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View Full Version : Cleaning a wort chiller

Pappy
12-20-2003, 02:56 AM
I've just received a shipment of stuff I've had in storage for almost 18 months. I have been reunited with some of my favorite homebrew equipment and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how to best give a good cleaning to a rather funky looking immersion wort chiller. Thanks!
ray m
12-20-2003, 03:51 AM
I suggest getting yourself some PBW by Five Star Products...make yourself a 5 gallon batch so you can use it to clean your fermenters & bottling bucket, etc. as well. The solution can be reused several times with no loss of cleaning effectiveness. PBW will not sanitize things, though.
GunNut76
12-20-2003, 05:39 AM
As soon as I get a few $$ I'm gonna invest in some PBW and Star-San in the big bottles and two 5 gallon buckets...only thing is I can't recall what the indicator is when the Star-San is used up.:confused: Someone please enlighten this boy please.
Tweek
12-20-2003, 10:29 AM
fill up your brew pot and boil your chiller. Its very effective.
b3s
12-20-2003, 02:34 PM
i second (or third or fourth or whatever) the pbw...if i had that much stuff to clean, i'd just go that route and be done. plus, being pretty lazy, it's easier for me to soak something for 30 minutes and rinse it off ;)
fretlessman71
12-20-2003, 03:01 PM
Is TSP good for this sort of stuff? I get TSP for removing labels, but the box says it's pretty dangerous...
danno
12-21-2003, 01:00 AM
Originally posted by GunNut76
only thing is I can't recall what the indicator is when the Star-San is used up.:confused: Someone please enlighten this boy please.

when Star San gets cloudy, it's no longer effective...
GunNut76
12-21-2003, 01:41 AM
If you mix it too weak will it be cloudy? I use about 1/4 oz per 2 gallons. If it is cloudy it will be completely usless? When I soak my primary it turns cloudy in about 5 min. Am I just lucky not to have had an infection?
toneyc
12-21-2003, 07:46 PM
I, too, wonder about the definition of "cloudy". What does cloudy mean? It may sound like a silly question, but it is very subjective. When I mix up a 5-gallon batch of Star-San, it is cloudy from the beginning. You can't see through it. When is it good? When does it go bad?

:eek:
Toney.