Help! Sanitizer leak & water damage!

[Fionnbharr]

So -- it's 2:30AM, and I've just spent the last 2+ hours mopping up the garage floor.

My 5-gal bucket of Star-San leaked and drained its contents while we were out for the holiday. It is a standard food-grade 5-gallon bucket with spigot, and the leak seems to be at the seal around the spigot.

Do these seals fail in general, or is it the Star-San sanitizer that is bad for the seal?

And aside from sanitizing everything and water-damage to some boxes and their contents, is sanitizing solution harmful to long-term contact with .... stuff? (This leaked sanitizer could have been sitting there an hour before we got home, or possibly the whole weekend.)

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

Sounds like you're good to go! Throw everything into your next batch of beer! Take innovative brewing to the next level!

As for the buckets with a spigot: I find that they can leak quite easily if you don't tighten things down far more than one would think necessary.

 

[bgrayson726]

Star san isn't really bad for anything (except for aluminum?). All it does is lower the pH level of whatever you add to it. This basically kills all the harmful bacteria that could contaminate your beer. Lowering the pH in a bucket won't really do anything.

To address your problem, try changing the washers. I had leaks in my bottling bucket originally, then I replaced the washers and moved one on the inside, one on the outside. Now there are no leaks as far as I know.

Good luck! Cheers!

 

[bucfanmike]

good thing this was outside and not in your kitchen.. Star San is awesome for sanitizing but you have to be careful with it. Check this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/starsan-damage-countertop-244521/ it will destroy countertops, laminates and granites alike.