Didn't replace o rings

I had an infection in my SS brew bucket a few weeks ago. I soaked everything in pbw and bleach for like a week but I never replaced any small o rings like I originally was going to. Completely forgot. Am I screwed for my brew day tomorrow? Should I use a plastic bucket I have laying around instead? This is my first infection I've dealt with so not sure.

First, hopefully you didn't soak stainless steel in bleach. Long soaks of hydrochloric acid and stainless steel is a no-no. Second, if the rings got soaked you are fine. Brew way!

Hmm. I did. Didn't even think about that. but I didn't use a lot of it at all and it was very diluted. I just checked and the stainless looks to be in good condition still. I'l reclean it really good with BKF.

LarMoeCur said:

First, hopefully you didn't soak stainless steel in bleach. Long soaks of hydrochloric acid and stainless steel is a no-no. Second, if the rings got soaked you are fine. Brew way!

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I fill spent kegs with hot water and a tablespoon of PBW and let it soak overnight after depressing the valve poppet to fill the dip tube with solution. The keg is stainless so am I doing something wrong?

If you're only using a tablespoon of PBW the dilution is ridiculously low. But as far as I know PBW will not attack stainless. Bleach is different, it's sodium hypochlorite and is corrosive in long soaks. I still use it but after rusting out a bunch of fittings after leaving it for several days I don't do long soaks anymore, a few hours at most. Bleach is extremely effective even at lower dilutions, and will kill virtually anything in about an hour.

bruhaha said:

I fill spent kegs with hot water and a tablespoon of PBW and let it soak overnight after depressing the valve poppet to fill the dip tube with solution. The keg is stainless so am I doing something wrong?

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PBW is made to clean stainless (no issue with PBW). The issue was the Bleach. Which contains hydrochloric acid and hydrochloric acid can destroy the passivity of stainless steel.

Hm. Well I didn't ruin my brew bucket did i?

treacheroustexan said:

Hm. Well I didn't ruin my brew bucket did i?

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The key word is can. I wouldn't worry about it. It sounds like you diluted it quite a bit. The studies I've read are talking about high concentrations of hci. I just wouldn't make it a regular habit.

Bleach is Sodium hypochlorite not hydrochloric acid.

MaryB said:

Bleach is Sodium hypochlorite not hydrochloric acid.

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You are correct but it still has the same effect on stainless steel.

Yeah, just keep stainless away from corrosive chemicals in general. But for short soaks and in the right dilution it's perfectly fine to leave for a few hours. Just don't do it for any longer and make sure to rinse all your fittings really well so they don't rust. If you're familiar with the way salt water attacks steel and rusts it out quickly, it's partly because of sodium. Bleach = sodium hypochlorate. Sodium. Anyway, when sanitizing I use a 15ML bleach per 1 gallon water concentration. It's pretty gentle on fittings and won't damage stuff unless you leave it a long time, and it kicks the **** out of bacteria.

MaryB said:

"liquid" Bleach is Sodium hypochlorite not hydrochloric acid.

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FTFY

Powdered bleach is calcium chloride. The more you know.

nDub said:

FTFY

Powdered bleach is calcium chloride. The more you know.

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I thought powdered bleach was calcium oxychloride which is CaOCl2 not CaCl. CaOCL2 is referred to as Chloride of lime not Calcium chloride.

do you know more?

http://www.parrinst.com/wp-content/...1/07/Parr_Stainless-Steels-Corrosion-Info.pdf
Page 19, Paragraph 1 includes recommendations for grade of stainless when handling low concentrations of sodium hypochlorite (basically, use 316 and expose for less than 4 hours).

This table is also useful, although I don't know where they sourced the data:
http://www.quickcutgasket.com/pdf/Chemical-Resistance-Chart.pdf


There is also the typical literature around brewing sanitation:
http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/brewing-preperations/sanitation/sanitizing-your-equipment
http://byo.com/stout/item/1622-when...as-a-cleaner-and-sanitizer-and-when-is-it-not
http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/06/21/cleaning-and-sanitation-for-beer-brewing/

LarMoeCur said:

Long soaks of hydrochloric acid and stainless steel is a no-no. TRUE

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LarMoeCur said:

contains hydrochloric acid FALSE

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MaryB said:

Bleach is Sodium hypochlorite TRUE

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LarMoeCur said:

the same effect on stainless steel In Some Use Cases

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Jim311 said:

Yeah, just keep stainless away from corrosive chemicals in general.TRUE

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Jim311 said:

SodiumFALSE

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nDub said:

Powdered bleach is calcium chloride.FALSE

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(side note, wow, big miss on this one)

Dolomieu said:

I thought powdered bleach was calcium oxychlorideFALSE

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http://www.coastwidelabs.com/Products/MSDS/Dri Bleach MSDS2304 0306.PDF

BeardedBrews said:

(side note, wow, big miss on this one)



http://www.coastwidelabs.com/Products/MSDS/Dri Bleach MSDS2304 0306.PDF

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ahh brain fart...

Calcium Hypochlorite

We use it as a water disinfectant....

Dolomieu said:

I thought powdered bleach was calcium oxychloride which is CaOCl2 not CaCl. CaOCL2 is referred to as Chloride of lime not Calcium chloride.

do you know more?

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Uh yeah I missed the mark. I meant Calcium Hypochlorite (Ca(OCL)2). A common disinfectant for water.

nDub said:

Uh yeah I missed the mark. I meant Calcium Hypochlorite (Ca(OCL)2). A common disinfectant for water.

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Ha! No worries at all, I miss stuff like that all the time

nDub said:

Uh yeah I missed the mark. I meant Calcium Hypochlorite (Ca(OCL)2). A common disinfectant for water.

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Yeah well looks like we all got taken to school a bit.

High school chemistry coming back? It was only 38 years ago for me