Old Counterflow - Concerns

[Razorback_Jack]

Hello all! You probably haven’t seen my name on here much, as I’m more an observer. For many reasons, I have been out of the hobby for a couple years. After lockdown ended, and the toddlers grew into young kids, time has become harder to manage. So anyway, I’ve got an Exchilerator - the SS version because verdigris freaks me the F out - and it has sat in my garage for about two years now. I know it’s 304 SS, but still, I know it’s not 100% impervious to pitting and corrosion, especially after sitting for that long in an uninsulated garage…. in Texas, but we have had winters where the garage is in the 30’s. Summers where the garage is in the upper 90’s.
Enough with the preamble, my question is, what would you fine people do to ensure that this beautiful hunk of spiral-wrapped, high-quality, wonderful beast is clean and safe inside? Citric acid? Or simply PBW and StarSan? The fact that I can’t see the interior of it freaks me out a little, as I don’t want compromised beer. I’m not entering any competitions, at least not anytime soon, but I also don’t want beer that induces vomiting, or worse.

My wife tells me I’m paranoid about many things, so if you tell me the same, it will not be offensive.

 

[day_trippr]

I would circulate 150°F PBW and observe the outflow to see what if anything is being displaced and do as many cycles as needed (ideally just one) to have it running clear.

Cheers!

 

[Broken Crow]

The very first thing I would do is connect the water but leave the wort-tubes open and exposed, run water through the outer for a bit and then shut a valve or pinch a hose on the output so as to have water pressure in it and then watch for any water coming out the wort-tube....having sat through winters, if there was any water in the tube there is a risk is could have frozen and caused a leak between channels.
Provided there are no observable leaks; +1 to @day_trippr s suggestion, to which I'll also suggest collecting the outflow in a bucket rather than down the drain, so you can examine it for crud or discoloration.

 

[Razorback_Jack]

Follow-up question…. Will discoloration of water, or lack of discoloration, tell me if there is anything at all concerning? Pitting, for instance, or rust? Would 150F PBW knock rust loose in that way?
As for water freezing inside, that’s an excellent suggestion, but it was well-drained, as well as it can be by turning over and over and over for a few minutes. To cover bases, might do it anyway.

 

[Broken Crow]

Follow-up question…. Will discoloration of water, or lack of discoloration, tell me if there is anything at all concerning? Pitting, for instance, or rust? Would 150F PBW knock rust loose in that way?
As for water freezing inside, that’s an excellent suggestion, but it was well-drained, as well as it can be by turning over and over and over for a few minutes. To cover bases, might do it anyway.

I'd highly recommend 'doing it anyway' just cover all the bases rather than do your first brew and find an extra gallon or 2 in your fermenter.
As to discoloration; If any reactive matter was left in it, it would cause oxidation and the most likely colour would be black, although diluted to thin charcoal, so if you have a white pail you can drain it into that would help a lot.

 

[sibelman]

Also, your wife is probably right. It's gonna be fine, @Razorback_Jack .

 

[Razorback_Jack]

Also, your wife is probably right. It's gonna be fine, @Razorback_Jack .

She usually is

 

[day_trippr]

Will discoloration of water, or lack of discoloration, tell me if there is anything at all concerning? Pitting, for instance, or rust? Would 150F PBW knock rust loose in that way?

PBW isn't that effective as a rust remover, it's more attuned to beer stone and carbonate scale and general cleaning. For rust removal an 8% (by weight) hot (150°F or higher) Citric Acid solution is very effective and inexpensive.

Given you're dealing with stainless and presumably just water and wort contact I doubt there'd be much in the way of pitting. If you see "color" in the outflow from either CitrIC or PBW keep recirculating with fresh solution until you don't...

Cheers!

 

[Razorback_Jack]

PBW isn't that effective as a rust remover, it's more attuned to beer stone and carbonate scale and general cleaning. For rust removal an 8% (by weight) hot (150°F or higher) Citric Acid solution is very effective and inexpensive.

Given you're dealing with stainless and presumably just water and wort contact I doubt there'd be much in the way of pitting. If you see "color" in the outflow from either Citra or PBW keep recirculating with fresh solution until you don't...

Cheers!

Thanks so much. This is reassuring!

 

[hottpeper13]

I bought the SS racking kane with the cleaning kit. It has a sponge on a flexible shaft that fits my CFC tube. after running a caustic wash I run that from both ends then caustic again, then an acid rinse.

 

[Whisky River]

I bought the SS racking kane with the cleaning kit. It has a sponge on a flexible shaft that fits my CFC tube. after running a caustic wash I run that from both ends then caustic again, then an acid rinse.

I’ve never heard of a cleaning kit like that. I have often thought about using a firearms bore snake or building a pull through cleaner with some fishing line and an old lead fishing line weight blown through the CFC with compressed air but then I’ve never had any problems I can attribute to the CFC so it’s still a ways down on the list.
Your cleaning kit sounds interesting, can you post some more details about it.

 

[hottpeper13]

Only that it was an accessory cleaning kit that came with the SS racking Kane.

 

[Skeeter686]

I’ve never heard of a cleaning kit like that. I have often thought about using a firearms bore snake or building a pull through cleaner with some fishing line and an old lead fishing line weight blown through the CFC with compressed air but then I’ve never had any problems I can attribute to the CFC so it’s still a ways down on the list.
Your cleaning kit sounds interesting, can you post some more details about it.

I was recently wondering how to run some kind of brush through a SS racking cane and the bore snake idea never came to mind. Good thought there!

 

[Deadalus]

I was recently wondering how to run some kind of brush through a SS racking cane and the bore snake idea never came to mind. Good thought there!

I use the long brush in this kit to clean my SS racking cane and other items. I have a couple of long ones but that one is the best as it more like a soft spring. Sometimes the metal used is a little stiff and they don't turn well.

Here's another that is almost 10 feet long! You want to get the right size brush for the specific tubing because if it is too small it is ineffective.

 

[Bobby_M]

Hot PBW will get rid of any organic soil still in there but you'll need to repassivate to be sure there's no rust.

1 pound of citric acid in one gallon of water, heat to 150f and recirculate it through the chiller for 2 hours. Rinse with hot water. Blow it out with compressed air and leave it alone for a day or two. That will clean out any exposed rust and repassivate the stainless. There are very few other practical ways to do this and PBW is not one of them.

 

[ClaudiusB]

I was recently wondering how to run some kind of brush through a SS racking cane and the bore snake idea never came to mind. Good thought there!

In my 30 years of brewing foam or sponge cleaning balls did the trick. German breweries used foam balls in the 90s when I started. More Beer and many other suppliers sell foam cleaning balls.