Picked up a used mega pot that the owner had retrofitted with a weld-less 3 piece ball valve. I'm glad I took it apart. I looks like he used it a few times without cleaning it. Just for future reference, it is recommended to disassemble and clean after every batch right?
Not necessarily, if you rinse immediately and then run boiling water through...and pbw every few batches...but depends on how much time you have. Some people erroneously believe just running boiling wort through it is enough. I don't have 3 piece ones, so I couldn't disassemble even if I wanted to. ...but these work well...: http://www.williamsbrewing.com/TM-DESANAMAX-P3368.aspx
It looks like he never cleaned it. I take my valve apart every six months or so. It typically looks clean and not in need of special cleaning.
