how best to clean a dirty blow off tube

[ethangray19]

I have a blow off tube, that also doubles as my racking tube. The last beer i fermented "blew off" pretty strongly and there is some kraussen residue in it and I did not replace it with a three piece airlock untill today(over a week).

Any ideas on how best to clean it and then sanitize it so that i can use it to rack my beer with and as a blow off tube next brew???

Thanks

 

[AlesNeverFail]

i've found that soaking it in bleach works well. but yeah that gunk is hard to remove after a while.

 

[Sasquatchula]

I dropped my hose into just boiled water and let it sit for 1/2 hour. Then, with the tubing still soft, I rolled it between my fingers to loosen any gunk still in there. Next I stuck a funnel on one end of the hose and poured the still hot water through it to rinse. Finally, an overnight soak in bleach/water solution. Looks and smells, well, like a vinyl tube.

 

[EvilTOJ]

First, go out and buy a 1" OD section of plastic tubing 3' long from Home Depot. Use that as a blowoff tube. Trust me. What I do to clean mine out is make sure it doesn't dry out, and run hot water through it. If that doesn't work, then a soak in oxyclean helps out.

 

[ethangray19]

thanks for the responses. Those are good ideas. I might just buy a new one, but will also try those ideas

 

[Nerro]

Doesn't soaking it in hot water for a few days to a week do the trick? Otherwise soaking it in diluted hydrochloric acid might work.

 

[DuffmanAK]

Go out and buy a thing of Oxyclean Free (note the free, no scents, etc).

I had krausen/gunk all sticky and caked on the inside of my carboy, I put some oxyclean in it, let it sit for about 2 hours and it dissolved ALL the gunk. I didn't even need a brush. I suspect the same could be done for a blowoff tube.

Also, Oxyclean Free is a WONDER for taking bottle labels off. Just soak the bottles in warm water + oxyclean for like 15 minutes and the labels basically fall off. It's great.

 

[ethangray19]

awesome info.

Do you think that soaking the tube in water for an extended amount of time will cause any ill effects to the tube?? (my tube is synflex PVC tubing)

 

[DuffmanAK]

Hmm.. that I'm not sure on, long as it's not boiling I wouldn't think it's be a problem, but I'll defer to someone else here that's more familiar with that type of tube. I'm not even sure what kind of tubes I'm using (picked up most of my gear second hand). Seems like it's vinyl or something similar.

 

[barroomhero1234]

Soak it in sanitizer. Then use Q-tips to take out the krausen. That works for me. I had the same thing as you. Then i splurged and spent 2 dollars on more pipe.

 

[Brew-boy]

Toss it and buy new, it is cheap enough.

 

[jordanlee05]

First, go out and buy a 1" OD section of plastic tubing 3' long from Home Depot. Use that as a blowoff tube. Trust me. What I do to clean mine out is make sure it doesn't dry out, and run hot water through it. If that doesn't work, then a soak in oxyclean helps out.

Just to add to this (assuming you're using plastic):

I built a similar one to what EvilTOJ described. Start with a Male Pipe Thread x Barb connector which looks like this:
http://www.berryhilldrip.com/images/DSC00052.JPG

On the threaded end you need a seal. In the plumbing section they have sheets of rubber you can cut down to make a couple gaskets.

Pick up 2 conduit nuts in the electrical conduit section:
http://images.orgill.com/200x200/4024915.jpg

You'll probably need to make a new or larger hole in the lid to accept the threaded end. Tubing obviously goes on the other side. I went 1" I believe.

I've never had much problem getting krausen out. When I disinfect my secondary to transfer I pull the tube off my primary and siphon the water out with it. This has always been enough to dislodge anything stuck in there.

 

[brett]

Here's how I do it. Works great.

First, go to the hardware store and buy a faucet adapter and gardenhose to barb adapter, and construct this:


Put it on your faucet like this:


Then, take a small piece of paper towel, lube it up with plenty of dish soap, and put it in the end of the tubing:


Then you simply attach the tubing to the barb and very gently force the paper towel wad through the hose:


Works great! Plus I use this as a tool to spray down stuff.

 

[Soulive]

+1 for Oxyclean...

 

[fratermus]

I have a blow off tube, that also doubles as my racking tube. The last beer i fermented "blew off" pretty strongly and there is some kraussen residue in it and I did not replace it with a three piece airlock untill today(over a week).

Even if you don't go the 1" route, it I'd get a dedicated blowoff. It'll keep you from having to wait to bottle while your hose soaks.

I do have a 1" blowoff and rarely use it. I just use a stopper and 3/8" or whatever. THe 1" is so stiff I can't make it bend to fit where I need it.

 

[fat x nub]

siphon sanitizing solution through the hose and splash on outer part

 

[RobbyBeers]

I had a good bit of blowoff on my current batch, and the crud dried in the blowoff tube. No amount of sanitizing was getting out the crud, so I came up with a little gadget to get at the inside of the tube.

Materials include: a nut, strong twine (definitely do NOT want it to break off inside the tube), a rag (in this case an old t-shirt), and some leftover grain (to fill up the "head").

I may be a little late on this thread, but I figured I'd post it here and keep all the info together. It'll keep my tube alive for a few more batches, but I agree it's probably best just to replace it before too long.

 

[homebrewflyfish]

I got the Double Blast Bottle Washer, which I highly recommend for rinsing bottles and carboys. Anyway, the carboy nozzle fits inside the tubing perfectly so it sets a jetstream of water through the tubing. In fact, before I bought a short garden hose I used this method to clean my buckets as they don't fit in my sink. This is the product:
Double blast bottle washer :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

Also, BE CAREFUL ABOUT HOW LONG YOU LEAVE IT IN STARSAN. I left mine submerged for a couple weeks and when I came back to it the vinyl was all cloudy and sticky...obviously the acid had started to eat away at the vinyl. I was able to clean it off and it's pretty much back to normal now, but it definitely added a significant "oh ****" moment to bottling day.

 

[shrades]

Q-tops worked ok, then I found a small brush at the brew sore that is made for a 3 piece on. Works great on the inside tube.

 

[jldc]

PBW. Powdered Brewery Wash. It's available from all the major vendors and works great to dissolve dried sediment. It works great to clean Better Bottle carboys (which shouldn't be scrubbed or they will scratch).

 

[jrfuda]

Here's how I do it. Works great....
Works great! Plus I use this as a tool to spray down stuff.

Brett, that's a great technique. I had the parts on hand already and got my nasty blowoff tube cleaned in about 5 minutes, including setup. Sweet tip!

 

[Mutilated1]

just throw it away and buy another

 

[fugazzi]

Here's how I do it. Works great.

First, go to the hardware store and buy a faucet adapter and gardenhose to barb adapter, and construct this:


Put it on your faucet like this:


Then, take a small piece of paper towel, lube it up with plenty of dish soap, and put it in the end of the tubing:


Then you simply attach the tubing to the barb and very gently force the paper towel wad through the hose:


Works great! Plus I use this as a tool to spray down stuff.

Old thread, but wow, that's an awesome trick. No trip to the store, I had all the parts already, and bam, squeaky clean tube.

 

[Gear101]

Shotgun cleaner.. works like a charm?!?!?

 

[TrubDog]

PBW or One Step. 30 minute soak and it magically comes clean. No fuss, no mess.

 

[Pezman1]

Soak a square of paper towel in cleaning solution wad it up so it fits firmly but not too tightly in your blow off. Aim the other end at the sink, then take a big breath and blow the paper out the tubing like a giant spit wad.
Cleans great.
Pez.

 

[tjpfeister]

+1 for bleach solution and a little agitation.

 

[Opiate42]

Here's how I do it. Works great.

First, go to the hardware store and buy a faucet adapter and gardenhose to barb adapter, and construct this:


Put it on your faucet like this:


Then, take a small piece of paper towel, lube it up with plenty of dish soap, and put it in the end of the tubing:


Then you simply attach the tubing to the barb and very gently force the paper towel wad through the hose:


Works great! Plus I use this as a tool to spray down stuff.

Dang, I need to do this....

What happens if I leave the tube in sanitizer for a few days? Does that impact the integrity of the material at all?

 

[Howiedw]

I use a rigid 1" pvc for my blowoff. a 3" piece of 1" tygon attaches the PVC to the carboy. 2 90 deg elbows.
it looks something like this:

 

[its_manbearpig]

I didn't read all the suggestions in this thread, but I want to mention this:

I bought a daypack for hiking from walmart and it has a refillable bladder inside. Company is Outdoor Products. They also sell a cleaning kit for the bladder and hose. I found the best brush for cleaning my blowoff tubes in it.

It's a scrub brush that's about two feet long and made out of a spring. It's completely flexible and is perfect for cleaning all the dried krausen from inside the tube.

Not sure if that's been suggested already, but that brush is one of the best brushes in my arsenal and the only one capable of scrubbing the inside of my hoses 100%.

It looks similar to this version, but with shorter black bristles:

 

[brewcephus]

I use a rigid 1" pvc for my blowoff. a 3" piece of 1" tygon attaches the PVC to the carboy. 2 90 deg elbows.
it looks something like this:

I also like this idea. So how would you go about cleaning this? Do you just stick it together(no glue) so that it can be broken down for cleaning purposes?

 

[dsaavedra]

I soaked mine in PBW for a little while, maybe an hour. This dissolved all the gunk out of the inside of the tube but it did make the tube a hazy white color. I have looked into it and it seems like this hazy color does not harm the beer and you can remove it if you scrub it/soak it in water or sanitizer or something. I am not worried about the hazy tubing so much because it is a dedicated blow off tube. I could probably run paper towels through the tubing with a dowel rod or something to scrub it out if I really wanted to.

 

[Howiedw]

I also like this idea. So how would you go about cleaning this? Do you just stick it together(no glue) so that it can be broken down for cleaning purposes?

Exactly. Without glue, the fittings are snug enough to make a seal. If cleaning is required, just break it down and use your bottle brush. Several places acutally sell these setups as a pre-cut kit.

 

[Opiate42]

I didn't read all the suggestions in this thread, but I want to mention this:

I bought a daypack for hiking from walmart and it has a refillable bladder inside. Company is Outdoor Products. They also sell a cleaning kit for the bladder and hose. I found the best brush for cleaning my blowoff tubes in it.

It's a scrub brush that's about two feet long and made out of a spring. It's completely flexible and is perfect for cleaning all the dried krausen from inside the tube.

Not sure if that's been suggested already, but that brush is one of the best brushes in my arsenal and the only one capable of scrubbing the inside of my hoses 100%.

It looks similar to this version, but with shorter black bristles:

:rockin:

Thank you!

Sweet mother of all things bubbly..... why the hell didn't I think of this?!?!?! I HAVE hydro packs and hike/camp all the time.... sheesh.... me.

 

[kombat]

I use a rigid 1" pvc for my blowoff. a 3" piece of 1" tygon attaches the PVC to the carboy. 2 90 deg elbows.
it looks something like this:

Very cool! But please tell me you don't lift full carboys using that red neck handle?

 

[Howiedw]

Very cool! But please tell me you don't lift full carboys using that red neck handle?

I didn't have an actual picture of my setup. This image was one I found online that was very similar to mine. I have nylon brewhauler straps.

 

[rodwha]

I bought a line brush meant for kegging lines.

http://morebeer.com/products/line-brush-38-48.html

I should have read the thread first...

 

[berwick12]

I've use the keg line brush but with longer and wider blowoff tubing it doesn't always fit or cut the mustard. What is a man to do if he has played every brass instrument and never throws anything away? EASY, go to the basement and grab you trombone brush. Nylon bristles and wider and longer than the keg brush.

 

[MockY]

I just bought this item, and hoping that it will do the trick

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I use a shotgun mop and a rifle cleaning rod.