To clean or not to clean ?

[bluc]

Any reason not to just do a vinegar then sac run run?
I only do major clean new seals every 12-18mnths.

[Bob9863]

I think it's less of a reason should you do a vinegar run after every run and more of a case do you really need to.

Doing a plain water run after every run in a pot still is usually a good idea, but a viniger run is mostly just to clean the copper good.
The only copper in mine is cut lengths of copper tubes I put in a downward section of strait pipe and the condenser, it's fairly easy to boil the tube in salt and vinegar and scrub the condenser tube at the same time.

If your running plates then tarnished is OK but once you see gunk, black patches or especially anything green then it's a good time to do a vinegar run.
Then strip it once a year, replacing the seals ect.

At least to my way of thinking anyway.

[bluc]

I dont like water sitting on my plates i would prefer it was tails.. but if it sits long enough to go green I agree 100%. Only time i would flush with water is going from rum to vodka on consecutive days..

[Bobsyauncle]

I think it may be that time... been far too long :))

[B-Man]

I ran a bunch of wine through mine and the top plate turned black. The bottom one was so ok. Not sure if catching a puke occasionally on heat up when I was too slow to turn off the second element. Cleaned the bottom plate up :D

Since I recirculate my water I constantly have the rc and pc full of water and is an absolute nightmare to disconnect without water going everywhere I tried just doing a vinegar run but that didn't do anything.

So I pulled the plates apart and cleaned the packed section and reducer with some 551 cleaning solution and finally got them clean but I need a better way to do it. I just don't know how to clean the rc and pc without making a huge mess with the water.
I use 19mm pipe with low pressure since it works best with my pump. Is there any fittings that are larger than hose connections that have a stop valve?

[RC Al]

After blowing many $$ in various plumbing fittings, the only plastic valve i have left that hasn't leaked is this guy, 13mm pope barbed jobby.

Im happy with the modularity of the set up im using now, good flex hose where it gets moved and cheap drip irrigation hose and elbows n tees combined with higher grade threaded plastic fittings with screw in barbs near valves. I use a mix of proper worm drive clamps, simple plastic clips in places that don't move - and in some spots none at all lols

I do have the fittings to make the manifolds n stuff in copper, but if it ain't broke... Ill wait till i rearrange it next.

What's pictured is surviving ok on the hot side of my rc, i do need to buy more screw clamps, but leaks would only happen after i moved things, has sat like that with no dramas for about 12 months now.