3 Piece Ball Valve? I Think Not!

[WarmBeer]

Thought I'd best pull apart and clean out my Geordie 3-piece ball valve. It's only ever used on my boil kettle, so not too worried about infection from any build up of crud, as the metal is at ~100 degrees for the good part of an hour during the boil, but thought it good practice to break it down now and then.

Anyway, for anybody under the mistaken assumption that there are 3 pieces to their "3 piece" ball valve, he's the exploded view:

I count 18 pieces!

 

[brettprevans]

bahaha

im more interested in what you found inside? lots of nice gunk?

 

[WarmBeer]

bahaha

im more interested in what you found inside? lots of nice gunk?

No, was reasonably clean, just needed a wipe with a cloth to get a little gummy wort and hop oils out.

I usually run hot water through it after a brew day, so I figure just needs a pull apart every 5 or 6 brews.

 

[praxis178]

Thought I'd best pull apart and clean out my Geordie 3-piece ball valve. It's only ever used on my boil kettle, so not too worried about infection from any build up of crud, as the metal is at ~100 degrees for the good part of an hour during the boil, but thought it good practice to break it down now and then.

Anyway, for anybody under the mistaken assumption that there are 3 pieces to their "3 piece" ball valve, he's the exploded view:

I count 18 pieces!

There's more, you didn't pull the handle off nor remove the stem or it's packing..... Which if you really want to clean out a ball valve you should do, you'd be amazed at where the liquid will get to and where bugs can live (the valve stem wouldn't even be close to 70C at best as there are too many heat sinks out that way).

BTW I've seen an exploded ball valve where the bang was from a small amount of trapped wort and yeast in the ball, something to bare in mind, admittedly the valve in question was a 6" job....

 

[ekul]

If i don't use it to draw wort through do i need to clean it? I run napisan through it when i'm cleaning up afterward. I figure anything that gets stuck in there would get pretty sterilized from the heat. I siphon from the kettle rather than use the tap.

I have to siphon as the tap is screwed onto a tube that's welded there in a funny fashion so i can't have a pick up tube screwed in. So i can't use it to drain as where it hooks up to the kettle is a kind of oval hole which i can't screw anything into. I'm thinking of using a silicon bung and piece of copper as a pickup so that i can start using the tap. That my only complaint about my kettle.

 

[razz]

Hi ekul, don't confuse sterile and clean. You need to make sure the valve is clean before you assume the heat from the kettle may sterilise the valve. A periodic break down of the valve will indicate how much gunk get's built up. The back of the valve may get wort deposits over time.

 

[ekul]

But would this matter if i'm not transferring wort through it?

thanks

 

[alowen474]

But would this matter if i'm not transferring wort through it?

thanks

If you weren't running wort through it it wouldn't get dirty.

 

[warra48]

I break mine down after every brew. Even though I've run hot water through it to clean it, it is surprising that I still get hop gunk / break in there which an ordinary flush through doesn't clean out.

I also soak mine in sanitiser before each brew and before I install it on my kettle. I agree that the heat from the kettle boil is not enough to totally sanitise it.

By the way, the white plastic seals in the bottom left corner of your image are in fact two piece, they come apart to two seperate pieces each. If you take them apart, have a good look at the orientation, as they are not quite the same front to back.

 

[WarmBeer]

By the way, the white plastic seals in the bottom left corner of your image are in fact two piece, they come apart to two seperate pieces each. If you take them apart, have a good look at the orientation, as they are not quite the same front to back.

Must be a different model of seal, these we definitely a one-piece seal.

I spent the most time cleaning these plastic pieces, as unlike the stainless, they took a bit of close, fiddly work right in the recessed part of the plastic, to get clean.

 

[warra48]

Could be we have different models.

I'm using the one sold by CraftBrewer.

 

[goomboogo]

Could be we have different models.

I'm using the one sold by CraftBrewer.

Warra, there are different models. I've got both; the one you've got with the two-piece plastic and the single piece one that Warmbeer is talking about.

I also break the taps down after every brew. It may be over-kill but it definitely doesn't do any harm.

 

[WarmBeer]

Just a timely reminder for people to break down and physically clean out their 3-piece ball valves.

I did both of mine tonight, after neglecting them for a couple of brews.

Smelled like cheese :icon_vomit:

 

[zebba]

I broke mine open and they smelled like cantillon Lou Pepe gueuze.

I'm undecided if this was a good thing or a bad thing...

 

[Hatchy]

Mine are 2 piece. I tried to pull them apart once & couldn't work out how to so assumed that it couldn't be done.

Thinking about it now, the name sort of suggests that they do come apart.

 

[pk.sax]

So glad I decided to break down my 3 piece ball valves before brewing today. That was friggin rank **** out of the MT ball valve.

Was only going to git some splatter guard mesh under the MT falsie, found bits of grain in the ball valve, stank like hell. Soaking.... First time I didn't completely disassemble after a brew.

 

[JaseH]

I always leave my ball valves in the half open position between brews, this exposes the cavity between the ball and the plastic seal so it doesn't trap liquid and fester. Also when washing out the tuns, I work the valve between open and half closed whilst running sodium perc solution through it to make sure that cavity gets flushed properly. This way I can get a few brews in before having to break them down for a thorough clean.

 

[Cocko]

So glad I decided to break down my 3 piece ball valves before brewing today. That was friggin rank **** out of the MT ball valve.

Was only going to git some splatter guard mesh under the MT falsie, found bits of grain in the ball valve, stank like hell. Soaking.... First time I didn't completely disassemble after a brew.

What were the taps being c&nt?

So are we talking kettle tap? or MT etc?

More info please.

 

[Florian]

I always wondered if there is actually so much crud in the 3 piece valves because they come apart. More places for crud to stick on to?

Would there be less crud in the two piece valves?

 

[Cocko]

I always wondered if there is actually so much crud in the 3 piece valves because they come apart. More places for crud to stick on to?

Would there be less crud in the two piece valves?

Awesome point.

But why is there crud? Is it chilling? I no chill and have never had an infection issue... How often should we be cleaning our taps?

All the same, dont want cruddy taps.. :huh: