Home Distiller

Hey, folks, so the interior of my shotgun condenser is pretty gross. What would y'all suggest to clean it with?

My thoughts.. is probably to pour foreshots, or some other type of cleaning agent into it, and let it soak for 24 hours or longer. Drain that out, then maybe i can add something in there that i can shake around to loosen up some of the grunge and crud?

A little more detail..

So, it's a stainless steel, welded, 24" X 2" 7 Tube shotgun condenser. I believe they are 3/8" tubes, but don't quote me on that. The part that needs cleaning, is not the inside of the distillate tubes themselves, it is the shell, the part where the water flows through. I"m sure it is dirty from my reservoir, which i've discussed before. It had gotten a bit nasty, as i wasn't changing it enough. I've solved that problem. But, if i peek inside the shell, i can see it's pretty gross inside there. I can't really access it in any way, as it is stainless and welded shut. There is no way of disassembling it whatsoever, so any cleaning will have to be done with liquids pretty much. Like i said, i thought that for sure i'll want to soak it inside with some sort of cleaning agents. Perhaps a two stage soak. And i thought maybe there would be something kind of abrasive i could pour into it and shake around to kind of knock the crud out, and then pour it out. I don't know... sand, salt, sugar? Something coarse? I've no idea on that one. Also, i thought maybe if i could hook up some high pressure water and blast hot water through it really hard... but.. i mean that's kind of what happens in it's normal duty. The cooling water can get pretty hot at times.

So.. any suggestions are welcome. Cleaning agent for soaking, any sort of abrasive i can put in there and shake around, and any other techniques that y'all suggest. Thank you very much fro your time and assistance.


CC

maybe try some pbw or oxt clean in there. I have been thinking on that myself.

I'll second PBW to begin with. That sh!t's magic overnight.

Crushed ice and salt makes a good shaking abrasive for cleaning hard to reach things if you really need to. PBW or similar along with flushing ought to do it though.

If you have a pot big enough dump the shotgun condenser in a ~5% citric acid bath and boil it, will be spotless in 10-30 minutes. Citric acid is also used as passivation of stainless steel so doesn't harm it, actually protects it if it has been damaged somehow.

After cleaning...

What was it, Der Wo who says the perfect flavor patina for copper is both a strong acid AND also alkaline wash?

I can see that, even'n the charge out again, ready to filter out sulfides. yep.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'll give PBW a shot.

It's SS, so Patina isn't really at play here.

Thanks, CC

I use a shotgun cleaning pad. 12 gauge fits in the tubes nicely.

https://www.amazon.com/Hoppes-No-Cleani ... B0013R9WP8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

it is the shell, the part where the water flows through. I"m sure it is dirty from my reservoir, which i've discussed before. It had gotten a bit nasty, as i wasn't changing it enough. I've solved that problem. But, if i peek inside the shell, i can see it's pretty gross inside there.
Really ? Have a go at this and then decide. http://durhum.com/visite-chez-hampden/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

yeh. see i have to live, eat, sleep at my distillery. So i try to keep it just a bit cleaner than Hampden. Hampden is legendary though. I've got a bottle of their rum fire sitting in front of me right now. I Do have a couple buckets of dunder on the balcony aging, but I'm pretty sure i'll never be able to make something that compares to their high hogo stuff.