Devices for cleaning bottles?

[chewie]

I could really do something like that very cheaply.
Make it self contained too, so tops of the outsides of the bottles get a wash too.
Have a dump valve to empty,
Fill with clean water for the rinse. Dump
Fill will starsan. Dump back into starsan container to be reused

Yeh, that would be very easy and VERY cheap if I used plastic pipe.
I'd just need the pump (the one I have, now I think about it, doesn't have the pressure required)

A couple of issues with that design or at least what he is using.

The hot water pressure for rinsing 24 bottles at a time will need to be good.

There he is not cleaning bottles so you would need to think about running thru a bucket of cleaner solution.

He says he is using starsan. Starsan is not recommended where soft metals are present, the copper might be ok but the soldered joints could be affected.

I would also fit a drain valve on the copper pipe array so that if you do run a cleaner thru it and then a sanitiser like starsan, then you can fully drain and flush the cleaner out before running starsan thru it as there is potential to produce chlorine gas depending on what you use as a cleaner.

 

[Dutto]

Or this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGUFzchIkA4

Ha! Thanks a bunch!

Another useful bit of kit that I will just have to make! :thumb:

Actually, I do have a spare 12v Shurflo Pump and 12V battery ...

... and I could turn an old FV into a storage tank for a Star-San mixture ...

... and at the right height it would serve for both 500ml and 650ml bottles.

Not only that, I intended to extend the Wort Cooler anyway 'cos it's summer, so I need to buy some 15mm copper tubing anyway! :whistle: :whistle:

Yep! Definitely on the "To Do" List! Thanks. :thumb:

 

[Clint]

Like the A Team...but ******!

 

[whealsie]

As long as the bottles aren't heavily soiled the dishwasher seems to work fine. I do rinse with starsan but probably don't need to. Dishwasher does save a truckload of time so give it a try.


I love the smell of mashing in the morning.

 

[petertr2000]

A couple of issues with that design or at least what he is using.

The hot water pressure for rinsing 24 bottles at a time will need to be good.

There he is not cleaning bottles so you would need to think about running thru a bucket of cleaner solution.

He says he is using starsan. Starsan is not recommended where soft metals are present, the copper might be ok but the soldered joints could be affected.

I would also fit a drain valve on the copper pipe array so that if you do run a cleaner thru it and then a sanitiser like starsan, then you can fully drain and flush the cleaner out before running starsan thru it as there is potential to produce chlorine gas depending on what you use as a cleaner.

Yeh, I'd thought of putting a drain valve on it - something like a hosepipe connector. And also, I'd do it with pvc pipe not copper - cheaper and easier. Hardly needs to be leak free either!

I do tend to get quite heavily soiled bottles, which is the problem

 

[BeerCat]

I just leave mine lying around in the kitchen until she eventually gives in and does them all. Works well for me. :mrgreen:

 

[Steve62]

I just leave mine lying around in the kitchen until she eventually gives in and does them all. Works well for me. :mrgreen:

I tried that one, she put them in the recycling bin!

 

[Brett74]

I am in the testing phase for building a bottle washer out of these and 1HP irrigation pump like this, I have connected it all up and once the pump was primed it was works really well, I drilled out the holes in the nozzles to a bigger size as the pump needs a fair bit of flow to get up to pressure. The CPM 150 might be a bit overkill here but I need it for CIP ball on my Chronicle too. I have two of the bottle cleaners, one connected to the pump and the other just connected to hot tap for rinsing off the PBW. The idea is to circulate through my sparge water heater so I can control the temp of the cleaning solution. I will do a proper post on it afterwards but that will take a month as I am away with work....

 

[Nicknacknoo]

Dishwasher, hottest setting

 

[Personal91]

Ha! Thanks a bunch!

Another useful bit of kit that I will just have to make! :thumb:

Actually, I do have a spare 12v Shurflo Pump and 12V battery ...

... and I could turn an old FV into a storage tank for a Star-San mixture ...

... and at the right height it would serve for both 500ml and 650ml bottles.

Not only that, I intended to extend the Wort Cooler anyway 'cos it's summer, so I need to buy some 15mm copper tubing anyway! :whistle: :whistle:

Yep! Definitely on the "To Do" List! Thanks. :thumb:

If you wanted to get really creative use water from the wort chiller to sanitise the inside of the bottles, if it's cold water coming from your tap then there's no extra cost - you are just using the transferred energy from the boiling/boiled wort to now sterilise the inside/out of the bottles :)

Could be done very easily aswell

 

[Cwrw666]

After nearly 40 years of homebrewing use some of my bottles (ok - most of them) had thick encrustations of baked on yeast inside. I was still using them as they were but thought a clean-up might be in order. So I made up a concentrated solution of washing soda - a 1kg bag costs about a quid from my local supermarket - and filled a couple of bottles and left to soak. You could see the encrustations fizzing away and after a couple of hours even tough ones just needed a light wizz round with a bottle brush.
It took surprisingly short time to work my way through my 150 or so bottles and now they're all sparkly clean.
So now when I've drunk a few bottles I rinse them out then fill with solution, next day pour the solution on into the next bottles and rinse out again. Takes no time at all really. And the solution can be used over and over again as it's just a strong alkali.