Velo maintenance regimen

[treycherry]

We work witha 10sq meter vertical leaf Velo...does anyone have a cleaning regimen they would recommend? We run a caustic weekly...does and acid wash ever need to be run? Any recommendations on dosing pump maintenance? any and all info. will help! thanks

trey

[BrewinLou]

As with everything, it depends on some variables. How often do you use it? We have had no problems with the dosing pump itself in 6 years. The diaphragm has been replaced a couple times. I have replaced most of the butterfly valve seats now. I have replaced the main large flat doughnut ring seals on either end of the main manifold twice, as well as the hard Teflon seats for the vertical screens twice. I pull the screens out quarterly for inspection and replace the double o-rings on the bottoms every time. We run a light BruREz cleaning before every use, then let it soak in diluted Birkodyne overnight. Quick pasteurize and it is ready to rock.

[Woolsocks]

I consider Jerry, our Velo, the most high-maintenance piece of equipment we have.

Here's our regimen, in Remember the Milk format. If you're not familiar with RTM, this is a good opportunity to check it out. We find it incredibly useful around the brewery.

http://snipurl.com/velomaint

[treycherry]

thanks for the replys guys.

hey woolsocks, I see that you run an acid on the velo, ahem...jerry. how often is this done?

also, do you use RTM for other cellar tasks in the brewery?

trey

[treycherry]

brewinlou, i forgot to clue you in...we filter around 500 bbl per week, and run a caustic wash weekly

[Woolsocks]

thanks for the replys guys.

hey woolsocks, I see that you run an acid on the velo, ahem...jerry. how often is this done?

also, do you use RTM for other cellar tasks in the brewery?

trey

Jerry gets an acid bath about every 10 weeks. Yeah, we use RTM for just about everything. SUPER handy. And free!