Brupaks boiler. Filthy. Mouldy. How to clean?

[wild_quinine]

Help me you guys. You're my only hope.

I bought a brupaks boiler second hand yesterday. I'm going to do quite an expensive extract brew (it's a huge step up from partial boils, and I'm celebrating by going mad on my ingredients list).

Its got a plate to conceal the element, so I've just unscrewed it to give it a clean and... wow. It's bad news.

http://imgur.com/a/eUhvG

I can't bear the thought of risking my expensive batch on this thing. What the best workflow?

At the moment I'm planning:

1) VWP and hot water, left overnight - to break things up, and more for my own health than anything.
2) A good scrubbing out with a soft brush
4) A test boil, and let things run through a bit.
5) More VWP just before the brew itself, and a bloody good rinse.

Anything else, or any other order? Normally I'd consider so many cleaning steps to be overkill, but given the wild forest of mould in there, I don't even know if I shouldn't just try again with something else...

[borischarlton]

You need Sodium Percarbonate, a few table spoons in the bottom, half fill with water, turn it on so that it gets hot, 50c or so and then leave for a day or so. Give it a scrub and it will be sparkling!

Cheers

Rob

[Jocky]

Napalm?

[wild_quinine]

Thanks for tips guys. I'll post some 'after' pics later if I remember.

This is going to be some save, if I get it shiny again.

Funny thing is I'm usually so fussy with mould, I wouldn't go near anything that had ever got mouldy again, usually.

And here I am planning to brew in the damn thing in a couple of days, and I'm more worried about the beer than me!

I'm spurred on (somewhat) by the thought that if there's anything harmful left in there it will ruin my beer long before I drink a dangerous amount of it, so I better get it right!

[BenB]

Noxious chemicals and some elbow grease.
Either that or some petrol and a match

[wild_quinine]

Considered the napalm, but apparently the army surplus was out of stock this week.

Went with noxious chemicals and elbow grease, and was pleasantly surprised to discover, as Rob hinted, that with the right noxious chemicals the amount of elbow grease required was not too serious.

Before:
http://imgur.com/a/eUhvG

After:
http://imgur.com/a/a5hTo

[JamesF]

Funny thing is I'm usually so fussy with mould, I wouldn't go near anything that had ever got mouldy again, usually.

Lots of good stuff has mould. Cheese, salami (lots of air-dried sausages, in fact). You just need to be choosy about your moulds

James

[themadhippy]

Considered the napalm, but apparently the army surplus was out of stock this week.

vasaline and lighter fuel makes a good homebrew substitute

[JamesF]

vasaline and lighter fuel makes a good homebrew substitute

Don't think I've ever got that desperate, myself

James

[Jocky]

Considered the napalm, but apparently the army surplus was out of stock this week.

Went with noxious chemicals and elbow grease, and was pleasantly surprised to discover, as Rob hinted, that with the right noxious chemicals the amount of elbow grease required was not too serious.

Before:
http://imgur.com/a/eUhvG

After:
http://imgur.com/a/a5hTo

Good work there.

Can't believe how some people let their kit get.

[AFewTooMany]

I'd give it a soak with oxi and hot water, a scrub with steel wool on the element and plate, repeat until it looks clean. Then soak with vwp overnight and a good rinse in the morning. That should shift everything. And just to be sure fill with a little water and give it a boil to ensure everything is dead. You might want to check / disassemble your tap if you've got one!