From reading some of the great inputs from the Meheen topic I was wondering if folks could offer suggestions for this ‘erratic’ bottle fill situation.
I use a ‘Custom Brew’ 3-head long tube system. Here’s the system description; After the bottles are manually positioned into place & a safety shield is manually lowered, the operator presses the start button which activates a PLC to control the CO2 purge & fill sequencing of the operation. The bottles fill at different rates & eventually the system times out with either 2 or 1 bottles with a satisfactory fill. Having ‘3 for 3’ successful fills consistently is a rarity. At this point we can try to complete the fills by re-running the partial fill bottles. ‘Custom Brew’ is no longer in business & the documentation is non-existent. So much for factory support. Count your blessings (again) Meheen & PPM users!
Here are some specifics;
> Beer is dispensed from a 15 gallon storage keg at 36 degrees. We haven’t tried any other dispense temps.
>The incoming CO2 pressure is 25 psi. The valves for the fill head are just barely tweaked open to allow beer to fill to the bottles. If they are opened wider, it definitely doesn’t work.
> In the back of the system is an adjustable pressure sensor which we never touch. It is set so that the bottles fill & are not held back by the counter-pressure of the purge.
>The fill heads are probably fairly standard. Each one consists of a single flexible long fill tube. Recessed at the top of the head that seals on the bottle is a metal sensor which allows the circuit to close when it comes into contact with the beer. This metal sensor is next to the CO2 port of the head.
Overall, The fill head appears to be very difficult to clean. We’ve actually removed the fill heads & used a 5hp power washer to blast the recessed sensor to remove build-up that wasn’t reachable by hand. This actually did remove much of the build-up on one head which previously was retired. Now that fill head is functional, albeit as marginal as the other fill heads. The daily CIP is to run a caustic thru the system at the end of use & follow it with a water purge. Short of using a very-very-very small & long brush, we’re not sure how & how often to clean this. Trying to ‘wick-dry’ the sensor before or during use is nearly an impossibility.
Any suggestions on what to do next. I definitely don’t have access to a PLC programmer, so I can’t change any of the sequencing. What other info can I provide that would help to facilitate some recommendations. Should I be reducing the input CO2 pressure? Lower temperature by a degree or 2? Use a different cleaning procedure?
Regards & thanks for inputs,
Gary Atlas
I use a ‘Custom Brew’ 3-head long tube system. Here’s the system description; After the bottles are manually positioned into place & a safety shield is manually lowered, the operator presses the start button which activates a PLC to control the CO2 purge & fill sequencing of the operation. The bottles fill at different rates & eventually the system times out with either 2 or 1 bottles with a satisfactory fill. Having ‘3 for 3’ successful fills consistently is a rarity. At this point we can try to complete the fills by re-running the partial fill bottles. ‘Custom Brew’ is no longer in business & the documentation is non-existent. So much for factory support. Count your blessings (again) Meheen & PPM users!
Here are some specifics;
> Beer is dispensed from a 15 gallon storage keg at 36 degrees. We haven’t tried any other dispense temps.
>The incoming CO2 pressure is 25 psi. The valves for the fill head are just barely tweaked open to allow beer to fill to the bottles. If they are opened wider, it definitely doesn’t work.
> In the back of the system is an adjustable pressure sensor which we never touch. It is set so that the bottles fill & are not held back by the counter-pressure of the purge.
>The fill heads are probably fairly standard. Each one consists of a single flexible long fill tube. Recessed at the top of the head that seals on the bottle is a metal sensor which allows the circuit to close when it comes into contact with the beer. This metal sensor is next to the CO2 port of the head.
Overall, The fill head appears to be very difficult to clean. We’ve actually removed the fill heads & used a 5hp power washer to blast the recessed sensor to remove build-up that wasn’t reachable by hand. This actually did remove much of the build-up on one head which previously was retired. Now that fill head is functional, albeit as marginal as the other fill heads. The daily CIP is to run a caustic thru the system at the end of use & follow it with a water purge. Short of using a very-very-very small & long brush, we’re not sure how & how often to clean this. Trying to ‘wick-dry’ the sensor before or during use is nearly an impossibility.
Any suggestions on what to do next. I definitely don’t have access to a PLC programmer, so I can’t change any of the sequencing. What other info can I provide that would help to facilitate some recommendations. Should I be reducing the input CO2 pressure? Lower temperature by a degree or 2? Use a different cleaning procedure?
Regards & thanks for inputs,
Gary Atlas
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