Ball Valves Wont Seal....

I took 30 minutes today and rebuilt both of the ball valves. Luckily, I had enough teflon tape, but just ran out as i finished the last one. Best part is, it worked!

Follow up question. When cleaning up after a brew day, do you disassemble the ball valves each and every time?
No! It's in the mash tun. You will be boiling the output of the mash tun for an hour or so. Anything that grows in there will be killed in the boil. Save yourself time, effort and sanity and forget about doing more than getting your mash tun clean!
 
No! It's in the mash tun. You will be boiling the output of the mash tun for an hour or so. Anything that grows in there will be killed in the boil. Save yourself time, effort and sanity and forget about doing more than getting your mash tun clean!


Makes sense! I usually give it a quick cursory rinse of sani anyways but very good point!
 
I rinse mine with hot water after use and before next use. Nice work getting it to hold!
 
the best thing to do is use pbw and a hose brush, give it a swipe back and fourth then close and open the valve a few times then drain into a bucket then do the same thing with Star-Sans
 
the best thing to do is use pbw and a hose brush, give it a swipe back and fourth then close and open the valve a few times then drain into a bucket then do the same thing with Star-Sans

The homebrew store I bought my sani from doesn't list if its PBW or exactly what it is. It works well though so no complaints. It may very well be PBW that is in a different package, I'm not sure. Amazon canada has PBW for $13 so its pretty comparable and will get the real deal next!
 
Sodium percarbonate is waht i use pure form im pretty sure this is close to Pro Brewers Washo_O.
 
I use Oxiclean for cleaning. I don't use it on my mash tun however.
 
I generally just hose out my mash tun and then flush a bunch of water through the valve. Be careful using Amazon for brewing supplies in Canada, a lot of it is crazy over priced. Also, Oxyclean is my go to for almost everything these days. That shit is amazing.
 
I generally just hose out my mash tun and then flush a bunch of water through the valve. Be careful using Amazon for brewing supplies in Canada, a lot of it is crazy over priced. Also, Oxyclean is my go to for almost everything these days. That shit is amazing.

Is it the regular Oxiclean? that seems ingenious! I've found some steals on amazon canada, but some other things are outrageous. My kettle right now doesn't have any ball valves.

I've been thinking about installing a sight gauge, but I don't like the idea of drilling into a perfectly good kettle/pot just for a sight gauge. Especially when a dipstick works just fine.

I have plans for a third Marzen next weekend. Third time at trying a decoction. I've realized I wasn't reading the multi-stage infusion properly, and didn't realize i needed to add boiling water to the mash.....
 
I have a huge amount of oxiclean and degreaser mixture, tsp90 or something close and it's not even close to what pbw can clean and actually pbw and one step mixed is a very good cleaner
 
I may take a look into making it, Oxyclean is less than half the price of PBW here.
 
Are all of these cleaners cooler plastic safe or best used on steel?
 
They work using oxygen as the cleaning agent. They're safe for just about everything.
 
They work using oxygen as the cleaning agent. They're safe for just about everything.

Makes sense. I have some TSP but thought it was a pretty strong cleaning agent. What ratio of each do you use?
 

Back
Top