Napisan And Easy Siphon

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stakka82

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Hey all,

I've recently started using napisan (unscented, homebrand) to clean my fermenters, and pvt tubing, and airlocks etc. Much easier than scrubbing and a lot better in that I don't have to worry about scratching the fermenters. I know a lot of people use it, big props to whomever's post I read a few weeks ago where I got the idea.

My question is this: I have an easy siphon, and was wondering if the percarbonate might damage the soft rubbery seal bits if i chucked it in the fermenter to soak overnight too? I'm guessing probably not, but I just wanted to double check, cause the siphon wasn't cheap and it's been a great help so far.

Cheers
 
Only substance I've found so far that doesn't cope with a sodium percarb soak is rubber. Won't immediately disintegrate but does go a bit soft and slimy and deteriorates over time.

I've heard glass can also get eaten but never personally noticed an issue with my elerlenmeyer or demijohns.

If you use boiling water, the cleaning power of sod percarb is pretty magical so maybe do away with the soaking? Make sure the rest of your siphon copes with the heat though and do your own tests/research rather than taking my word for it.
 
I've used close to boiling water to clean it before, the extreme temp seemed to create hairline cracks in the hard/clear plastic (which makes me as paranoid of infection as the fermenter scratches do, but its been fine for 10 odd beers since that episode) of the outer tube, so unfortunately I don't think that's an option.

The seals look/feel like rubber (or a soft, pliable plastic - i'm not sure), so maybe I wont soak it in the percarb either. Thanks for the heads up mate.

Looks like i'll just stick to rinsing in warm water immediately after use. It's not that big a deal, I'm just lazy, and was looking for an easier option.
 
doesn't need to be all boiling hot.

if you fill what ever you're cleaning with say 50-70 degree water then add your sod percarb, it will start to fizz and bingo, whatever you're cleaning will be clean the next day. no need to soak for days on end.
then a rinse/wipe down with a clean chux and slimy residue is gone and its all clean. you're going to sanitize before the next batch anyway so using the chux isn't going to be a problem.

the warm water activates the sod percarb faster
 
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