Cleaning the Thermaline heat exchanger at Man Skirt Brewing

Apologies in advance for vertical video.
Take a peek inside a plate and frame heat exchanger at Man Skirt.

[@josemadrid17]

Quick Tip: Mostly every PHE has a factory plate sequence that must be followed after taking it apart and during reassembly. You should inspect the plates, which usually come numbered and you must follow that order. The reason because of this: First plates that come in contact with hot wort usually have a thicker body than those that come in contact with the glycol. Usually hot wort will drive more pressure and heat that has to be overtaken by a thicker plate.

[@dneff306]

These videos are awesome just wish there were more!! Could you do a total brew day from start to finish. Iam just starting homebrewing!! Thanks!!!

[@ManSkirtBrew]

Thanks! I do have a brewday compressed into 12 minutes on my channel, but I will definitely be doing another. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJabYZ2ooNONe5Y

[@jwp09]

You are living my dream. Best of luck!

[@محمدالمالكي-ض9ر]

Good job pro , My questions are why you perform CIP ? And how much the pressure or performance before and after cleaning? And If the PHE is working there’s no plan to perform CIP, what possible problems could happen in PHE?

[@8668art]

Your carbon steel t8 , you really should order a 1-1/8 ratcheting wrench from Thermaline it will aid in the loosening and tightening With cheater pipe makes the hand tightening easier , always measure first before you loosen write it down so you can return to the exact spot when closing

[@leomurray-juers3642]

Good to see more vids mate.

[@2old4allthis]

Very informative video. I saw in a comment that you mentioned a big torpedo filter from Brewers Hardware. That doesn’t seem to be available anymore. Any idea where else it might be found?

[@ManSkirtBrew]

Take a look under "wort strainers." They're still there.

[@simongriffith8967]

Vertical!

[@erikzett]

thanks for the video, do you have a filter before the plate chiller, I have the same issue on a homebrew scale. Do you use mostly pellet hops?

[@ManSkirtBrew]

We do use almost exclusively pellets. I did recently buy a big torpedo filter to go before the plate chiller. Check out Brewer's Hardware.

[@MrGinotonix]

I ma late to the party but it seemed like the most of the clogging was in the port area, as seen in 5:50? Did the pre-filter help or did the unit clog again?

[@ManSkirtBrew]

The prefilter has been a total game changer. I have not had any problems since.

[@slipknot73745]

In your experience, do you ever see micro issues stemming from this style plate chiller? Frequent removal of gaskets make me nervous.

[@ManSkirtBrew]

Same here, which is why I do it as infrequently as possible. With a good CIP procedure, you shouldn't have to break it down more than once a year or so. As for micro, I don't depend on chemical sanitation, instead relying on heat pasteurization. That way I can be sure the entire stack is sanitary and not worry about the nooks and crannies the chemicals can't reach.

[@slipknot73745]

@@ManSkirtBrew Great points, almost forgot about the hot water sanitize. Thanks for the great content and quick replies. Cheers!

[@dianheatexchanger547]

Multi stage..plate heat Exchanger..

[@romoalex]

silly question but do you CIP that thing after each transfer?

[@romoalex]

nvm saw your reply. I have taken one apart only once in like 2 years or so of use since it was last taken apart by someone else and it was so clean i felt like i wasted time doing it

[@ManSkirtBrew]

Not silly at all. I do CIP it every time, which is why I don't have to do this often. Once a year is probably more than enough to take it apart.

[@brewtime3919]

How often do you take your heat exchanger apart like that? every other brew?

[@ManSkirtBrew]

Oh gosh no. Our clean-in-place routine keeps it clean and flowing most of the time. This is a few times a year.

[@brewtime3919]

@@ManSkirtBrew o ok thanks for the reply. love the vids