Do FV's just go bad

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
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vacant
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by vacant » Sat Aug 05, 2017 10:05 pm

Wilko's and other places do cheap food safe storage containers that make ideal fermenters. I've been using an 80 litre one which cost me £5. Just look for the cutlery symbol on the base.
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scotsloon
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by scotsloon » Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:08 am

My 3 20 odd year old Fv's are still working fine and remain sweet. My approach is to put a couple of campden tablets and a couple of gallons of water into them when not in use, works for me!

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Wonkydonkey
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by Wonkydonkey » Sun Aug 06, 2017 9:01 pm

f00b4r wrote:
Any chance of expanding on your experience of using the BS remover that is now on sale (amount used, soak time, removing the BS itself, etc)?[/quote]


I tried the way it said on the instructions on the back. It did not seem to work with the lower amount in a gallon of water, but also I did not know how it would work ?,,, would just disolved it, would it loosen it so I could use a green scrubby ?
I left it for a fair amount of time. An hour ish.. There's no time stated, should I have left it longer ?
It said try concentrated on stubborn BS,,, I got a small bit of rag and lay the fv on the side and with the rag wetted, I left it came back, still there, doh.... Tried wth green scrubby would not budge.. So I thought heat makes most reaction go faster. So I got hot water and mixed up the twice the amount water to BS and left it.
It cooled,, I went back still there, DOH.... Then I thought bugger this BS stuff and got the old credit card and tried to budge it, it slowly worked, little bits lifted up and slowly took the edge off the card in trying to make it move. But not a single mark was made on the fv in using the CC

I would love to hear anyone's view on how they got on with it, and if I was doing it wrong in anyway,,, did I have some tuff BS on the FV, or is the BS remover not tuff enough !!

So anyone else used it. please tell me how to use it

Ps I don't mean to highjack this thread..

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Wonkydonkey
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by Wonkydonkey » Sun Aug 06, 2017 9:11 pm

Umm, I can't wait to try it again, to see if it works better on just a little amount (new BS )

And I wish I had left it over night,

And I did get it on my hands so it's not very caustic/acidic, it did not irritate my skin. But I can't say it wouldn't irrtate others skin.

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Eric
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by Eric » Sun Aug 06, 2017 11:29 pm

There is a way to remove BS with little effort, but you will need some of this stuff.

Take half a litre of tapwater, stir in a level teaspoon of caustic soda then add 20g of the EDTA. Stir until the solution is clear, although in hard water areas you may be left with a white deposit (calcium) which is of no consequence to your intended purpose.

Assuming you are dealing with a homebrew sized vessel, pour the mixture into the vessel when it is clean and reasonably dry. Then tip the vessel until the liquid runs over some of the beerstone. Hold the vessel steady for a few seconds before slowly rotating it to move the fluid on over other deposits. The previously clear mixture will slowly turn a cloudy pale yellow as the beerstone dissolves without manual intervention.

I have found 20g of EDTA in a caustic solution sufficient to clean all beerstone from a typical 33l FV after a few years of use. It can be necessary to use a soft cloth to rewipe more stubbon areas of BS to get those completely clean and the solution will be exhausted by a large deposit, but rubbing your finger over the surface deposit before and after treatment is a sure way of having confidence in this procedure.
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Re: Do FV's just go bad

Post by f00b4r » Mon Aug 07, 2017 7:51 am

Great info from both you guys, although a little disappointing that the Five Star stuff seems to be much the less effective of the two.

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