Silicone hose

[Jag75]

I use a silicone hose for a blow off tube . I use starsan in ro water and have noticed the starsan solution reacts odd with the hose . I dont know if the acid breaks down the hose or what . It causes a wierd film on the hose around the bottle top area .

 

[cwise]

I notice the same thing on everything that touches starsan that has CO2 bubbling through it. I think that it might just be what is left behind after the starsan bubbles evaporate.

 

[Beer-lord]

I too use the hose but have used it for a blow off for over 4 years and it has never been a problem. Just looks ugly. I don't soak it to very long but the end that sits in the jar has been cut off a bit every year or so.

 

[Jag75]

I haven't noticed any issue with the part that is submerged it's the area at the bottle opening where the bubbles and co2 mix . It's almost like a vasoline type coating that forms.

 

[cwise]

That is exactly the same as I see

 

[kh54s10]

I've noticed that my blow off tubes discolor where it sits in the Starsan. I have not noticed any film, but I take it straight to the sink to wash it out. I have not worried about the discoloration at the end of the tube and don't see that it will have any effect on the beer.

I have retired plenty of tubing, but that is because of the dried on krausen in the middle of the tube. Too far to reach with a brush, and won't wash out.

Until I get this, I just clean as best I can and sanitize well. Zero infections so far. Knock on wood.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I've heard from a reputable source that soaking silicone in Star San causes it to become brittle.

 

[day_trippr]

I've never left tubing in Star San long enough to get past the slimy stage - and that was just the one time.
And after seeing what happened to a carboy cap left overnight in my Star San reservoir I don't leave anything in Star San for more than a full wetting before immediate use...

Cheers!

 

[RPh_Guy]

I've never left tubing in Star San long enough to get past the slimy stage - and that was just the one time.
And after seeing what happened to a carboy cap left overnight in my Star San reservoir I don't leave anything in Star San for more than a full wetting before immediate use...

Cheers!

It's a blow-off tube. It's SUPPOSED to be in sanitizer.

 

[day_trippr]

Well, fine, sacrificial hose for blow-offs is cheap I suppose for those who insist on putting sanitizer in their catch vessel.
I've always used just my well water, no sanitizer. For the 3-4 days I run the blow offs before switching to my CO2 setups there's not much time for anything to grow anyway...

Cheers!

 

[RPh_Guy]

That's cool, but not everyone has such an advanced system.

 

[day_trippr]

Not sure that matters. Do folks generally leave their blow offs set up for the entire fermentation process?
Before I started with the CO2 rigs I always switched to S-locks after the fermentation had settled down, 3-4 days post-pitch...

Cheers!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Do folks generally leave their blow offs set up for the entire fermentation process?

Some do. I do sometimes. There's nothing about an airlock that makes switching to it and better for the beer. (E.g. commercial breweries generally always have the blow-off in place)

You can even find plenty of threads here where people accidentally sucked in a bunch of the blow-off liquid. In that case it's better to get Star San than water with who-knows-what growing in it, in my opinion.

 

[day_trippr]

Right, the potential to empty a catch vessel via suck-back is why I always switched to an S-lock after the batch had settled down...

Cheers!

 

[Jag75]

I only leave my blow off on my cf5 until I dump the yeast . Then I attach the gas manifold . So it's only on for a week . I also only use enough so the end of the hose is only submerged by couple inches .

 

[RPh_Guy]

I don't cold crash, so I don't have issues with suck back, but yeah, there's more than one way to do things right. Leaving a blow-off tube submerged in Star San isn't necessarily bad.

I use vinyl tubing for blow-off, and the slime washes off. I would not use silicone because of how oxygen-permeable it is, nevermind that Star San degrades it.

 

[kh54s10]

I leave the blow off tube in Starsan the entire time. Up to a month or more when I get lazy. I have never had any plastic get brittle from Starsan. Only discoloring.

Well water has 0 in the way of sanitation. At least municipal tap water has chlorine or chloramine added. I would worry with just water.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I leave the blow off tube in Starsan the entire time. Up to a month or more when I get lazy. I have never had any plastic get brittle from Starsan. Only discoloring.

What plastic do you use? My comment about becoming brittle was referring only to silicone.

 

[kh54s10]

What plastic do you use? My comment about becoming brittle was referring only to silicone.

Any plastics or silicone. I have heard the brittle said of leaving Starsan on different plastics including HDPE and PET. I have not had that problem. Nor, with extended soaking with Oxyclean.

As to suck back. If you only use enough Starsan in a cup to keep the end of the tube submerged there is no way you can get suck back. It would rise up the tube until the solution is in it, but will drop back out when air enters the tube.

The air is what people try to avoid though. - Oxidation!

 

[RPh_Guy]

HDPE and PET are very different than silicone.

 

[FatDragon]

I've heard from a reputable source that soaking silicone in Star San causes it to become brittle.

I tossed a few blow-off tubes a few months ago for that exact reason. They sat in starsan for a few months and cracked like a cheap plastic toy that's been sitting in the sun all summer.

 

[kh54s10]

HDPE and PET are very different than silicone.

Yes I know that.. As I said I have heard the brittle thing about Starsan and PET, HDPE AND Silicone...... not my experience with any.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Well water has 0 in the way of sanitation. At least municipal tap water has chlorine or chloramine added. I would worry with just water.

Why? What mechanism would be worth worrying about?
Do you think some single cell beastie is going to crawl up four feet of tubing?
As I mentioned earlier I do fully wet the tubing with Star San before use, but that's it...

Cheers!

 

[bgmac]

If you are worried about Star San messing up a hose, you can use stainless steel. I use pre-made stainless steel blow off tubes and leave them in place throughout primary every time in a jar of Star San. No worries about breaking down. I hand bent them a little to fit around my primary buckets. Same OD as a 3 piece or S type air lock.

Here is a link on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073V229LX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[kh54s10]

Why? What mechanism would be worth worrying about?
Do you think some single cell beastie is going to crawl up four feet of tubing?
As I mentioned earlier I do fully wet the tubing with Star San before use, but that's it...

Cheers!

It is very unlikely, especially if you don't use too deep a vessel of water in case of suck back. But if there was air sucked through the water enough to get into the fermenter it could possibly cause infection. If sucked through Starsan it is a little less likely that it would.

 

[Bilsch]

Peroxide cured silicone hose seems to never be fully cured and will leach silicone oil. Platinum cured ones are far superior.

 

[TheMadKing]

I've always seen that as well and just assumed the silicon was hydrating from being submerged. It always goes back to normal when it dries and I've not noticed any negative impact