? for those using stainless scrubbers. how do you prep them?

[coastershiner]

Hey guys, I just removed my scrubbers from my VM for the first time in 6 months, THEY WERE STINKY! Maybe I left them in there way, way too long, I run the still about 3 or 4 times a week (ya, this has become an obsession), i do a birdwatchers and ujssm constantly, but run my product through my pot still 2 times first before the refux. I dont doubt I should probably clean them more often, but im wondering, what do you guys do? I used 55 scubbers that I stretched out and pulled apart into one giant ball, then seperated it into pieces I could fit into my 3"×60" column. I have heard of guys "etching" them with acid, or cutting them up, anyone got some tips before I put them back in the column? And how often do you remove and clean your scrubbers?

[carbohydratesn]

Etching them leads to rusting, unless you do a sequence of chemical baths afterwards - I would never want to etch scrubbers.

Many seem to flush out their columns with hot/boiling water, or even better, hot backset, as it's acidic. Run water through until you get no tails-y smells, you have to get all of the tails out. And every few runs, maybe every 5-12, you can remove all the scrubbers and rinse them under hot water. I use SPP, a little different, but the care is very similar. I either flush thoroughly with hot water or remove the packing after every run, and soak it in hot water until they don't smell any more.

The last thing to go through your packing is a *ton* of tails, and if you leave that all in there, it's gonna stink after a while

[coastershiner]

BACKSET? That sounds crazy! Never would have considered it! I love the idea of somehow using the crap thats left in the still after a spirit run but That stuff is nasty. Do you really do that? Pump that nasty crap into the top of your still and let it run though your packing?Would that really be beneficial? Im down if thats a true cleaning method. I have read many of your posts carbohydratesen, you sound like an informed, smart dude.

[carbohydratesn]

I guess it might not be the best idea with a full column of scrubbers - I've only done it with two scrubbers in there - but it'll clean the copper and get the tailsy smells out of there. With packing, it's only a good idea if you're sure there are no solids in the liquid. As long as you rinse it all out afterward, it shouldn't do any harm.

And thanks for the compliment, I've had a lot of free time lately and this hobby has been an extremely satisfying way to fill it. I learn things every day from participating in threads here, and a lot from just reading old posts. Standin' on the shoulders of giants

[shadylane]

I don't use SS scrubbers, but a friend that does cleans them in a pot of boiling water.

[tom sawyer]

What about removing the packing and boiling it with some dilute vinegar, then giving it a good rinse? I too have used my still quite a bit without a lot of cleaning, just a rinse with room temp water after a run.

[bearriver]

When first using a new packing, I treat them like any new part.
1st a manual cleaning. In this case that looks like boiling off the machining oils in water. I submerse them beneath water and boil. Pour the water off the top and do not recontaminate them buy pulling them out. Do this 2-3 more times. 2nd step is the standard series of cleaning runs. Water, vinegar, then sac alcohol (Birdwatchers).

After that I'm good to go. For neutrals, I do not maintenance them. When changing recipes I give everything a rinse with hot water. Once my SS scrrubbers go in they stay in. The scrubbers in my reflux coil, the product cooler, and the now discontinued column packing all still look brand new after a year + of regular use. Scrubbers can stink like wet dog and cardboard from the tails of the last run. The fores during the next run clears it out nicely. It wont hurt them or add funky flavors in the next run. You toss the fores anyway.

Once I changed out the copper scrubbers in my copper still for SS, I quit needing to remove them for cleaning. The copper scrubbers quickly became corroded and imparted an unpleasant flavor to my drinks. This required extra maintenance over SS to keep things in working condition, which included pulling the copper scrubbers out to remove the corrosion. (Thanks Usge).

[coastershiner]

Do you keep the scrubbers whole? Or do you stretch them out? I streached all of mine out, it was a pain to do and not sure now if it was neccisary.

[bearriver]

I don't use them anymore. Lava rock performs better in my 3" column.

I experienced the best results with scrubbers by taking one unmolested scrubber and putting it in the center of another. Then I'd carefully shape it into a cylinder about one half of an inch larger than my column's diameter. Pack that puppy in there very tight with a custom ram rod, and repeat until the column was fully packed.

[DAD300]

I wash them in dish detergent, rinse with hot water and boil them. Then a quick rinse in lemon juice. The acid passivates the SS.

[Hound Dog]

Pack them tighter than you think you should. It will work better. Like Bear said though, lava rocks are even better.

[bearriver]

I totally missed the 3" part of the OP. Forget the scrubbers and buy a few bags of lava rock for $6. I sat on the couch watching TV while picking out the most porous rocks, then broke them up to the size of a US dime with a hammer and chisel.

Boil them in water to clean them.

[coastershiner]

Awsome. Yes I am going to be using lava rock in my next few builds, after reading the complete "lets talk column packing" I was sold. I already have 55 scrubbers so those will stay with this column, but I do realize they may not be the best.
thanks for sharing. I always wonder about how tight to pack, as I cant fit my mouth over a piece of 3 inch pipe to blow through, lol, I tried.

[Prairiepiss]

If your packing needs cleaned. So does your column. Just do a vinegar run followed by a water run. And a junk feints run. Basically a new still cleaning regiment.

If you had a puke it something then taking them out and boiling them would be good.

Rinse with hot water after a run. And the fores from the next run will clean it before the good stuff comes out.

Backset could be used. But it needs to not have any solids in it. Or they will stick in the packing. And you will want to rinse it with hot water afterwards. Or you will have a dunder pit in your column. Mmmmmmm tasty.

[coastershiner]

The reason my packing was so gross was I had been doin stripping runs with a packed column. Not proper procedure I know, but its a pain to disassemble my rig and remove the scrubbers, so I just leave it set up in the shed. Now I have a pot still too, so only low wines, pot distilled twice go into my reflux column and boiler. I wont let my scrubbers get so bad again, I left them in for probably 25 runs that time.
I plan on setting the column up in a way that after a run, I can just open a valve and flush the whole system out. From above the condensor, through the packing and out the boiler drain.

[moosemilk]

After reading this, I'm wondering why more don't save up for shots to clean with. Saving fors is easy for me running pot still, collect 200-250ml for every 5 gallons of wash (some may say that's a bit high, but even at that it's heads and I don't want those first heads either). After I do a bunch of rum runs, the still has that coating of rum oils. So I'll take a gallon or so of my foreshots, dilute them down to 35-40% abv, and run this through. Cleans the rum crap right out. Give a good rinse with hot water after and dry it out.

Why not do this with your columns every now and then? Even a half gallon of fors diluted with a few gallons water should clean that column up as a maintenance thing between full cleanings, no?