National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Equipment & Chemicals => Topic started by: admin on September 24, 2012, 02:32:07 PM

Title: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: admin on September 24, 2012, 02:32:07 PM
Finding it harder and harder to clean one of them. All I usually do is give em a good scrub with a sponge, but one in particular is accumulating a fair amount of shite.

Any tips welcome!
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: Stitch on September 24, 2012, 03:26:38 PM
Gave you tried to boil water with some citric acid in it?? This might help
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: Rossa on September 24, 2012, 03:43:51 PM
Caustic will do it. I did mine yesterday and they are gleaming now. In fact everything I cleaned yesterday is gleaming thanks to it.
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: Spud395 on September 24, 2012, 04:23:08 PM
I have a specially trimmed tooth brush and just give them a scrub. The customized toothbrush reaches the parts other brushes cant.

Do this shortly after the boil when the crud is soft and it works a treat.
Although I do like the sound of caustic for a good deep clean now and again
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: Padraic on September 24, 2012, 07:21:58 PM
Yea where best to get it? ALDI or LIDL? Can you just rinse it out then or do you need to do anything else with it?
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: Rossa on September 25, 2012, 11:30:22 AM
I got some brewing caustic that doesn't seem to take your hand off as the normal stuff does. still very powerful. I got it s few years ago off an American brewer who was moving home. you can pick the regular stuff up in woodies. Dangerous stuff though.
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: imark on November 02, 2012, 03:26:53 PM
I have been using Chemipro OXI that I got from thehomebrewcompany. It works well but at €12/kg I think it's a bit costly. I'm not sure what's in it.

I'd imagine there is surely some un-branded equivalent in the likes farm stores. Is that equivalent caustic?
Title: Re: How do you clean your elements?
Post by: MAF on November 02, 2012, 09:49:33 PM
I was given some PBW a while back, and it's great for cleaning elements.