Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

A forum to discuss the various ways of getting beer into your glass.
Post Reply
gobuchul

Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

Post by gobuchul » Sat Jun 03, 2017 1:57 pm

Anyone use a Maxi 210 cooler?

I have had one sitting in the corner of the shed which I got in a job lot and have never used.

Set it up and it seems to be working fine.

Just a few questions:

How effective is it at cooling? I thinking of using it as a cooler for an inside bar area. Will it cool a lager from 20c to about 4c if using one of the loops, or do you need to pull it through both loops?
If I attach the recirc to the cooling jacket on a beer engine will that cool an ale sufficiently from 20c to 12c?

How do you drain the cooling water? Is it by tilting and draining through the overflow?

How do you clean the recirc line? Is it OK to just do the same as for the beer lines?

Many thanks

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

Post by Fil » Sat Jun 03, 2017 5:51 pm

YOu may get close to a 4c serve if you use a lagged insulated python line to prechill the beerline to the tap and font..? iirc i achieve a circa 10c drop in temp at a reasnable flow rate, slowing the flow should allow a higher degree of chill too.

your morelikely to achieve the 8C drop with the beer engine, but thats outside my diect experience..

However even with a 20+C ambient temp i would expect you to stash your kegs in the coolest spot available, insulating the kegs will also aid them retain a cooler temp.

as for cleaning mine is instaled into the beerline feed to the taps so simply gets cleaned and flushed with the beerlines and taps with keg exchanges. i simply use the same keg cleaning rinsing and sanitising solutions pressure fed through the line/chiller/tap system.

the waterbath isnt expected to be emptied. its kept cold and dark so not an environment that wil harbour microlife, if you need to drain it then its a case of a gentle tip to drain out of the overflow,
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

User avatar
goldthirst
Tippler
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue May 23, 2017 2:27 pm
Location: Solihull

Re: Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

Post by goldthirst » Sat Jun 03, 2017 5:59 pm

Ironically, I just got myself a Maxi 210 and powered it up today.

I found the recirculating pump only works when the water is over a certain level. I had the unit on for around 20 minutes and the water coming out of the recirculating pump was down to around 8 - 9°C and I assume it would drop down more if I had left it on. I couldn't see another method of emptying it other than the way you have mentioned. I would have thought some form of additive for the water would be required to stop a build up of algae or bacteria in the reservoir.

User avatar
Kev888
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7701
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:22 pm
Location: Derbyshire, UK

Re: Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

Post by Kev888 » Sat Jun 03, 2017 8:48 pm

A lot depends on throughput - if you dispense your pint quickly or more than one in rapid succession then they will have less time in the coils to be chilled (similar for ales in your recirc jacket). So it may not be needed in home situations, but in bars then sequential/linked coils will help increase the heat exchange between beer and cool bath. You can sometimes get coolers adapted with extra long coils for lager, with a similar result (or some people use an adjustable thermostat and propylene glycol to cool the bath further, though thats a bit more extreme).

Fridge-type gubbins don't really like being tipped up, so I syphon mine if they need emptying. I never cleaned the recirc line (it never sees any beer) but I did use RO water for the bath to reduce any scaling.
Kev

User avatar
goldthirst
Tippler
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue May 23, 2017 2:27 pm
Location: Solihull

Re: Maxi 210 using, draining and cleaning

Post by goldthirst » Sat Jun 03, 2017 11:04 pm

I found this link for the instruction manual and this one for the product information. :D

Post Reply