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Dishwasher and PBW... Will it work?

dtapke

Grandmaster Brewer
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So, after spending the weekend going through all my small parts and washing in PBW (something I probably do more than most, but less than I should...) I was thinking, is there any reason I can't toss all this stuff in a dishwasher basket with some PBW and call it good? Has anyone done this? I know lots of folks seem to like arguing about bottles in the dishwasher, but I'm talking about disassembled sanitary valves, three piece valves, tri-clover spools, pump heads, etc.

As an aside, and to keep from creating another post... Anyone got any brilliant solutions for getting a thorough clean on a plate chiller? I've got an amazing Duda 60 plate chiller thats amazing that some idiot decided to run too many hops through... I won't name that idiot, because I only see him in the mirror and haven't caught his name yet.
 
For the plate chiller I would recommend backflushing first. If that does not work try backflushing with some PBW-water mix and then give it a thorough flush with plain water.
 
For the plate chiller I would recommend backflushing first. If that does not work try backflushing with some PBW-water mix and then give it a thorough flush with plain water.
I've back flushed back and forth and back and forth about 5-7 times with PBW@180F and it still seems like if I let it sit for a day or two to dry out, then hit it with clean water and check the output, i still get some particulate matter in it. I'm likely going to switch to a counterflow but I've used a copper counterflow i have and when doing larger batches (20-30G) it doesn't do the trick nearly as well as the plate chiller. Maybe I'll have to get two counterflow and run them in series...
 
Plate chillers do have their shortcomings. That's why their popularity has dropped significantly over the last 6 or 8 years, mostly in favor of counterflows and high efficiency immersion chillers. You can throttle down the flow through a counterflow to chill your bear in a single pass.
 
Plate chillers do have their shortcomings. That's why their popularity has dropped significantly over the last 6 or 8 years, mostly in favor of counterflows and high efficiency immersion chillers. You can throttle down the flow through a counterflow to chill your bear in a single pass.
Throttling flow is helpful after you've dropped out your cold break, which if I recall happens under 130F. With boils in the 16-30 gallon range this still takes a bit longer with a counterflow. I think the end result is going to be two counterflows in series.... It's only money right?
 
As for your first question--I see no reason why you couldn't use some PBW in place of dishwasher detergent. I wouldn't think it would be any harder on the machine than some of the stuff you normally cycle through it. Just be sure your machine doesn't dispense any rinse agent like Jet Dry.
 
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