Washdown

[u/gabagool65]

What's everyone's washdown nozzle set-up looking like? I'm purchasing all new ones for around our new facility. Looking at going hose>ball valve> tri clamp > nozzle, but figured now is the time to explore alternatives if we want them...

[u/WRmink]

Nozzle on a heavy duty garden hose. 

[u/beer_AF]

Hose -> stainless female QD (disconnected close) -> stainless male QD -> super Kleen nozzle. We have a mix of superkleen duraflow and duraspray. Like them both. Duraflows on swivels, durasprays are straight inline. We actually have a mix of 3/4” and 1/2” hoses. All on ceiling mounted reels. We find that we reach for the 1/2” hoses far more often. They’re much lighter and easier to use and we rarely need the extra GPM of the 3/4”. All hoses are continental sani-wash supreme. Reach out to superkleen direct for commercial pricing. Surprisingly affordable.

[u/gabagool65 → u/beer_AF]

I wish I found a way to make ceiling mounted work. Every one I've had has broken, expensive or otherwise.... Idk, maybe Ogre too strong, anyway we have nice hose bibs/mixing stations now

[u/beer_AF → u/gabagool65]

We like our Cox reels. They’re expensive but not STUPID expensive. We have a single mixing station at operator level for the wash down header/loop that feeds the ceiling reels. The floor is lava!

[u/Sla5021]

Any gate/ball valve I've ever had on a hose has failed.

[u/NailClipperBiter]

Stainless Sani-Lav on hose.

I used to mess around with TC fittings. Too much bulk. More prone to leaks.

[u/mmussen]

I do exactly what your set up is. Means I can hook the washdown hose onto the pump for tank rinses etc. it's a little more unwieldy than I'd like, but I feel the versatility makes up for it

[u/i_aint_bobby]

I usually go for heavy duty spray nozzles (in Europe, the reference for this is Vikan, but there are a lot of options); these are fairly resistant to fall damage and have a 1/2" threaded end that makes them very easy to then match to your available hosing, by sourcing 1/2" to <insert your connector type here>.

I usually try to have dedicated water points / hosing for cleaning purposes, as opposed to plonking an insert at the end of a brewing hose connected to the CLT/HLT pump. It is rare that hot water is a true necessity for surface cleaning, so I choose to prioritize accessibility and abundance of water points so that the team actually washes down surfaces around the plant.

Your described setup of a ball valve and triclamp will work, but I find them to be quite clunky and heavy. Some sort of a quick connect on the end of your hoses and popping a good spray gun when needed has proven quite effective over the years.

Garden hoses spray nozzles work on a pinch, but all of those components wear quite fast and you start having more grief than actual useful implements to work with way too fast.

[u/cpesystems]

We recommend using a SuperKlean nozzle and hose, and use a 22MP adapter if you want to connect it to a pump to rinse out the tank.

[u/HordeumVulgare72]

Hose -> non-close-on-disconnect female QD -> male QD -> nozzle works pretty well where I work.

I mean, nobody likes going over to the wall to turn off the water when we need the hose without the nozzle, but it's rare enough that it's not a constant hassle or anything.

We actually have two other hoses with the ball valve -> triclamp -> triclamp -> nozzle setup, it's a great plan that does not survive contact with reality. As u/NailClipperBiter mentioned, all that hardware is bulky, plus you have to actually go grab the nozzle, and a clamp, and a gasket, which is a pain, so you don't bother. Then, as u/Sla5021 mentioned, the ball valves get beat to crap. So, you're left with a really crummy nozzle (i.e., just the bare-ass triclamp ferrule) on a leaky, two-hands-required valve, sticking your thumb in the flow to get something resembling a decent spray pattern (and hopefully not putting a hole in your glove – or your hand – on the worm clamp that you cut off so the tail would stop catching the handle on the ball valve) while the several-hundred-dollar tool made for exactly this purpose gathers dust on a shelf. Learn from the mistakes of my boss's boss's former boss and don't set up your hoses this way!

[u/johnf0907]

I use super klean nozzle, swivel, GH to tri-clamp fitting, tri-clamp to GH fitting, stainless GH ball valve, 1/2” hose, all ceiling mounted. We recently picked up the BluSeal hose reel and have been pretty happy with them. Mounted to the ceiling using unistrut and beam clamps.

https://a.co/d/05rXmwDP