Starsan and silicone hose?

[kiwipen]

I read something here on HBT about acids and silicone hoses are a bad match. The acid in the discussion was not starsan.

Can properly diluted starsan damage a silicone hose with short term (15-30 minutes) contact?

 

[microbusbrewery]

I've never heard of problems with silicone but I have heard of problems with regular vinyl tubing.

 

[mongoose33]

I've never heard of problems with silicone but I have heard of problems with regular vinyl tubing.

I do not believe silicone tubing and Star-San is a problem.

Vinyl is, as Micro says, an issue. I have a 5-gallon bucket of Star San in which I sanitize things for brew day. I left vinyl tubing in there for an extended period and it developed a slime on it which I can only conclude was the vinyl deteriorating.

I also keep the lids to my Bigmouth Bubblers in there, and they have silicone gaskets. Never noticed any issue at all with that, even when they are in there for an extended period.

I should note that those gaskets don't come in contact w/ the beer so it's not an issue that way, but I can't discern any change to the silicon after weeks of soaking.

 

[brandonnys]

Absolutely no issues here with using StarSan and silicone tubes. In my experience, you don't want to soak them for an extended period of time (longer than 24-36 hours), because a precipitate can form, which doesn't seem to cause any damage to the hose, but basically takes you back to square one with cleaning.

I run hot PBW through the lines, run a hot water rinse, and then run StarSan. Once that cycle is done, hang them to dry completely and the job is done.

Avoid Iodophor, as it can turn your tubes yellow.

 

[microbusbrewery]

One thing that is hard on silicone...putting it in a pot of boiling water to sanitize it because you used it to transfer a sour beer...and then leaving your house to run errands while forgetting you left the hose in the boiling water...then all the water boils off. That is definitely hard on silicone tubing, so don't do that.

 

[Nagorg]

I hate when that happens!

 

[doug293cz]

I do not believe silicone tubing and Star-San is a problem.

Vinyl is, as Micro says, an issue. I have a 5-gallon bucket of Star San in which I sanitize things for brew day. I left vinyl tubing in there for an extended period and it developed a slime on it which I can only conclude was the vinyl deteriorating.

I also keep the lids to my Bigmouth Bubblers in there, and they have silicone gaskets. Never noticed any issue at all with that, even when they are in there for an extended period.

I should note that those gaskets don't come in contact w/ the beer so it's not an issue that way, but I can't discern any change to the silicon after weeks of soaking.

This matches my experience as well.

Brew on

 

[orangehero]

Long term exposure of phosphoric acid (e.g. Star-San) can damage silicone. I've had silicone o-rings dissolve in Star-San. My recommendation would be to limit contact and keep temperatures low.

 

[bigdawg86]

I know this is a necropost, but just was suprised to see a silicone hose brittle and broken after forgetting it in a bucket of starsan for 10-14 days.