new chiller

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trickybrew

new chiller

Post by trickybrew » Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:34 am

Hi, just like to no i have a new d,i,y wort chiller,it has that copper new smell , whats the best way to clean a new chiller verry well befor i get to use it, :mrgreen:
Thanks :)

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Horatio
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Re: new chiller

Post by Horatio » Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:24 am

I just boiled mine and it came up a treat. I'm sure that others will have some better ideas though, there's a wealth of them on here! :D
If I had all the money I'd spent on brewing... I'd spend it on brewing!

boingy

Re: new chiller

Post by boingy » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:23 am

I gave it a clean with wire wool, a 2 hour soak in vinegar, a good clean with hot soapy water and a really good rinse. Probably overkill but it came out shiny shiny!

kay-jay

Re: new chiller

Post by kay-jay » Mon Feb 15, 2010 12:30 pm

hi,

i would have thought that just leaving it exposed to the air would be sufficient because copper creates a natural patina (verdigris) through natural oxidisation.

all you'd need to do then is sanitise it in the wort just before the end of the boil. using methods such as wire wool/ other abrasives simply removes any patina and exposes the 'fresh' copper again. just leave it somewhere till it turns brown!!!!

KJ :D

boingy

Re: new chiller

Post by boingy » Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:59 pm

You really need to give it a half-decent clean at the start because you never know where it's been before you bought it. I can't imagine the Screwfix warehouse a being particularly clean place.

Scooby

Re: new chiller

Post by Scooby » Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:02 pm

kay-jay wrote:hi,

i would have thought that just leaving it exposed to the air would be sufficient because copper creates a natural patina (verdigris) through natural oxidisation.
An dull copper colour oxide layer on copper protects it from any interaction with the wort. Verdigris is a blue-green oxide that contain nasty chemicals, it's soluble in weak acidic solutions and can cause nausea and vomiting.

Just use a perfume free detergent, soda crystals or oxi clean to remove surface grime, stick it in the dishwasher if it fits. There's no need to have it shiny bright after you use it or even before placing in the wort, let it form a dull finish.

trickybrew

Re: new chiller

Post by trickybrew » Mon Feb 15, 2010 6:59 pm

The copper chiller is shiny & new copper, it was just the smell on my hands after making the curls on the chiller, IM asking because don't want that smell to go into the wort as bad taste, so now what stick it in the dish washer ( with or without a detergent tablet )(or just boil it befor i use it in plain water ??) #-o #-o
:beer:

kay-jay

Re: new chiller

Post by kay-jay » Mon Feb 15, 2010 7:21 pm

scooby,

i fully agree with your comments on the toxicity of the green coating that can occur as a result of contact with simple cleaning materiels such as soap etc however verdigris is not the correct name for this.

from wiki....The green patina that forms naturally on copper and bronze is often mis-named verdigris and usually consists of a mixture of chlorides, sulphides and carbonates. copper carbonate or copper chloride. Atacamite is another name for the patina compounds. Verdigris can be produced on copper by addition of vinegar (acetic acid) - such a verdigris is water-soluble and will not last on the outside of a building like a "true" patina

KJ

trickybrew

Re: new chiller

Post by trickybrew » Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:09 pm

Ill just water boil it in water for a hour then, will this be ok. #-o

Jerry Cornelius

Re: new chiller

Post by Jerry Cornelius » Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:23 pm

I have to say that I didn't bother cleaning mine after I made it. Never occured to me. Just chucked it in the boil 15 min before the end. Beer was fine, used it 14 times now, and apart from removing all the hops and stuff that cling to it after a brew, I've never cleaned it :D Perhaps I was just lucky...

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pas8280
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Re: new chiller

Post by pas8280 » Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:34 pm

I just wiped mine with a damp cloth to remove some of the oil film which had mostly come off anyway whilst working on it and just like Jerry i stuck it in the boil with 15 mins to go.All i have done since is stick it in a bucket of hot water before it goes in the boil (warms the copper so dont get a premature cold break) and back into the bucket of hot water after boil to wash trub and hops off. Perhaps i've been lucky as well :)
The Hollyhop Brewery 100 litre stainless


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Scooby

Re: new chiller

Post by Scooby » Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:48 am

kay-jay wrote:scooby,

i fully agree with your comments on the toxicity of the green coating that can occur as a result of contact with simple cleaning materiels such as soap etc however verdigris is not the correct name for this.

from wiki....The green patina that forms naturally on copper and bronze is often mis-named verdigris and usually consists of a mixture of chlorides, sulphides and carbonates. copper carbonate or copper chloride. Atacamite is another name for the patina compounds. Verdigris can be produced on copper by addition of vinegar (acetic acid) - such a verdigris is water-soluble and will not last on the outside of a building like a "true" patina

KJ
wiki is often suspect, and if verdigris is really just a dull copper oxide why call it the green of Greece :roll:

kay-jay

Re: new chiller

Post by kay-jay » Tue Feb 16, 2010 10:37 am

why call it the green of Greece

couldn't really tell you...i don't know why this should be the case but it is

as a plumber what i can say definitively is that city and guilds often ask in their exams 'what is the name of the patina caused by natural oxidisation on the surface of copper.... and the answer we were taught at college is verdigris.

i can't however find this information in many principal text books about plumbing

ie blower and treloar or JTL

the main point here anyway is that we agree that the chiller of the chappie in question should allow it to form the coat of oxidisation...ie go brown and dull


KJ

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