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Date: 17 Oct 2006 08:29:39
From: GNUTZ
Subject: sanitizing copper
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i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt. when i
have sanitized the chiller in the past, i have used iodophor or a
one-step solution. however, there seems to be an odd, chemical-like
smell when sanitizing copper this way. is there some sort of dangerous
corrosive effect occurring? everyone in this user groups suggests
boiling the chiller, but that is not an option for my poor man's
chiller. should i scrap the chiller and purchase a new one? or is it
safe to continue sanitizing my copper with chemicals?
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 13:07:13
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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"GNUTZ" <ismist1@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1161098979.587788.116550@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
> tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
> the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
> rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt. when i
> have sanitized the chiller in the past, i have used iodophor or a
> one-step solution. however, there seems to be an odd, chemical-like
> smell when sanitizing copper this way. is there some sort of dangerous
> corrosive effect occurring? everyone in this user groups suggests
> boiling the chiller, but that is not an option for my poor man's
> chiller. should i scrap the chiller and purchase a new one? or is it
> safe to continue sanitizing my copper with chemicals?
I would just replace the tubing. I got some decent clear tubing from Home
Depot and while it does seem to soften where it's connected to the coil, it
has never melted in a 15 minute boil. I think the tubing cost me less than
$5 for a 20' or 25' piece which is more than enough tubing, depending on
where you're trying to run the water off to.
Gerard
>
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 15:52:06
From: T.J. Higgins
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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In article <1161098979.587788.116550@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com >, GNUTZ wrote:
>i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
>tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
>the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
>rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt.
15 minutes seems excessive to me. I put mine into the boil
right before the late hop additions. Putting the chiller in
usually kills the boil for a short time, so I wait a couple
of minutes until boil is re-established, add my finishing
hops, and it's done. The chiller is in the boil for 5
minutes at most; usually it's more like 2 or 3. I've never
had an infection problem that I felt was the result of a
poorly sanitized chiller.
--
TJH
tjhiggin.at.hiwaay.dot.net
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 18:28:20
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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On Tue, 17 2006 15:52:06 -0000, <ernest.p.worrell@vernal.equinox.edu > wrote:
> In article <1161098979.587788.116550@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, GNUTZ wrote:
>>i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
>>tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
>>the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
>>rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt.
>
> 15 minutes seems excessive to me. I put mine into the boil
> right before the late hop additions. Putting the chiller in
> usually kills the boil for a short time, so I wait a couple
> of minutes until boil is re-established, add my finishing
> hops, and it's done. The chiller is in the boil for 5
> minutes at most; usually it's more like 2 or 3. I've never
> had an infection problem that I felt was the result of a
> poorly sanitized chiller.
It probably has to do with sterilization boiling times. Theoretically you
need to boil something for like 20 minutes in order to disinfect it.
Probably overkill for homebrewing, but it won't hurt your copper and is
easy enough to do. I usually put mine in for the last 10 minutes or so, but
I'm not too picky on the time. You could probably have it in there for
the whole boil if you really wanted to. On the other hand, a couple minutes
is probably sufficient if it's fairly clean to begin with.
John.
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 13:11:40
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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T.J. Higgins wrote:
> In article <1161098979.587788.116550@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, GNUTZ wrote:
>
>>i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
>>tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
>>the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
>>rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt.
>
>
> 15 minutes seems excessive to me. I put mine into the boil
> right before the late hop additions. Putting the chiller in
> usually kills the boil for a short time, so I wait a couple
> of minutes until boil is re-established, add my finishing
> hops, and it's done. The chiller is in the boil for 5
> minutes at most; usually it's more like 2 or 3. I've never
> had an infection problem that I felt was the result of a
> poorly sanitized chiller.
I should have said, I also drop the chiller in within the last 5 minutes
after sanitizing with B-Brite and never had an infection in the 13 batches
I've done thusfar.
It really only takes a minute or two at near boiling temp to kill the
bugs on the chiller. If you're sanitizing prior to dropping in, there
ain't much left on it to kill.
--
Dan
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 11:45:43
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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GNUTZ wrote:
> i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
> tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
> the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
> rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt. when i
> have sanitized the chiller in the past, i have used iodophor or a
> one-step solution. however, there seems to be an odd, chemical-like
> smell when sanitizing copper this way. is there some sort of dangerous
> corrosive effect occurring? everyone in this user groups suggests
> boiling the chiller, but that is not an option for my poor man's
> chiller. should i scrap the chiller and purchase a new one? or is it
> safe to continue sanitizing my copper with chemicals?
I have a 20' copper immersion chiller that I sanitize with B-brite.
I use the B-Brite to sanitize the fermentor, then dump that into another
bucket with the chiller. It does a great job..
--
Dan
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 20:04:23
From: Kyle
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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In article <4534faa9$0$557$b45e6eb0@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu >,
Dan Logcher <dlogcher*xspam*@comcast.net > wrote:
>I have a 20' copper immersion chiller that I sanitize with B-brite.
>I use the B-Brite to sanitize the fermentor, then dump that into another
>bucket with the chiller. It does a great job..
>
>--
>Dan
careful there: B-Brite is great for cleaning, but it isn't a
sanitizer. Follow up the B-Brite treatment with some iodophor. Or
pick a different sanitizer that is also useful for cleaning.
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 18:41:55
From: Dan Logcher
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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Kyle wrote:
> In article <4534faa9$0$557$b45e6eb0@senator-bedfellow.mit.edu>,
> Dan Logcher <dlogcher*xspam*@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>>I have a 20' copper immersion chiller that I sanitize with B-brite.
>>I use the B-Brite to sanitize the fermentor, then dump that into another
>>bucket with the chiller. It does a great job..
>
> careful there: B-Brite is great for cleaning, but it isn't a
> sanitizer. Follow up the B-Brite treatment with some iodophor. Or
> pick a different sanitizer that is also useful for cleaning.
B-Brite is listed as a sanitizer.
http://www.stoutbillys.com/stout/infonsf/Library/CBA9A900.htm
http://www.beer-wine.com/product.asp?sectionID=2&CategoryID=85&productID=84
http://www.homebrewhq.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=1140
--
Dan
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 13:21:31
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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GNUTZ wrote:
> i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
> tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
> the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
> rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt. when i
> have sanitized the chiller in the past, i have used iodophor or a
> one-step solution. however, there seems to be an odd, chemical-like
> smell when sanitizing copper this way. is there some sort of dangerous
> corrosive effect occurring? everyone in this user groups suggests
> boiling the chiller, but that is not an option for my poor man's
> chiller. should i scrap the chiller and purchase a new one? or is it
> safe to continue sanitizing my copper with chemicals?
>
The general approach to sanitizing an IC is to put it in the boil for
the final 15 minutes -- then you don't need a sanitizer at all. Replace
your tubing with vinyl braid-reinforced tubing from the hardware store
and you won't have any problems -- this is what I use when I use an IC
and it has worked fine for years.
Hope that helps -- m
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)
Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html
Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!
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Date: 17 Oct 2006 13:25:26
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: sanitizing copper
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The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty wrote:
> GNUTZ wrote:
>> i am using a homemade wort chiller made of copper and plastic tubing. i
>> tried sanitizing my chiller with my last batch of wort by adding it to
>> the boiling pot with 15 minutes of boiling remaining, but because of my
>> rather "cheap" use of materials, the tubing began to melt. when i
>> have sanitized the chiller in the past, i have used iodophor or a
>> one-step solution. however, there seems to be an odd, chemical-like
>> smell when sanitizing copper this way. is there some sort of dangerous
>> corrosive effect occurring? everyone in this user groups suggests
>> boiling the chiller, but that is not an option for my poor man's
>> chiller. should i scrap the chiller and purchase a new one? or is it
>> safe to continue sanitizing my copper with chemicals?
>>
>
> The general approach to sanitizing an IC is to put it in the boil for
> the final 15 minutes -- then you don't need a sanitizer at all. Replace
> your tubing with vinyl braid-reinforced tubing from the hardware store
> and you won't have any problems -- this is what I use when I use an IC
> and it has worked fine for years.
>
> Hope that helps -- m
>
Note that I'm assuming the vinyl tubing itself is not immersed in the
boiling wort. If this is the case, you probably to need to make a new
chiller with the copper/vinyl tubing interface *above* the level of the
boiling wort. Alternatively, you may be able to modify your existing
cooler so that this is the case.
Cheers -- m
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)
Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html
Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!
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