Diminished/weak boil

[Sauce]

Hey all,

We have a 1998 20 bbl Sp Mech steam kettle operational about 8 months with our operation. Over the last 6 or 7 batches we have experienced very weak boils traced from what we can see to the bottom jacket of the kettle. What boil we do get seems to be mainly generated from the side jackets.

We've replaced the trap thinking that was the problem with no noticeable improvement. Yes, all outer jackets are clean of scale and clean and shiny. We have blown down the drain to the trap. Boiler seems to to running fine, and this setup boiled great for 6-7 months.

We called the manufacturer and he suggested that the inside of the jacket may have build up and needs cleaned (recirculated) with a acid based cleaner.
I assumed steam didnt carry any mineral content, so this seemed odd to me.

My questions are:

Anyone else experience this deminished boil?

If so, what was the problem/fix?

Have you ever had to clean your inner jackets?

If so, what product did you use?

Thanks for you help,

JackK

[Joe Brewer]

solenoid?

I recently had a similar problem with a steam-fired CIP reservoir. I took the solenoid on the inlet apart, cleaned it up and polished the moving parts; it works fine now. If nothing else you should be able to isolate the steam pipes to your kettle, hook up a cold water line or maybe just compressed air at low pressure, and check for flow that way.

Obviously let everything cool off and relieve pressure before working with steam plumbing.

[gitchegumee]

Another thing many people overlook is the counterpart to a vacuum breaker; namely an air eliminator. This is required to purge air from a jacket to allow steam full access to the jackets. Still won't explain why you had great boils before, though. Good luck!

[BrewinLou]

Hows your condensate return from the bottom jacket? Have you checked to see if your valve is opening all the way? On our mid 90s SM system there is a manual blow off valve right by each of the traps. During your next boil open that all the way. Leave it open and see if the bottom jacket heats up right.

[Woolsocks]

replace steam trap

We replace the steam trap every year or so. Otherwise it fouls up and won't hold the steam in the jacket.

We've also done the acid cleaning thing. You want to use an inhibited acid product, such as this one: http://www.brewcitysolutions.com/cgi...ategory%3D6000