Cleaning a Plate Chiller

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Picking up from another thread I thought I'd ask about cleaning Plate Chillers.

I may be tempted to go down that route rather than upgrade my IC. I like the fact it will shorten my brewday significantly.

So, I have alreay established I can put it in the pressure cooker to sterilise it, which is good. The question is how far do I need to go with it.

Is it just a case of clean it out by flushing water and Oxy clean through it after use, then pop it in the pressure cooker just before you are about to use it, or should I sterilise it then store it with a starsan solution inside it, until I want to next use it.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks

[Aleman]

Don't use starsan it eats the copper.

I back flush with hot water following use.
Empty
Run HOT Oxiclean (or Caustic) the right way through it (Using my pump to recirc 10 minutes or so)
Empty
Back flush with hot water
Empty
put in the pressure cooker and steam for 20 minutes at 15lbs allow pressure to drop naturally
carefully remove lid fish out hot Chiller and fill with boiling water
Cap and put away for next time.
All I then need to do, is drain, and hook up to the pump

For belt and braces approach I recirc boiling wort through for 10 minutes

[gregorach]

Yeah, I'm sceptical about leaving them full of cleaners - most of these things have maximum recommended contact times, beyond which they start stripping the passive layer and pitting the metal, leading to problems down the line.

After use, I flush with hot water in both directions, empty, then submerge in a bucket of Brupaks Bruclean (connectors to the top, and moving it around to get as much air out as possible). After 15 minutes or so, I empty it out and submerge again. After a total of 30 minutes (the recommended contact time for this cleaner) I flush both sides, in both directions, with mains cold water. I then leave it to drain.

Come next brewday, I just give it 45 minutes in the pressure cooker (plus the time for the pressure to drop naturally) - I use this long because it's a whopping great lump of metal and I want to make sure that the whole thing gets right up to temperature for a good long time. When I take it out of the pressure cooker, I put caps on the connectors to keep any dust out until I get it hooked up.

Blichmann also recommend cleaning with acid (citric, peracetic, whatever) every once in a while (I think they say every 6 uses) to remove any salt or limescale build-up. I don't need to worry about limescale with my water, but I probably should run some acid through the wort side sometime...

I'm seriously considering moving to recirculating cleaner through it like Tony does, as I think this will probably do a better job than just sitting it in a bucket of cleaner. I probably need a beefier pump though...

[Aleman]

I use a Stuart Turner RG550 Cellar Pump for cleaning duties. . . . Shifts a lot of liquid at a lot of pressure

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Thanks all, I have a March May pump so can use that for recirculating cleaner through the chiller, it will give the pump a much needed clean too.