[robertlrussell]

Recently bought a new Minibrew 6.5 Gallon Conical from Hobby Beverage Equipment. It came with a 3/4" brass bottom dump valve and a 1/2" brass racking port valve. The 3/4" valve had a strong petroleum odor right out of the box. Soaked the valve for 24 hours in PBW which knocked down most of the petroleum odor but not all. The odor is coming from inside of the valve. I'm not going to take a chance on putting this valve in contact with my brew. The question now is what do I replace it with?

If you have a Blichmann 7 gal Fermenator, what size is the bottom dump valve? In the pictures it looks like their 1/2" 3 piece stainless. If so, is that size big enough for the purpose? I believe the MoreBeer conical touts a 1 1/2" butterfly valve.

Kind of secondary to all this is my questionable fixation with stainless steel. Anybody else have a phobia with brass? I think the Blichmann 3 piece stainless valves are sweet, but to use it on my conical for a bottom dump I would have to install a 3/4" to 1/2" reducer and then I wonder if the valve is big enough to function as a dump. Any thoughts?

[tschmidlin]

The HBE valves are lead free brass, I would just tell them about the smell and ask them to send you a new one.  Otherwise, I would buy a stainless 3/4" one from morebeer.

[mabrungard]

What about putting the valve in boiling water for a few minutes to drive off any oils.  You would have to adjust the valve position a few times, but I'd bet that you would get most available oils off the valve with that procedure.

[hamiltont]

You might also consider a Polypropylene valve as well.  What ever you do don't go under 3/4" or you might not be able to dump yeast. I have a heck of a time sometimes with a 1" Polypropylene valve.  Cheers!!!

Here's a pic of a Banjo:

[richardt]

hamiltont,
Thanks for posting the pics of the Banjo valve.
I didn't know there was a polypropylene 3 piece valve! 
What vessel do you use it with?
Would the same issues associated with plastic apply?
i.e., inability to completely sanitize once used for Sour beers.

[hamiltont]

hamiltont,
Thanks for posting the pics of the Banjo valve.
I didn't know there was a polypropylene 3 piece valve!  
What vessel do you use it with?
Would the same issues associated with plastic apply?
i.e., inability to completely sanitize once used for Sour beers.

I use a DIY Conical I made from an Inductor tank. I don't so sours so I can't address that. I've made 100's of gallons of beer with this and have never taken the valves apart. I just cycle them open/closed a lot of times when rinsing, cleaning (Oxy & TSP-90) and sanitizing with starsan. Here's a pic of it sitting in the fermentation box.  It doesn't show the NORWESCO valves very well but you'll get the idea. Cheers!!!

[richardt]

If one wanted to consider duplicating your build, would you be so kind to share the links to the inductor tanks and fittings?
I'd also appreciate any tips that you may have on how to put it together.

[jeffy]

If one wanted to consider duplicating your build, would you be so kind to share the links to the inductor tanks and fittings?
I'd also appreciate any tips that you may have on how to put it together.

Here's a post by hamiltont from April 30, 2010:
I built a Fermentation Box about 4'X6'X6' & use a RANCO controller with a 5200BTU A/C unit. ~$200 I built the conical out of a 15 gallon inductor tank ( http://www.norwesco.com/page.cfm?menu=47 )& made the cart with scrap wood for a total of ~$100.

[hamiltont]

If one wanted to consider duplicating your build, would you be so kind to share the links to the inductor tanks and fittings?
I'd also appreciate any tips that you may have on how to put it together.

Here's a post by hamiltont from April 30, 2010:
I built a Fermentation Box about 4'X6'X6' & use a RANCO controller with a 5200BTU A/C unit. ~$200 I built the conical out of a 15 gallon inductor tank ( http://www.norwesco.com/page.cfm?menu=47 )& made the cart with scrap wood for a total of ~$100.

Thanks Jeff!! Here's a little more detail. I cut a hole in the side of the conical for a bulkhead fitting & used 1/2" polypropylene tubing & valve for the racking port. The tube for the racking port has a 90 degree elbow so the end of the tubing is about 2" above the bottom of the conical. The bottom port is 2" reduced down for 1" valve. All components were purchased from a farm supply store. Either Polyethylene or Polypropylene material. Here a a few more pics. Note that some of the pics have a brass hose barb on the racking port that I later replaced with a Polyethylene hose barb. Cheers!!!







Inside the Conical


Filling the conical using a bottling bucket. It takes 2 trips for 10 gallons and gets aerated very well. A pump is in the future.

[richardt]

Ingenious!  I like the little bottling bucket platform--reminds me of a little stepping stool or a toddler's seat.
I'm in a more urban area, so I don't know exactly where I'd go to find that stuff locally.
I do like the cost compared to SS.