Star San leak

[Potamus]

A while back, I bought a 32 ounce bottle of Star San to save some cash by buying in bulk. I'm guessing it's been about six months, and now I'm getting down to the last few ounces. But tonight while I was bottling, I noticed a dark spot on the shelf under where I store the bottle. The bottom of the bottle was sticky with Star San, so I wiped it off and moved it. By the time I finished bottling, it was sticky again and there was another wet spot on the shelf.

BTW, it is still in the original bottle.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had problems with concentrated Star San eating through its bottle during long-term storage, or if I just got a bad bottle. And what should I do with it? I still have about five ounces left.

 

[pernox]

A while back, I bought a 32 ounce bottle of Star San to save some cash by buying in bulk. I'm guessing it's been about six months, and now I'm getting down to the last few ounces. But tonight while I was bottling, I noticed a dark spot on the shelf under where I store the bottle. The bottom of the bottle was sticky with Star San, so I wiped it off and moved it. By the time I finished bottling, it was sticky again and there was another wet spot on the shelf.

BTW, it is still in the original bottle.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had problems with concentrated Star San eating through its bottle during long-term storage, or if I just got a bad bottle. And what should I do with it? I still have about five ounces left.

I have a bottle that's pushing three years. Cap cracked, but not eating through anything.

 

[Pappers_]

No, but I find the easy-measure and pour design to be a pain in the patootie.

 

[chicken]

I think you probably got a bad bottle or it got damaged somehow. I had a bottle sit for a few years and it was fine.

 

[lschiavo]

I had a bottle with a cracked cap on the pour spout that somehow pushed starsan out all over my metal shelf. It takes paint off metal and rusts nicely. I heat the area with wood so I assumed it must have been due to the heat/cool cycles. I put the good cap on the pour spout and it hasn't happened again. I'm surprised that others have broken caps too. That is the first time I have seen a plastic cap fail.

 

[HopSong]

I've had the same problem as two above.. cap on the measured side cracked.. They are way too think.. IMO.

 

[brewingmeister]

My star san bottle seems to always be covered in star san, don't think there is a rupture in the bottle though. The ink printed on the bottle is star san soluble btw. I also had a cap split it's top off.

 

[unionrdr]

I've had the small bottle of Starsan for a couple years now. The tops of both caps cracked around the top. Had to find another way of measuring the stuff. gotta find caps that fit the bottle...

 

[jsguitar]

2 liter soda bottle caps or white labs caps work on the Star San bottles. I've had problems with the caps on every bottle I've had. Like the OP, I had a bottle get a crack once and soaked into a particle board shelf. Wife was not too happy. It's the only one that's done that though.

 

[unionrdr]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to see of the wife still has the 2L bottles to get a cap from & try it. The bottles fine. But the hard,thin plastic caps suck. I gues Five Star went cheap on capping the bottles?...
**OK,my wife & I just tried some caps from 2L soda bottles & 1L flavored water bottles. Both are too big for the 8oz Starsan bottle. she has these lil warming oil bottles that have caps close to the size of the Starsan ones. When she empties one of the lil bottles,we'll try those. I'll report back when that happens...

 

[jsguitar]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll have to see of the wife still has the 2L bottles to get a cap from & try it. The bottles fine. But the hard,thin plastic caps suck. I gues Five Star went cheap on capping the bottles?...
**OK,my wife & I just tried some caps from 2L soda bottles & 1L flavored water bottles. Both are too big for the 8oz Starsan bottle. she has these lil warming oil bottles that have caps close to the size of the Starsan ones. When she empties one of the lil bottles,we'll try those. I'll report back when that happens...

Sorry, I should have mentioned I have the 32oz bottle. I'm not sure about the caps on the other sizes.

 

[unionrdr]

That's ok. I didn't think about it till I tried some from her stash. She uses them for mixing craft paints,so I had to try. I can't wait to see if the warming oil caps from those lil bottles fit the 8oz Starsan bottles.

 

[Potamus]

Thanks for the replies. I also have a crack on the measuring side lid, maybe that's the problem. I'll try to be more careful with my next bottle.

 

[unionrdr]

The caps on mine were taped up when I got them. Just need to find the right size caps for them. I'll report back on the warming oil caps. Then I can just save them from bottle to bottle. Cracked caps keep the measuring side From working properly & make a mess when you try to use them.

 

[brewskisteve]

I haven't had a cracked bottle cap, like the other posters, but I have had a bottle completely leak out all over. I stored it in a cardboard box, and it fell over inside the box. The cap on the storage side was loose to let more air in to transfer to measuring side easier. Dummy me left it loose when I put it away. Made a heckova mess. It ate through the box in the box below it. Wasted a near full bottle of the stuff.

 

[Homercidal]

I haven't had a problem with mine except the cap doesn't let you tighten it down. It always snaps past that point as if it's too big for the bottle or something. I keep mine in the closet that leads to the basement and as far as I know it hasn't leaked in the few years I've owned it.

 

[zachattack]

The star san concentrate almost certainly is not eating through the plastic container, it's just a leak.

Like all the others, the cap broke on mine but that's it.

Just a reminder that strong acids like concentrated star san can be dangerous! If you spill a bunch of it you can toss some baking soda on there to neutralize the acid before you wipe it up.