Today I put together a carboy washer with a few things I had lying around at the house. Here is a page with pics and a description: Carboy Washer - German brewing and more
That idea has been around for a long time and many brewers have build one. I just felt like documenting how simple it can be to build one. The only major piece of equipment is the pump which I already had for pumping ice water through my immersion chiller.
Kai
Nice!
I’m a fitting and some epoxy away from building one tonight.
I always hate the idea of filling a carboy with warm/hot water and then dumping it out if I have nothing else to clean.
Great idea Kai. That’s just what I need. 8)
I’ve seen the other designs online. This one looks much simpler and cheaper than sweat fitting a bunch of copper piping.
I was thinking about copper before. When I had a few fittings in my hand and was looking at the price I though WTF. Especially when the PVC/CPVC display was right next to it and looked so much cheaper. I was even planning to make a fitting that screws onto the pump (w/o the male QC that I ended up using) but the threads didn’t end up fitting so I settled on the much cheaper option with the male QC.
Make sure the pump is not too tall and the pump fits into the bucket while being able to shoot water up the center. I quess you could add two ellbows if the latter becomes a problem.
Kai
I like this. Can someone fill me in on where to get utility pumps, and what to look for?
Here is a quick google search: utility pump - Google Shopping
You can also look at your local home improvement store. I think the only thing that is important is that the pump is not too tall.
Kai
PBW works best when it is around 120-140F.
Are you planning on putting a heater in there or will the pump heat the PBW?
I’m adding warm water, but the pump should heat the water as well since all of the energy it consumes gets converted into heat. If there is less heat loss than power consumption my the pump, the whole thing should heat up.
Kai
Kai, this is really nice work. very simple and easy. With a little modification, it can be made to clean Cornies too.
Assuming a 1/2 FIP pump outlet, you could use a 1/2 MIP x 1/2 barbed fitting with the pvc tube epoxied onto the barb for the carboy cleaner.
Make the hole in the bucket lid a few inches smaller than the corny … say a 7" diameter … so that the rubber top of the corny will sit on the bucket lid. Make up a line with a 1/2 MIP x 1/4 barb, a couple feet of vinyl tubing, and a black liquid QD. screw the mip fitting into the pump, snap the QD on the corny liquid out, invert the corny and turn it on.
Here is another one from Brewing network:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/photos/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=135
They actually made a spray ball:
and gave a pressure reducer for corney addapter:
Great idea, thanks!