Beware Of Ball Valves

[hanzie]

Hi all

I was(am) chasing a bad taste coming out of my AG system which is discussed in another post. I had some time today so I pulled my two ball valves apart. It was pretty hard and I needed a blowtorch and socket and spanner.



One is older but the other one is new. It has only done 1 brew 5 days ago and was stored in the open position after I washed my boiler. The new one is the one that scared me when I opened it.



Thats a pool of green liquid with bits of hops in it with some more hops in the top of the ball.





It seems like there is 2 cavity's in a ball valve that can trap Wort. The inside of the ball if you leave it shut and around the ball if you leave it open. Thats my ball valves anyway others might be different. It wont hurt to have a look. Its much easier to open after the first time. Maybe I will look into replacing them at some stage with something better.

For now I will be taking mine apart every time I use it!!!

Hanzie

 

[Aaron]

That is why I use three piece ball valves. I pull them apart and clean them after each brew day.

 

[trevc]

Shit... another thing that needs cleaning. 3-piece is looking very appealing.

Edit: my 1 piece valves don't even come apart. I guess soaking open and closed is the only option.

 

[afromaiko]

Always spray the hose through them after use, opening and shutting a few times. You'll find most stuff comes out when at the half open position. After doing this I always then store with the valve still cracked half open. It helps that chamber where your gunge collected to dry out properly after rinsing it. After about half a dozen brews I pull it apart and it's pretty clean anyway.

 

[Fents]

3 piece all the way.

 

[eamonnfoley]

I've got a hop screen attached to the inside of the brewpot. Hopefully that keeps mine from getting clogged.

 

[mika]

It's not so much about clogging, as little bits getting trapped in there and 'fermenting'
As Fents said, 3pce all the way, I flush every brew and strip every 3-4 brews and still find crud in there at times.

 

[Kleiny]

Shit... another thing that needs cleaning. 3-piece is looking very appealing.

Edit: my 1 piece valves don't even come apart. I guess soaking open and closed is the only option.

Trev a soaking doesn't remove the build up that gets traped above the ball valve

I have 3 piece ball valves but used standard ball valves before hand they come apart in the centre and are not that hard to clean

 

[t_c]

What are the brewries using for valves. i cant see them stripping there valves every batch.

 

[user3673]

I just pulled apart my 3 piece after reading this thread, it was pretty clean just a bit of beer stone, BUT....

:excl: When I went to undo the bolts holding it together 2 of the 4 were loose

I would say that the expansion and contraction loosened them, lucky I didn't end up with a stream of boiling wort on my feet.

 

[mika]

What are the brewries using for valves. i cant see them stripping there valves every batch.

A CIP system that pumps boiling caustic everywhere, then it doesn't really matter what valves you use. Think they'd be wafer style butterflys, but could be wrong.

 

[jagerbrau]

All the breweries i have looked at use butterflys, i thought about it but price put me off the idea. stainless 3 peice only way to go worth that little bit more than a 2 peices. I also flush with hose. think will pull apart the mash tun and kettle taps to have alook.

 

[Bribie G]

I want to replace my urn tap with a 3-piece as I have no idea what is inside an urn tap and want to avoid infections. I have heard that the urn taps are standard size (looks like 1/2 inch)

Where would I get a SS 3 piece from and how much ?

 

[np1962]

I want to replace my urn tap with a 3-piece as I have no idea what is inside an urn tap and want to avoid infections. I have heard that the urn taps are standard size (looks like 1/2 inch)

Where would I get a SS 3 piece from and how much ?

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Nige

 

[Aaron]

Where would I get a SS 3 piece from and how much ?

Beerbelly has them:

http://www.beerbelly.com.au/fittings.html

 

[user3673]

I want to replace my urn tap with a 3-piece as I have no idea what is inside an urn tap and want to avoid infections. I have heard that the urn taps are standard size (looks like 1/2 inch)

Where would I get a SS 3 piece from and how much ?

I bought mine from ITW Techflow in Rocklea/ Oxley IIRC under $30 about a year ago

 

[Jazzafish]

Always clean and flush with the valve half open, and then open/close it during the clean and rinse.

If you want to soak your rig in between use (good idea if brewing within a few weeks), leave the tap half open and plug it after the valve. Or run a hose from the tap back into the kettle.

 

[hanzie]

I tend to agree a bit with Afromaiko. From what I can work out its the half open position that will get the water in there when you are rinsing. I would also leave my valve in a half open position when not in use.

Anybody know where I can get some of the caustic stuff someone mentioned. And what name its sold under.

 

[Barry]

I use no valves and I am happy .

 

[Goofinder]

I want to replace my urn tap with a 3-piece as I have no idea what is inside an urn tap and want to avoid infections. I have heard that the urn taps are standard size (looks like 1/2 inch)

What sort of tap is on your urn? Mine's 1/2 inch BSP on the inside with a plastic screw in tap that can lock open. On mine, I just unscrew the plastic bit and it pulls out completely giving easy access to clean out the whole tap. I can't see any need to replace the tap on mine. Also, I once tried to unscrew the whole tap (before I figured out how to open it up) and couldn't move it anyway!