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  • Mill and Auger Question

    I recently boiught a new mill, auger and grist case set up from Radd, a Canadian company. I have been installing the equipment which consists of a rigid auger from the mill to the grist case, and then a flex auger from the grist case to the mash tun.

    The rigid auger is made up of a galvanized tube with a steel auger inside. the auger is very rusty and clearly will contaminate the grain. My question is has anyone encountered this problem, and how have you dealt with it. I am thinking about having the auger sand blasted and coating with an anti rusting paint. The auger is abviously used for animal feed aplications and I am wondering if using this type of auger set up will lead to problems in the long run. Should I get a flex auger set up for the run from the mill to the grist case?

    Does anyone else use a galvanized and steel auger set up?
    Cheers,

    Scott Vaccaro
    Captain Lawrence Brewing CO
    Elmsford, NY
    www.CaptainLawrenceBrewing.com

  • #2
    Scott,

    Flex augers are better for the corrosion issues you been seeing, but there are probably some things that can be doen to use what you have for the time being. We had a different issues with our flex auger, but I think the fix application could be the same.

    Iron Oxide, or rust, is actually harder than the base iron it forms on. Any component sliding against it will not only abrade off some the the rust, but will also have some of itself abraded off in the process which isn't good in the long term but may not be that big of a problem once the system is used regularly and the rust is gone. BTW - it's the Chromium Oxide layer on the surface of CRES that makes it "stainless steel" and the tight, shiney, hard grain structure on the surface that works so well for our applications.

    In our new flex auger, the factory packaged coils were coated in black machine oil to resist rusting while in storage. The contractor we bought the equipment from didn't wipe down the augers prior to install. We ended up buying some bagged barley (very cheap) from a local Co-Op and ran it through the auger to scrape off the oil. We set the mill gaps pretty wide and just let it pass through so as to not make the mill oily.

    I would recommend cleaning out what you can............maybe even having it sandblasted...........then just passing a view bags of hard grain like corn (whole or cracked, but not flaked) or wheat (not malted) through to scrub out any residue and go with that. Regular use will keep it shiney inside...........much akin to getting a regular polish every time you use it.

    I would not recommend painting the interior of any auger system since the flowing of the grain will abrade off any finish you apply and will end up in the Mash Tun.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hello Scott,

      Brian is exactly right. All of our augers have arrived rusty. A few bags of grain passed through should polish yours up, and regular use will keep it that way. Definitely avoid the painting, as it too will be scrapped off and end up in the mash.

      Cheers,
      Ron
      Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales

      Comment


      • #4
        Another Mill Question

        Today, one of the v-belts broke on our Kunsel 4-roller mill and we are having a heck of a time tring to figure out how to remove the wheels and belts (of course, the belt that broke is behind another set of belts!) and replace it.

        Anyone out there ever have this kind of problem? Any advice would be appreciated!

        Nate
        nate.heck@buzzardsbrew.com

        Comment


        • #5
          mill and auger

          The manufacturer will probaly tell you the same thing. 50lbs of whole grain through your auger will clean it up...

          Cheer

          J

          Comment


          • #6
            Rusted Mill Rollers

            Any ideas on how to clean rusted mill rollers?

            Thx

            David
            David Cohen
            The Dancing Camel Brewing Co. Ltd.

            Comment


            • #7
              Pennichuck Brewing has just gone through the installation of a used Radd Mill with PVC auger tubing and a steel auger to the grist case and another similar and much longer run to the mash tun. Both augers were very rusty after having been stored in a barn for many years. We ended up running a bag of rice hulls through it twice with amazing results. The auger is now very shiny and free from any debris. The rice hulls are much less expensive than running grain through and having to dump it. They are coarse and compact in the auger and makes for a very effective cleaning media.

              Good luck,

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