Cleaning silicone hose

[Andy]

Right, I use 1/2" ID silicone hose to connect the various bits and pieces up in my brewery and following the last brew I noticed that there's some particulate coating on the inner wall of some of the hoses. I would imagine that the usual cleaning suspects e.g. soda crystals, oxyclean might shift some of it but not all. So I think I might need some mechanical action going on e.g. a pipe cleaning brush or similar.

Anyone else had a similar problem and if so how did you tackle it ? Anyone use a pipe cleaning brush ?


Ta

[clogwog]

If chemicals won't clean it, maybe investigate those things used to clean rifle / shotgun barrels?

[awalker]

What about a 'hose mouse'! just trying to find them again.

Its a ball or balls that you put down the hose and push with either air or liquid.
I want some myself, just so I can push them either down the hose while the mash is on.

They are here but for a lot larger size hose than we normally use.
http://www.tradekey.com/product_view/id/745472.htm

I have the link at home if you are interested, for more user friendly sizes.

[boingy]

I know they are not cheap and I don't know how long you've had them but regularly replacing hoses is not a bad idea.

[Andy]

I know they are not cheap and I don't know how long you've had them but regularly replacing hoses is not a bad idea.

Yes but given the £££ for the silicone then I'd like to avoid that as much as possible

[Andy]

If boiling or hot wort is the cause of contamination then perhaps boiling in a suitable solvent such as caustic is the solution.

Yes, certainly worth a punt, given the length of the hoses then I'd have to use either my HLT or boiler to do that and both have copper based heating elements. Is caustic and copper a good mix ?

[Andy]

well in the end I boiled the hoses in a strong oxyclean solution and it appears to have shifted the gunk, the hoses are still slightly discoloured (stained) but no signs of the matter which was there before the boil.

[vacant]

Fold a small piece of rag a few times, tie it in a ball to the end of a piece of string, feed the other end of the string through your hose then pull the rag through. You can squeeze the tube where the rag is passing to scrape the inner surface.