Broken seal causes cleaning problems

As I was cleaning the plant today I noticed that a couple of sets of milking cups weren't cleaning properly. Water should be visibly flowing through them during the cleaning process but these cups had nothing but the occasional splash inside.

I discovered a broken seal or connector on the pipe that feeds the jetters, so of cause the cleaning fluid wasn't making it through to the cups. As a temporary measure I cleaned those sets of cups using acid-water in a test-bucket and we avoided using that bail during the afternoon milking as a precaution.

Luckily it was no big deal to fix - the connectors simply screw off so we bought a replacement and screwed it back on. But even a little thing like this can have big consequences - if I hadn't have noticed it then we probably would have had a bactoscan grade for the next milk collection.

cowshed problems | cleaning | milk quality | cowshed hygiene