Georgeous Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Fellow distillers, on our maiden voyage we had heat issues after dough in, we dumped 840lbs of hammer milled corn into our mash tun and since we could not get it hot, it formed a thick rubbery ring of corn that gel'd together. we corrected our heating issue and filled with water and boiled for new two hours and cannot break this thing up. Unfortunately the chinese manufacturer did not give me a manway an american can fit through to get in and clean it. Any recommendations how to liquefy this crap to drain it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Distillery Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 A long stick and/or power washer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Now that's funny :). Heat it back to 145f, throw in 250 ml Alpha and 250 ml beta, stir, let it sit for a few hours. It should break out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 35 minutes ago, bierling said: A long stick and/or power washer. This 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 you could stuff the guy in there that sold you that mash tun with a scrub brush .......im kidding i jus couldnt help myself ..imglad you got ur out fit going ....onward and upward buddy tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 7 hours ago, Hudson bay distillers said: you could stuff the guy in there that sold you that mash tun with a scrub brush .......im kidding i jus couldnt help myself ..imglad you got ur out fit going ....onward and upward buddy tim that was my first thought, when my son went to china to visit the factory and inspect the equipment them little chinese guys crawled in and out like ants on a hill. so it never dawned on him that that manhole was too small for us. Anyway Thanks Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy City Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I would recommend using PBW 6 ounces per gal heated to 140f and leave overnight. No scrubbing and no hassle. I have used this many times and it works fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 pbw for liquifeying gel'd corn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy City Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I have always had great success with this product removing organic materials that were baked on, dried on or however it was built up. the trick is time and heat. Just let it do the work. Running your mixer may help it speed along. This is just my experience with the product. You could call Five Star and get their professional advise https://www.fivestarchemicals.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dehner Distillery Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 make sure the mixer is turning the correct way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 14 hours ago, Dehner Distillery said: make sure the mixer is turning the correct way. looking down in to the mash tun it is spinning clockwise. how do i know if that is correct? the vortex created appears to pull upwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dehner Distillery Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 15 hours ago, Georgeous said: looking down in to the mash tun it is spinning clockwise. how do i know if that is correct? the vortex created appears to pull upwards. ok then its wrong. you want the blades to push down When you tell me they turn clockwise it does not matter because I have no idea what pitch they are, Left or right hand blades???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 25, 2019 Author Share Posted January 25, 2019 Okay my bad when you're looking down the manhole the agitator blades spin counterclockwise the pitch of the blades is to where the bottom of the blades is forward in the direction of the spin 123_1y.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy City Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 Is there a VFD controlling your mixer and if so can't you just change direction. Or if it a three phase motor just switch any two leads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 25, 2019 Author Share Posted January 25, 2019 so is this considered wrong the way i described mine is? why do you want it pushing the corn down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted January 25, 2019 Author Share Posted January 25, 2019 also yes i do have vfd controlling the agitators in mash tun, both fermenters and still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard1 Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 Two options whichever you feel more comfortable with ... 1. Swop two wires around of your three phase or, .. 2. Change direction of your VSD around in its setup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Bender Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 In the future I would use more premalt or add enzymes around 130 degrees before heating to 212. The gelled corn means starches weren’t converted into sugar. Learned this when I forgot to add enzymes as a premalt for a 100% corn whiskey and had to shovel out about 100 pounds of corn jelly from the bottom of a cooker. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy City Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 So whatever happened with this ? Did the PBW work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgeous Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Very painful effort with a pressure washer and a big catch pan and made a mess but thank goodness I have a 4 inch bottom dump drain. I did not have PBW on hand probably would have been a lot cleaner method we are all good to go now thank you everyone for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabtastic Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I don’t have a mash tun so pardon my ignorance- we make booze from fresh sugarcane juice. Somebody care to explain why the direction of force matters regarding the spin direction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaalvenn Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 12 hours ago, nabtastic said: I don’t have a mash tun so pardon my ignorance- we make booze from fresh sugarcane juice. Somebody care to explain why the direction of force matters regarding the spin direction? Because a mixer in a cylindrical vessel shouldn't be straight down and in the middle. It should be offset and angled with the mixing blades pushing the liquid down, not up. A vertical shaft in the middle of a cylinder will be prone to vortex, which can easily cause the shaft to wobble and potentially fail, and it will also not mix efficiently. Some manufacturers will put little blades on the sides of the tank to stop the vortex and to promote better mixing --but it's a solution to the problem of poor engineering. A vertical system will also want to spin the liquid, and once it's spinning with the shaft the mixing blades won't cause as much turbulence since their speed relative to the liquid has gone down dramatically. Mixing blades that are "pulling up" typically won't mix that well, and you'll probavly get a terrible amount of surface splashing (remember, there's a jet of fluid coming from the blades). The direction the shaft spins isn't important as long as the entire system is made to spin that direction. So, multiple reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaalvenn Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Some videos This first one doesn't denonstrate correct shaft placement. They simply put it off center yet still vertical and say "see". This second video actually shows the correct placement, and it's very easy to see that it works much better than the other placements. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabtastic Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 oh ok I see. I assumed y'all were using rakes and slow speed. I see the importance in direction now. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamOVD Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 11 hours ago, Skaalvenn said: very easy to see that it works much better than the other placements Super interesting. Guess my agitator is not placed ideally. I definitely get a vortex, and now I know what the side fin that makes cleaning such a pain is for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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