Starsan messes up my spray bottles

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MrBJones

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2016
Messages
541
Reaction score
81
Location
Dallas
It takes a while to happen, but as time goes by Starsan seems to mess up my sprayers...either causing them to clog, or messing with the hole that the spray come out of. Does anyone else notice the same thing? Are there bottles somewhere that are immune?
Thanks!
 
I haven't personally experienced this problem and have been using the same spray bottle for a few years now. Could you possibly be not diluting the StarSan enough? It is a low strength acid so if its too strong from not being diluted enough I could imagine that could contribute to the problem.
 
Coincidentally my Starsan sprayer stopped working a few weeks ago. It would spray a straight jet, no more mist. Removed nozzle and from what it looks, part of the plastic inside sprayer tube is gone. Not sure what caused it, but it's not the first sprayer that has failed on me over the years, not only with Starsan.

I just stuck a new spray head on that bottle.
 
I have used spray bottles for other things. Some fail quickly, others last a long time. I am on my second bottle for Starsan. The first lasted 6 years.
 
Its the caustic properties. It happens to me with Starsans about every 2-3 years and bleach about every 1-2 years. Bleach concentrations is pretty strong, ~15% but has its specific non-brewing related use. Starsans though is usually the 1oz:5gal, though the spray bottle sometimes gets a stronger concentration. This tends to degrade the plastic faster.
 
I buy Delta brand spray bottles from the local hardware. Good for house hold cleaning chemicals, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. Star San corrodes the spring after a time. Lubricate the spring by turning the spray bottle upside down and giving a couple of pumps. I do have to take the nozzle apart occasionally to remove the cat hair plug. Not worried about that though. The hair is very well sanitized.
 
I had a few go bad on me as well. Even a properly diluted star san will eat up some bottle mechanisms.

On my last go round I bought this chemical resistant bottle. It's still working well after about a year.

I see they now have an acid resistant one too. Might be a good choice if you don't mind paying $13 for a spray bottle!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Its the caustic properties. It happens to me with Starsans about every 2-3 years and bleach about every 1-2 years. Bleach concentrations is pretty strong, ~15% but has its specific non-brewing related use. Starsans though is usually the 1oz:5gal, though the spray bottle sometimes gets a stronger concentration. This tends to degrade the plastic faster.

I'm in the dunking and soaking camp for most objects when it comes to Starsan, but also a heavy mopper where dunking is impractical or impossible (fermentor sides, lids, bucket rims, tubing, open jars, etc.) and a spray devil to get it inside crevices, like under a fermentor's lid, around airlocks, stoppers, starter flask foils, jars, etc.

I just fill my Starsan bottle from the bucket, which has the proper dilution.

Not all spray heads are the same quality either, I recognize that.

I also found a skinny 1/2" SS spring of which I was wondering where it came from. Perhaps from that "broken" sprayer assembly?
 
Its the caustic properties. It happens to me with Starsans about every 2-3 years and bleach about every 1-2 years. Bleach concentrations is pretty strong, ~15% but has its specific non-brewing related use. Starsans though is usually the 1oz:5gal, though the spray bottle sometimes gets a stronger concentration. This tends to degrade the plastic faster.
Not to be that guy, but caustic usually refers to something that is basic, not acidic. Starsan is an acid. Bleach is a base.

I went through a few spray bottles, then I got one from a company called "Chemical Guys." I just have their normal spray bottle, but they sell one specifically for acids. I've had the same spray bottle for more than 5 years now. Really well made.
 
Not to be that guy, but caustic usually refers to something that is basic, not acidic. Starsan is an acid. Bleach is a base.

I went through a few spray bottles, then I got one from a company called "Chemical Guys." I just have their normal spray bottle, but they sell one specifically for acids. I've had the same spray bottle for more than 5 years now. Really well made.
I think the word we all want is 'corrosive'. I believe that applies to acidic or caustic chemicals. Yeah, I probably am 'that guy'.
 
Not to be that guy, but caustic usually refers to something that is basic, not acidic. Starsan is an acid. Bleach is a base.

I went through a few spray bottles, then I got one from a company called "Chemical Guys." I just have their normal spray bottle, but they sell one specifically for acids. I've had the same spray bottle for more than 5 years now. Really well made.
Then Dont be that guy...;)

Chemical definition from Cambridge Dictionary (and others as well):
a chemical caustic chemical burns or destroys things; especially organic substances.

But I agree that caustic usually referenced to basic rather acidic substances; however, it applies to the action not the substance.
 
Last edited:
^All true^, which is unfortunate. I've always considered "caustic" to be definitively basic.

fwiw, I keep a bucket of Star San mix using distilled water for months at a crack, adding a gallon at a time when the level drops enough. The shank of the plastic ball valve I use on my bucket dissolves over time - over the last ~8 years I've had to replace that valve twice because eventually the lock nut slips on the diminished shank threads and the whole bucket has emptied.

But not all plastics are affected - the lock nuts on the valves I've replaced are pristine. I think they're made from nylon while who knows what the rest of the valve is made from...

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
I buy the little spray bottle in the sample/travel aisle at Wal-Mart for $1. I have several, green ones are Star-San, blue ones are water.

I've had a couple clog up or otherwise not want to pump star-san, but usually I can get them working.

spraybottles.jpg
 
1 of my spray bottles did the same thing: the mist setting converted to straight spray only. I have noticed if I left silicone or PVC tubing in a bucket of diluted starsan for a few weeks, it starts to get gooey and translucent. So the weak acid does something to these materials over time.
 
Hey guys,

Most spray bottles should hold up to Star San. The toughest thing about it is phosphoric which, in the realm of strong acids, isn't too bad. I think what may be happening is that the Star San is complexing with dissolved solids in the water (generally hardness, but can also be magnesium, iron, manganese, etc.).

This has a bit to do with why we introduced San Step-- it doesn't complex with water minerals and won't clog spray bottles. I don't want to get overly commercial, so I'll leave it at that and ask you guys to contact me if you're interested in hearing more about it (and we'll be at the Homebrew Con if you want to come by and see our demo-- we're partnering with CM Becker/Keg Connection for distribution).

Hope that helps,

Rick Theiner
LOGIC, Inc.
 
I always use distilled water and measure my StarSan per the directions and still have spray pumps fail. The last one was from Home Depot, Zap brand or something like that, and it only lasted a couple of years tops.

I think all that can be said is that StarSan damages plastic so the spray pump will probably fail eventually. Oh, that and you can't be sure that a general purpose "expensive" spray bottle is better than the dollar store ones.
 
I have used spray bottles for other things. Some fail quickly, others last a long time. I am on my second bottle for Starsan. The first lasted 6 years.

To go further. I have not seen any correlation between Starsan and spray bottle failure. During the 6 years that I used a Home Depot spray bottle for my Starsan, I had 2 bottles fail that held only water. These things are not high tech. IMO it is hit or miss on how long they will last.
 
Back
Top