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Blowing water out

 
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Paque




Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 15
Location: Rimouski


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 4:51 pm    Post subject: Blowing water out Reply with quote


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Hi,

Beside the compact shop vac, do you guys use different technique to blow water out of pumps, herms coil, valves, etc...

I'm just trying to find if there is a cheaper way than the compact shop vac...

Thanks!

Simon
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huaco




Joined: 05 Apr 2012
Posts: 1506
Location: Burleson Texas


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The pump heads are simple to take apart. I make it a practice to remove them and open them up after each brew day. Rinse them and let them air dry. The next day, I'll re-assemble and re-install.

As far as the HERMS coil, after a through rinse with fresh water, I usually leave it full of water. There is no way for gunk to grow if it's full of water. Naturally though, don't do this if it will be exposed to the elements below freezing...
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Castermmt




Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 863
Location: Lowell, In

Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale

Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I picked up a small shop vac for $30 from Lowes a while back that works perfectly for most brewing task. I use it to help when cleaning my boil kettle, cleaning the sparge water out my HERMS coil, after flushing my wort pump with starsan and any other general cleaning task during my brew day. Best $30 Ive spent. I just looked at my Chicago area Craigslist and found 87 new and used shop vac's for sale very inexpensive.

Hope this helps, Castermmt

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Paque




Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 15
Location: Rimouski


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the advice guys!

Castermmt, can you post a pic of your shop vac or tell me the model number please?

Thanks,

Simon
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foomench




Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Longmont, CO

Drinking: Pinot barrel aged quad

Working on: Flanders oude bruin in barrel, Flanders red fermenting to refill the barrel


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After pulling the CO2 tank from my walk-in to do some keg cleaning and purging and then having to fine tune the CO2 level after putting it back, I've decided I need two CO2 tanks. I'm going to leave one in the cooler and never touch it until it needs to be swapped. I'm going to have a second in the brewery for cleaning kegs, pushing beer out of the Fermenator, taking on trips where I take a keg, and for blowing the water out of my pumps at the end of a brew day.
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

foomench wrote:
After pulling the CO2 tank from my walk-in to do some keg cleaning and purging and then having to fine tune the CO2 level after putting it back, I've decided I need two CO2 tanks. I'm going to leave one in the cooler and never touch it until it needs to be swapped. I'm going to have a second in the brewery for cleaning kegs, pushing beer out of the Fermenator, taking on trips where I take a keg, and for blowing the water out of my pumps at the end of a brew day.


I think you'll be happy you did it. I've got two for carbonation/serving of beer (one active and one backup that I keep filled) and one "general purpose" tank for everything else that you mentioned. It was tough to get myself to spend the money, but I'm thrilled that I did.
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mnoltimier




Joined: 10 Oct 2011
Posts: 60
Location: Berthoud, CO

Drinking: Big Nut Brown Ale, Sky Pond Pale Ale, Smashin' Punkin, Berlinner Weisse, Vienna Lager, Hopulence IIPA, Helles Angels

Working on: Maude Flanders Red, Gallagher's Watermelon Wheat


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We got a little off topic here but I also have a secondary CO2 tank that I use regularly. I have a 3 way splitter on it, 1. Keg post for beer gun 2. Gas pin lock disconnect used for purging air out of kegs when racking 3. Rubber stopper that fits airlock hole on conical to push out cold stubborn yeast.
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foomench




Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Longmont, CO

Drinking: Pinot barrel aged quad

Working on: Flanders oude bruin in barrel, Flanders red fermenting to refill the barrel


PostLink    Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mnoltimier wrote:
We got a little off topic here but I also have a secondary CO2 tank that I use regularly. I have a 3 way splitter on it ...
To continue the divergent theme, I use gas disconnects for switching between uses:
http://morebeer.com/products/beer-gas-tubing-quick-disconnect-inline-shutoff-set.html?a_aid=theelectricbrewery

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Castermmt




Joined: 03 Jan 2011
Posts: 863
Location: Lowell, In

Drinking: Steelhead Porter, Alt-Toids, Hefty-Weizen, Terry's Kolsch, African Amber, Pumpkin Ale, Double Dog Ale

Working on: Janet's Brown Ale, Terry's Kolsch, Pilsner


PostLink    Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paque wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys!

Castermmt, can you post a pic of your shop vac or tell me the model number please?

Thanks,

Simon

Here's the link from 2011. It's a shop vac 4 gallon with 2HP. You shouldn't anything bigger then this, unless of course you have other uses for it.. Hope this helps, Castermmt

This is the exact vac that they had on sale back then for $20. Craigslist is your friend. http://www.lowes.com/pd_246084-20097-5850411_0__?productId=3319576

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mvakoc




Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 152
Location: Evergreen, CO


PostLink    Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

foomench wrote:
After pulling the CO2 tank from my walk-in to do some keg cleaning and purging and then having to fine tune the CO2 level after putting it back, I've decided I need two CO2 tanks. I'm going to leave one in the cooler and never touch it until it needs to be swapped. I'm going to have a second in the brewery for cleaning kegs, pushing beer out of the Fermenator, taking on trips where I take a keg, and for blowing the water out of my pumps at the end of a brew day.


That is exactly what I do with my two 20# tanks. I don't use the second for clearing the pumps (I just tilt them to get most of the water out -- this seems to be fine) but I do use it to blow through the HERMs coil after draining and tipping the HLT to get out what I can manually. I little CO2 blows out a lot of water that would have otherwise been left behind.
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HopCityBrewers




Joined: 25 Dec 2014
Posts: 11



PostLink    Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a small air compressor that I use to blow the water out of my pump and CFWC after of course a PBW and fresh water rinse at the end of a brew day. After its "dry enough", on go the dust caps (cam lock QD fittings) and al set for the next brew day. I always start with a purge with fresh water through each unit before starting a brew.
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Paque




Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 15
Location: Rimouski


PostLink    Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mvakoc wrote:
That is exactly what I do with my two 20# tanks. I don't use the second for clearing the pumps (I just tilt them to get most of the water out -- this seems to be fine) but I do use it to blow through the HERMs coil after draining and tipping the HLT to get out what I can manually. I little CO2 blows out a lot of water that would have otherwise been left behind.



What do you use to connect the gas line to the ball valve?

Thanks!
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Tungsten




Joined: 06 Dec 2014
Posts: 318
Location: Buffalo, NY


PostLink    Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paque wrote:
mvakoc wrote:
That is exactly what I do with my two 20# tanks. I don't use the second for clearing the pumps (I just tilt them to get most of the water out -- this seems to be fine) but I do use it to blow through the HERMs coil after draining and tipping the HLT to get out what I can manually. I little CO2 blows out a lot of water that would have otherwise been left behind.



What do you use to connect the gas line to the ball valve?

Thanks!


I never thought about connecting it. I just line it up the best I can by hand and switch the gas on. "Point & shoot!"
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foomench




Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 704
Location: Longmont, CO

Drinking: Pinot barrel aged quad

Working on: Flanders oude bruin in barrel, Flanders red fermenting to refill the barrel


PostLink    Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tungsten wrote:
I never thought about connecting it. I just line it up the best I can by hand and switch the gas on. "Point & shoot!"

That's what I'm doing now as well, but I figured I could get a barbed fitting adapter to go from my 1/4" gas line to a QDC. The point & shoot method seems like a bit is being wasted.

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Paque




Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 15
Location: Rimouski


PostLink    Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How much pressure (PSI) is needed?
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