Source
r/Homebrewing•
chemistree

Cleaning a poorly functioning used SP 10 burner

Album

So I was looking for another burner on cragislist. I've made a tiered brewing stand (I'll probably make a post about that eventually) and my solution for moving the burner from one kettle to the other wasn't going to work as well as I thought it would.

I got one from another brewer off craigslist. He said it was functioning fine when I went to pick it up. It was dark out so I didn't have a very good look at it, which I blame myself for entirely. I probably could have knocked him down $5 or $10 if I had seen and pointed out all the clogged holes.

I get home and test it out. The gas outlets were split about 50/50 between short and high flame. If anyone was unaware, you can disassemble the burner portion to clean as shown in the album, and get your flame performing like new. Like new appearances are a different beast that I didn't want to tackle.

The nut size is 10 mm, maybe smaller without all the burnt on wort.

Posted Jun 21, 2017, 6:55 PM UTC

16
zinger565•

Just a heads up, I have a very similar burner (well, the actual burner part is nearly identical) and I've taken mine apart to clean several times. It only works so much. I've found I still have to take it apart at least twice a year to clean, and I still get soot and nastiness on the bottom of my kettle. YMMV though.

I've bought a replacement burner head, just have been too lazy to actually install it, as the current one is working okay for the time being.

1
chemistreeOP•

Do you think it's from boil overs? Or just other crud?

This whole burner and part of the stand was pretty sticky, so I assumed it was all wort.

1
zinger565•

No boilovers ever on mine. I can't view the album while at work so I can't really comment on yours.

I was an idiot (young and inexperienced) and left mine out on the porch for an entire summer. Rust ensued, and I've been dealing with corrosion ever since. It comes inside after every brewday now, but just can't seem to get it to stay clean. Probably just burning dirty now.

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originalusername__•

Didn't even know you could take these apart, thanks for the tutorial. You can also buy brand new ones fairly cheaply.

1
chemistreeOP•

Yes I saw the plain burners for sale, but I also wanted the frame for the wind shield. It can get pretty windy where I live. I wasn't in the mood to drop $50 on a new one. I've found myself spending a bit too much on this hobby lately.

1
BigRobBrews•

Looks like cast iron, best way to clean cast iron burners on cooking equipment is burning it out on another burner, heat it up nice and hot most of the crud inside turns to ash and you can tap or brush it out.

Since it has a fastener I would burn each piece seperately, and give the bolt a good steel brushing to clean the threads.

I also discourage the cleaners at chain restaurants from soaking burners overnight, it causes premature wear and tons of flaky rusty crap to happen on the inside of the burner.

Improper cleaning procedures can cause cyclical issues with equipment, it accounts for a large percentage of my billed hours.

1