submersible pump keg / carboy cleaner

[diastase_great]

I'm making one of the submersible pump in a 5 gal bucket style key / carboy cleaner and i started to get worried about if the plastic of the pump is ok to run 160 degree PBW water and star san or sani clean or iodaphore through the non food grade pump. especially with the casing of the pump sitting in the bath.

Also with connecting the pump to the spray tower, should i avoid copper or PVC? The threaded connections i would use to connect to the pump are brass, correct? any problem there?

[Bugeater]

I built one of these myself. I don't use particularly hot water. If you can hold your hand in it, it is going to be pretty safe for the pump. I just start the thing going and let it run for 15-20 minutes while doing other stuff. With hot PBW you probably wouldn't need to go that long, but at the lower temperature it seems to work just fine. I inspect the inside of the keg when done to just make sure it's clean, but haven't ever seen a problem.

It doesn't matter about mixing materials here. You are not going to be running this for several hours a day every day. Heavy usage like that or if you leave it submerged all the time, then you might have a problem. For homebrew use there won't be any problems for at least a couple of decades.

Wayne

[PSUHomebrewer]

If you are using the pump in a 5g bucket you don't need hot pbw, the heat the pump generates from running will warm the water. After one of my longer cleaning runs (2 keggles, 3 carboys and 2 kegs each on for 10-20mins) the water was hot to the touch. If you do want to use hot pbw, I'd recommend going with the upgraded setup using a 20/32g garbich can and grill grate to help dissipate heat.

[captain carrot]

I use hot tap water in mine. I washed a carboy and 7 kegs Friday (1/2 hr each) and the water was still warm when I finished.
Using PVC will save you a lot of money. The only brass I used was for the barbed connections.
Backflush the pump with clean water when your done and it should last a long time.
Good luck and post some pics when your done!

[JoeBeer100]

I really like the idea, and one day, when I get enough spare change saved up, I will build a cleaner. Sorry if this has been covered, but is there a preferred model for the submersibile pump? Is there any precleaning or disassembly necessary to remove harmful (i.e. non food grade) lubricants or anything like that?

[captain carrot]

I really like the idea, and one day, when I get enough spare change saved up, I will build a cleaner. Sorry if this has been covered, but is there a preferred model for the submersibile pump? Is there any precleaning or disassembly necessary to remove harmful (i.e. non food grade) lubricants or anything like that?

My pump is a Barracuda 1/4 hp submersible utility pump from Menards (local big box).
http://www.menards.com/main/plumbing/pu ... c-8673.htm
I didn't take mine apart but I guess it wouldn't hurt to clean it out before hand.
Good Luck!

[PSUHomebrewer]

I use the $80ish pump from the Home Depot. As for lubricants if you do a "dry" run they should be taken care of, at least the excess.