I’ve never cleaned mine before in the maybe 3-4 years I’ve owned the kettle, never had a problem with off flavors or anything either. Occasionally I will use a thin brush, but discovered that won’t do justice in the long term.
Today I was brewing and when I got the kettle going some sludge leaked out near the top. During clean up I disassembled the valve only to realize how disgusting it was in there. I broke the valve down as much as I could and now it’s sitting in a mason jar of hot pbw.
Are here other ways I can clean this valve? Should I rethread everything after I getting shining again?
How regularly do you break yours down and give it a deep clean?
I use two piece ball valves and disassemble them every 3-4 brews. The only way I know how to clean them without disassembly is the open them halfway and either boil in water, soak in cleaner, etc. It’s just as easy to disassemble them IMO.
I used to open halfway and soak. On finally disassembling I was shocked and disgusted. Motivated me to ultimately eliminate ball valves from my brewery, but I realize that isn’t practical for most people. I’d recommend regular disassembly, and would never trust one on the cold side.
I use a 3-piece ball valve on the outlet of my kettle. I remove it, disassemble it and clean it after every brew. It isn’t a big job and I am always amazed at how much stuff can hide in the trapped spaces and not get removed by simple flushing.
I generally don’t bother on the pre boil side but anything on the chiller/FV side gets stripped down cleaned and soaked in star san.
I disassemble and inspect mine about 5th brew. Normally, I also clean my kettle, pump, and chiller after every brew by pumping hot PBW from the kettle through the ball valve, the chilling apparatus, and back into the kettle. This not only cleans the kettle and all of the chilling equipment but the ball valve as well. If you don’t have a pump for your chiller, then the cleaning method mentioned by others is the way to go.
The last time I disassembled the valve (about two months ago) it was pretty clean inside.
How I have to figure how to put it back together. Looks nice and clean though just from a pbw soak.
I operate the valves while hot PBW is recirculating. They do get stripped down occasionally but never see any significant build up.
As a general rule, 2-piece ball valves are not intended to be disassembled. 3-piece, ball valves, on the other hand, ARE designed to be disassembled without having to remove them from the piping system. All that said, I circulate a very hot solution of PBW and Oxy Clean for a minimum of 1 hour after each brew and it must be working. After my home brewery was up and running for one year (about 14 brews) I took apart my pump and a selection of fittings. I was amazed how clean they were.
Also, before each brew, I circulate a hot solution of Star-San through my pump, plate cooler and cold side. All good, never any issues.
I’ve started to use Antiformin S on the kettle side pump and chiller etc to save the star san step.
I clean mine the night before brew day, full disassembly. Some people said every couple of brews, but after disassembling them after the first time I used them I’m convinced it needs to be every brew. Yech!
I got Tri Clamp quick disassemble valves for that very reason. The pump gets disassembled after every brew as well. I cleaned it this AM from yesterday’s brew day and the crap that was in it makes me so glad I did.
Some ball valves are easier than other to disassemble. I clean mine every brew on the post mash side. I put keg lube on the threads when I reassemble and it makes disassembly easier next time.
I have a few of the quick clean ball valves from Brewershardware, a little spendy but well worth it in my opinion.