Starsan question

I left parts in a large tub of starsan for a couple of weeks.
Now my tubing is cloudy and everything has a sticky film on it.
I added more starsan to clear the cloudy water, and put everything back in.
Anything I need to do to clean this up? Or just let it sit a while?

SEndorf said:

I left parts in a large tub of starsan for a couple of weeks.
Now my tubing is cloudy and everything has a sticky film on it.
I added more starsan to clear the cloudy water, and put everything back in.
Anything I need to do to clean this up? Or just let it sit a while?

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Funny that you post this, because I was just thinking of this earlier. When I let starsan sit for more than 24 hours, anything that was soaking gets a thing film of "stuff" on it. It wipes off easy, and I've used that equip afterwards and never had any problems/infections, so I know it's still good. But the water gets super cloudy.

But, if I add starsan to a blow-off bottle, even after three days, the water is so clear I can see through it. Possibly because of the constant agitation from the co2 bubbling through. It's worth looking into.

Like I said, though, I've rinsed off the "stuff" in the same bucket of starsan that the equip was sitting it, used the equip, and never had a bit of a problem. So who knows, YMMV, but I've never had an infection from using equipment that has been sitting in starsan for a few days.

The amount of cloudiness of Starsan isn't that important,but rather if the PH is 3.5 or lower that does matter. Keepin the PH lower than 3.5 by there reckoning,is what makes it work well.

Hot water makes quick work of that StarSan film.

Thanks all.
I know it's clean, I just don't like cloudy filmy tubing. Time for a boil off.

I use a paper coffee filter & as radiator filling funnell to filter my Starsan now & then. Makes it a little less cloudy,& gets out extranious stuff like pet hair,grainy bits,etc. I then rinse my storage jug & put the Starsan back in it.

Don't fear the foam and don't be scared of the slime.

unionrdr said:

The amount of cloudiness of Starsan isn't that important,but rather if the PH is 3.5 or lower that does matter. Keepin the PH lower than 3.5 by there reckoning,is what makes it work well.

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Their tech sheet says to keep it at pH 3.0 or below. 3.5 is probably okay, but I always shoot for < 3.0.

http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/wp-content/uploads/StarSanTech5.pdf

The cloudiness that forms in starsan solution is just the acid reacting with heavy metals in your water. I use distilled water in any spray bottle that stores starsan for a long period of time and it tends not to turn cloudy. It's important to note that any reaction with heavy metals will raise the ph (albeit probably small amounts), and once you get past 3.5 it's not as effective at killing.

The film is probably just a surfactant that is added to break surface tension and make sure proper coating of a surface is achieved, no need to rinse this off. The surfactant is what makes the foam, and like they say "don't fear the foam"