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Author Topic: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve  (Read 2121 times)

Offline brulosopher

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Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« on: May 28, 2015, 05:03:06 pm »
Popular 2- and 3-piece ball valves can harbor nasty s*** that can ruin your beer, particularly those attached to your brew kettle, just ask Wes! Brewer's Hardware recently designed the new Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve that makes the cleaning process a cinch. I recently had the opportunity to use one of these suckers and wrote up a thorough review of my experience, check it out!

http://brulosophy.com/2015/05/28/brewers-hardware-quick-clean-take-apart-ball-valve-product-review/

S. cerevisiae

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2015, 07:51:58 pm »
I have removed ball valves after years of use and not had that much build up.  I always clean my kettle and ball valve assembly thoroughly after brewing with a hot (160F) powdered dishwasher detergent-based solution.  I never disassemble my ball valve.  I just allow the solution to work for 20 minutes with valve closed and 15 minutes with the valve open and a clamped section of tubing attached to the outlet.  I then rinse the kettle, fill it with a couple of gallons of hot water, and allow the water to drain through the ball valve. I leave my ball valves in the open position, so that air will flow through the valve while drying.   An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 10:55:06 pm by S. cerevisiae »

Offline JT

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2015, 08:53:13 pm »
Not a bad looking setup, thanks for the write up.   I do think the Blichmann linear valve has it beat.  That's the easiest valve assembly I've seen and used for sure.  A few turns counterclockwise and it's open.  A few more turns and it is disassembled.  This valve is also on the pricier end, but it doesn't get much simpler. 

« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 10:17:46 pm by JT »

Offline a10t2

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2015, 09:27:10 pm »
I do think the Blichmann linear valve has it beat.  That's the easiest valve assembly I've seen and used for sure.  A few turns counterclockwise and it's open.  A few more turns and it is dissassembled.

By the hammer of Thor, that is a sexy valve. Thanks for sharing before I bought sample cocks for the brewery.
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Offline JT

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2015, 10:17:03 pm »
I do think the Blichmann linear valve has it beat.  That's the easiest valve assembly I've seen and used for sure.  A few turns counterclockwise and it's open.  A few more turns and it is disassembled.

By the hammer of Thor, that is a sexy valve. Thanks for sharing before I bought sample cocks for the brewery.
I really wish I'd have sprung for more of these when setting up my system...
No tool disassembly in about 5 seconds.  Brilliant.
Edit: I should also note that I have found only one drawback to the linear valve vs the traditional valve.  Since it takes a few twists to fully open it also takes a few twists to fully close.  It only takes a couple seconds but not as quick as the ball valve lever.  Not suitable for a quick shutoff application but good for most brewing purposes. 
« Last Edit: May 29, 2015, 05:07:51 am by JT »

Offline toby

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2015, 08:02:59 am »
I should also note that I have found only one drawback to the linear valve vs the traditional valve.  Since it takes a few twists to fully open it also takes a few twists to fully close.  It only takes a couple seconds but not as quick as the ball valve lever.  Not suitable for a quick shutoff application but good for most brewing purposes.
There are two drawbacks that I saw to those from the get-go compared to the traditional ball valve.  The first is the slight difference in time to close/open which you mention.  The other is somewhat related in that it looks like it would be more difficult to gauge how open or closed it is.  In other words, I can tell pretty exactly when my ball valves are half open or fully open by sight.  Those valves aren't quite as clear.  That being said, I think there are some advantages in the new design being simpler especially where cleaning is concerned.

Offline kramerog

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Re: Brewer's Hardware Quick Clean Take-Apart Ball Valve
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2015, 10:23:40 am »
I'm told that brass valves do not have this issue because bacteria don't like copper.