Cask washer pump

[owatts]

Hello chums,

Anyone have any experience with building a cask washer?

I am after a pump that can produce around 3 bar. I have a chugger pump but it doesn't drive the spray head I have purchased.

[weetabixface]

Power shower pump would suit, but pricey

Jet wash

Or one of those air pumped garden sprays

W

[GeeThom]

Depends on what you are intending to wash with.
If you are using caustic (cold or hot) the pump may not last very long. Microbrewery pumps are built to survive the caustic environment but they are costly.

[owatts]

I will be washing with hot oxy bleach followed by cold peracetic

[GeeThom]

I have certainly seen a jet wash in use for 10% peracetic sterilising in a micro and this would probably handle oxy bleach as well so may be worth a shot.
Are you sure the bleach will remove any stuck on yeast especially where you can't see it, this is usually the job of caustic?

[bquiggerz]

I use oxi to clean everything I have and its never had an issue moving even the most stubborn soiling at 1 scoop per 23 litres.

[normanh]

Get a pressure washer with steam!

Norman

[Aaron]

can you get a sprayball fitting for pressure washers?

[fordpopular]

can you get a sprayball fitting for pressure washers?

I wouldn't have thought so but im sure you could attach one instead of of the lance somehow .. sounds like a good idea to me.

I use a cask washer at work and its very powerful as I found out once when I only had one cask on and forgot to turn off the other head. luckily i was wearing safety glasses but the rest of me and the room was sprayed with hot caustic before I could hit the kill switch .. its not kind to clothes or skin

our cask washer, soon to be upgraded to a much better system

[TheFlatulentCow]

I found that a chugger pump needs a good head of water (at least 200 litres in the HLT for example) behind it to be able to give a good clean. I ended up using a garden water butt (sump) pump from screw fix and that works well with a sprayball.

[asd]

225 litre blue mango barrel, submersible pump, 13A immersion element, wand from pump outlet to just above top of blue mango barrel, blue mango barrel lid cut out to enable cask to rest on it, and take wand. Rest cask over aperture, switch on. No real need for a sprayball, as submersible pump sprays everywhere inside. Beware of shower of hot caustic if switched on before cask in place. After this has happened, fit a pressure switch.

Submersible pumps seem to cope with caustic and moderate heat, although obviously are not sold as such. Likewise ordinary domestic immersion elements. You don't want it too hot anyway, as that can "bake on" protein deposits rather than remove them. 50-55C max.

AS far as peracetic goes, just a spray from a pump up 15 litre garden sprayer, spin the cask, roll it a few times, then bung it up till ready for use.

[Pinto]

I use a cask washer at work and its very powerful as I found out once when I only had one cask on and forgot to turn off the other head. luckily i was wearing safety glasses but the rest of me and the room was sprayed with hot caustic before I could hit the kill switch .. its not kind to clothes or skin

Or particularly to eyes.

The eyes are able to recover (somewhat) from relatively bad acid based chemical burns - but caustic solutions react with the fatty parts of the eye to make....soap. No recovery. Game over. Collect white stick and labrador.

They drummed this into us again and again in the Labs at Uni when using the base bath to clean glassware - I cant stress this warning enough to anyone using hot OR cold caustic solutions for cleaning purposes either.

Take care, folks