Faucets appear dirty after cleaning

[wineglow]

I have an account that is a national chain that I have been cleaning for about 4 years. that restaurant is inspected by an independent auditor. The auditor will stick a wadded up cocktail napkin up the spout of the faucet and if the napkin comes out dirty the restaurant has points taken off. After I had cleaned the system the manager did the napkin check and found a brown stain on the napkin.
The faucets are chrome plated brass and are very worn. I have suggested that they update to stainless steel faucets. I have found by check my other accounts that this does not happen with stainless steel faucets or older chrome plated brass faucets. This happens mostly with Perlick faucets.
Is this happening because of poor quality brass? Has the low PH of the beer eaten away at the brass? Is this just normal oxidation? I have tried using different solutions, nylon brushes and ss brushes with the same result.
Has anyone ever tried this method of checking faucets after cleaning?

[Scott Zuhse]

Once the plating wears off and the brass is exposed, this situation appears. brass is a soft metal and somewhat porous. It does not impede bio growth as well as stainless. Micro Matic's stainless faucet has been utilized by numerous systems with great results. Line cleaners state that they are easily cleaned with a brush and hot water.

[WhiteToad]

Mr. Zhuse may know the answer to this but does Micromatic offer their own version of the Perlick 425 S series? I could have sworn that there used to be Perlick faucets somewhere in this site. These faucets are also stainless and have a forward sealing design that keeps the inside parts from being exposed to outside air. I found one with a removable tip for $29 from KegCowboy
Kegerator Conversion Kits & Draft Beer Equipment but other users have also stated that a brand called ventmatic is also reputable. Does Micromatic have a faucet of similar design? The claim is that these are the most sanitary faucets available and since it is also Perlick it should match up to your client's equipment easily.

[Larry Tapper]

The Perlick forward sealing design is having a build up promblem at the removeable tip, it also lets to much beer get to room temp. MM stainless steel is one of the easiest to clean. I also use MM facuet plugs, place them on full of water then give them a little squeeze, this rinses the inside of the facuet each nite.

[Scott Zuhse]

Originally Posted by WhiteToad

Mr. Zhuse may know the answer to this but does Micromatic offer their own version of the Perlick 425 S series? I could have sworn that there used to be Perlick faucets somewhere in this site. These faucets are also stainless and have a forward sealing design that keeps the inside parts from being exposed to outside air. I found one with a removable tip for $29 from KegCowboy
Kegerator Conversion Kits & Draft Beer Equipment but other users have also stated that a brand called ventmatic is also reputable. Does Micromatic have a faucet of similar design? The claim is that these are the most sanitary faucets available and since it is also Perlick it should match up to your client's equipment easily.

Nope! And I doubt if we will. Many of us who have been in the field at retail have disassembled these type faucets only to find a considerable build up of bio film. Since these faucets have a forward seat, bacteria is exposed to an environment that is quite friendly - warm temperatures.

We have been quite pleased, as Larry points out, with the performance of our stainless version of the conventional faucet.

At

[WhiteToad]

A cheap fix might also be those $0.30 nipples that Micromatic sells to keep fruit flys out. I have also seen a plug that has a brush on it that was less than a dollar it seems that you could dip the brush in some sort of sanitizing solution each night (or soak them in solution during the day) and then just plug them up so that are both being cleaned and protected at minimal expense.