Moisture in hoses after brewing....

[Daves69]

So I have just built a single tier brew stand and did a dry "wet" run last night. Everything went well just one leak that was easily resolved. Anyhow this morning I go back to my garage to work on her some more and I noticed moisture was still in the hoses, obviously this was because I did nothing to remove it lol. With that said is this going to be a issue later in life? Mildew, mold etc... I live in central Florida it's always hot and humid here so I doubt they will ever dry on their own. Also you guys that use a pump do you remove the hose from both ends i.e the vessel and pump ends when your done brewing? Or do you leave both hooked up? Just one end? Thanks!

 

[grathan]

I disassemble everything and place upside down to drip dry. I have to go months in between brews. Eventually I would probably put a drain and design so that everything drip dries without removal. I wonder if this is even possible with a pump bolted in place though...

 

[ArcaneXor]

I just got a single-tier stand as well, and am looking forward to breaking it in next week or so.

That said, I used a ghetto pump system before. After brewing, I rinse all equipment, pump PBW through the system, rinse again, and finally pump Saniclean through it. I then disconnect all hoses (including from the pump) to let them drain.

 

[Daves69]

My pump is bolted in place, I don't mind disconnecting the hoses etc to let them dry but at the same time I don't want a spider or anything of the sorts crawling up into my pump housing making a home. Like I said my brew stand lives in my garage.

 

[processhead]

Are you set up to recirculate though all or part of your system?

My cleaning routine is to initially do a quick flush of the pump and hoses with water under pressure from my brew sink. I have a hose adapter, and a 5 gallon cleaning bucket with inlet and outlet fitting to attach to the system for this.

Then I circulate 130 degree PBW solution through everything for 20 minutes, drain, then repeat with 130 degree rinse water.

At that point I'll drain everything and call it done.

If you were worried about any bio-growth over time you could circulate star-san as a final

step.

For my system, I feel total disassembly is unnecessary in most cases.

How many folks have included a system drain valve at the lowest point in their brew-system plumbing?

 

[ianw58]

+1 for processhead

If you're worried about spiders in your pump (you've got me thinking that way, now), how about these:

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=51_54&product_id=145

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=51_54&product_id=144

or...just wrap a piece of aluminum foil over the open intake and output on your pump.

 

[Daves69]

Some great suggestions, I am set up to recirc through all my vessels but only one at a time.

 

[ianw58]

Some great suggestions, I am set up to recirc through all my vessels but only one at a time.

Me, too...