Question about dosing sanitizer on Premire keg washer

[MikeS]

Hello all-

We have a two head manual Premier Stainless keg washer. I am setting up the machine and would like some advice on how to set up the sanitizer venturi system.

I am going to be using a 5% PAA sanitizer. The water feed into the machine is about 7 gpm. I've used similar systems in the past, but I've never set one up (and I'm not 100% sure it was set up properly...)

Any ideas on where I should start with this? I have reducer nipples from 10:1 to 512:1. I would probably prefer to use a diluted solution and no reduction nipple. I've done some calculations, but before I reinvent the wheel I would love to hear what other folks are doing with this system.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers- Mike

[uabericm]

While setting up my system, I contacted my chemical supplier and we calculated the correct ratio of 5% PAA.

[CopperKettle]

We are using the same keg washer

Easiest way to tell your dose:


Measure the initial volume of concentrated sanitizer

fill two kegs FULL with sanitizer solution diluted by the venturi pump

measure the final volume of concentrated sanitizer

Use the change in sanitizer volume divided by the volume of the kegs to figure out the dose you are pulling with the vacuum/venturi pump. If you need to go lower, put in a more restrictive nozzle or pre-dilute the chemical.

That type of dosing system is very sensitive to input flow rate of water so make sure if there is a valve before the keg washer it is always set to the same setting so your GPM supply of city water doesn't change from use to use.

[Matt Dog]

Its always a good idea to test the discharge once in a while on the sani purge cycle to see if you are staying consistent throughout the run. As stated in the previous post the venturi style dosers are sensitive to any changes. Ive watched mine dose perfectly for a few kegs and then randomly not pull any sani at all. If everything is just so they can work well but personally I never completely trust them.

[CaptainEBC]

We do a dillution of 370ml PAA in 1 Liter or water. I think we use the blue insert.

I pour the dilluted sanitizer into a big graduated cylinder on top of the acid tank. That way I can see the sanitizer being pulled.

[One2Remeber]

Its always a good idea to test the discharge once in a while on the sani purge cycle to see if you are staying consistent throughout the run. As stated in the previous post the venturi style dosers are sensitive to any changes. Ive watched mine dose perfectly for a few kegs and then randomly not pull any sani at all. If everything is just so they can work well but personally I never completely trust them.

I too have had a problems with the system randomly not pulling any PAA. I switched the sani reservoir to a corny keg and diluted the solution. It works fine, sometimes we jump start the flow with a push of CO2, but after a while the line stops pulling. Has anyone found a solution to this?

[fa50driver]

I don't have a Premier keg washer (I have a IDD mini-king) but my sanitizing system uses a venturi that pulls off the water line (which I assume is similar to other machines). After a year of assuming that the city water pressure was consistent, I found that it varies greatly, so I have resorted to pumping in the pre-mixed sanitizer/water from a large reservoir and avoiding the venturi system. Otherwise I have to recalibrate it every cycle, without any guarantee that it will remain in the same concentration during the cleaning day.