plastic fermenting vessels

[brewjohn]

until I looked round this section I did not realise what problems can be caused with surface scratches on the inside of plastic fermenting vessels . I got a good torch ,put on my glasses and was amazed at the state of mine ! I can see quite a few and also some brown staining,mind you it is a few years old now. I came across a chap who changes his every 10 brews ! is it beyond hope ? is it ready for a change ? The brews are still fine but dont want to have one turn out nasty.

[Wolfy]

How do you weigh the cost of a possible spoiled batch to that of a new plastic bucket?
it's your call, but when you can see visible scratches and stains that cannot be removed, that is a fair indication that you are not able to clean or sanitise it completely, it might be fine for years ... or it might not.

[Kev888]

I've always used fairly cheap FVs and replaced them if I suspect they're not cleaning properly, as the cost of the FV every so often seemed small compared to wasted time and ingredients. They've usually lasted at least a couple of years though, and often far longer - so devaluation at that kind of life span is probably less than 1/2p per pint.

But lately i got a plastic conical that has a couple of scratched areas which seem to retain staining, and its far too expensive to dump so I now pour boiling water over these areas in the hope that the heat will penetrate even if the sanitiser doesn't. So far I've had no problems but only time will tell..

Cheers
kev

[AnthonyUK]

Clean with an oxyclean soak and sanitise as usual. I doubt you'll have problems because of this.
Changing the FV every 10 brews is totally OTT.

[brewjohn]

Going by the number of mentions on HB forums and sites this product gets quite a good write up. if you want to be tight you could mix your own with soda and hydrgen peroxide ! I think because of its age I will purchase a new bucket and keep the oxyclean in mind for the future. I wonder if it would work if you pinched some of grandads sterodent tablets !!!

[Wolfy]

if you want to be tight you could mix your own with soda and hydrgen peroxide !

Yep, its called sodium percarbonate.

[Kev888]

I'm currently using a home made mix of sodium percarbonate and sodium metasilicate - its very good but not enough to remove the staining in the small scratched areas I mentioned; the surrounding plastic is all pearly-white though.

Hmm, think I'm going to start sanitising the scratches both with the boiling water and peracetic acid, but I doubt it'd be time/cost effective for a generally scratched fermenting bin; there are elements of spending foolish money on this plastic conical that I'm now regretting...

Cheers
kev

[brewjohn]

Does any one know if VANISH in the pink tub is the same as OXI CLEAN ? Its advertised as an Oxi cleaner ?

[AnthonyUK]

It is a type but with added scents and perfumes so would need rinsing well. Vanish is also more than £5 per tub when it is available in a more basic form from Poundland for .... you guessed it £1 and a larger tub from Wilcos for £2.
The basic Oxy free is ideal but anything with sodium percarbonate as the active ingredient should be OK.

[Wolfy]

The higher the concentration of sodium percarbonate and the less perfumes and other additives the better, you don't want your beer to taste like lemon-washing-detergent for example.

[Kev888]

Also B&Q (and presumably other places) do 400g packs of straight sodium percarbonate for £2, in the form of ecover laundry bleach if I remember the name correctly. The oxyclean type products have considerably less than this in them - some I've seen say less than 5%, so even though they can be quite cheap the ecover seems a more cost effective way of buying it.

Cheers
kev

[alfie09]

used vanish on a few things myself but my missus wondered were it all went, but it does work ok. but using soda crystals are your best bet mate 90p a kilo from tesco

[brewjohn]

Just got back from my local POUNDLAND and they have tubs of Oxi powder on the shelf at a pound a tub for 500 Gramm