]

That's a flaw in the sand mold. There was a void there and some molten stainless filled in where it wasn't supposed to be. There's some loose sand mixed in so it doesn't look like pure stainless there.

 

[Razvan V]

Are you saying that you didn't take them apart and clean off the machining oil BEFORE using 5 - 10 times? That's the most important cleaning and inspection. To me, the rust on the threads and body look like steel (not stainless or even galvanized) material. The other part, maybe epoxy used to hold the seat in place didn't get cleaned up before it set. I take apart my ball valve after every brew.

That's not rust, the light was weird.
I did not take it apart but I recirculated hot sodium percarbonate and boiling water through the whole system.

That's a flaw in the sand mold. There was a void there and some molten stainless filled in where it wasn't supposed to be. There's some loose sand mixed in so it doesn't look like pure stainless there.

Interesting. Do you guys think it can be safely used?
I haven't had any issues with my brews so far.

Thanks everyone!

 

[PCABrewing]

That's not rust, the light was weird.
I did not take it apart but I recirculated hot sodium percarbonate and boiling water through the whole system.



Interesting. Do you guys think it can be safely used?
I haven't had any issues with my brews so far.

Thanks everyone!

Well if it doesn't impede the function of the valve I'd say your only concern should be sanitizing before each use. AND of course cleaning after each use.
That blob is likely porous.

 

[Bobby_M]

At the least I'd soak that in some hot citric acid solution to dissolve out any surface iron.

 

[PberBob]

For me, porous deposits in the system would always be suspect for anything that’s off in the brew. I would be inclined to grind it out with a dremel burr.

 

[Jayjay1976]

If I were you I would replace that valve with a 3-piece.

I used to disassemble and clean my valves and pump head every 4-5 batches, tweaking my CIP regimen until routine inspections turned up very little residue. Since I got it dialed in I now clean and inspect every dozen or so batches and usually find very little gunk. Since it's on the hot side I'm not worried about infection, and 60+ batches in I haven't yet had one yet. Diastaticus yes, but nothing beyond that.

 

[Razvan V]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been very busy lately.

At the least I'd soak that in some hot citric acid solution to dissolve out any surface iron.

I actually managed to clean it up pretty good with citric acid. Thank you very much for the advice!

If I were you I would replace that valve with a 3-piece.

I used to disassemble and clean my valves and pump head every 4-5 batches, tweaking my CIP regimen until routine inspections turned up very little residue. Since I got it dialed in I now clean and inspect every dozen or so batches and usually find very little gunk. Since it's on the hot side I'm not worried about contamination, and 60+ batches in I haven't yet had an infection. Diastaticus yes, but nothing beyond that.

I will certainly upgrade all of them in the future but I will use these until new ones come from China.
Also I started taking cleaning my kettles more seriously.

Thank a lot everyone!