Over Sanitising?

[Rossco]

I started to sanitise my fermenter so i can kick off my Grumpy's Hoegaardenm kit.

I used the coopers sanitiser and followed the recommended guidelines.

I was called away for work and forgot to empty out the sanitising solution in the fermenter. It has been a week and im wondering if it could have damaged the fermenter (coopers plastic kit one) or any of the rubber seals?

 

[pint of lager]

I don't know what is the Coopers sanitiser?

Your fermenter and seals should be fine. Tip it out, use a fresh batch of cleaner, wash every surface thoroughly with a soft cloth, rinse thoroughly and give it the sniff test. If you can smell traces of your cleaner, usually a good rinse witha kettle full of water will fix it. Don't pour boiling water on your airlock, it will deform.

Give everything a go around with some no rinse sanitiser and you are ready to brew.

It is best to store all brew gear clean and dry.

 

[samhighley]

I don't know what is the Coopers sanitiser?

The Coopers sanitiser is sodium percarbonate.

I've left mine in a plastic fermenter for the best part of a week with no ill effects.

Sam

 

[kook]

I've soaked fermenters with napsian (sodium percarbonate) for a week, it's not a problem at all. After that long it has completely dissolved all organic matter and the fermenter simply needs hosing out and sanitising (I use sodium percarb as a cleaner, not a sanitiser).

 

[Lobsta]

i think that coopers market 2 sanitizers, the percarbonate and sodium met. which one was it mate? easy way to tell, after u mixed it into the water, did the smell of it still burn the inside of your nostrils? sodium percarb only does that before , found that out the hard way... ouch

 

[mika]

Thought they stopped floggin the sodium met as they finally realised it was no good.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

i think that coopers market 2 sanitizers, the percarbonate and sodium met...

I think you're confusing Coopers with Brigalow. The latter sell both.

 

[petesbrew]

I think you're confusing Coopers with Brigalow. The latter sell both.

haha, I actually bought the brigalow one, then read the wiki article stating it was crap.
Still, I'd already bought it, used it, and it worked fine.

 

[Rossco]

i think that coopers market 2 sanitizers, the percarbonate and sodium met. which one was it mate? easy way to tell, after u mixed it into the water, did the smell of it still burn the inside of your nostrils? sodium percarb only does that before , found that out the hard way... ouch

Its Definatelty the Sodium Percarbonate.

Thnkas for all your help guys. I will rinse out the fermenter with hot water and kick it off!

Cheers

 

[sah]

i think that coopers market 2 sanitizers, the percarbonate and sodium met. which one was it mate? easy way to tell, after u mixed it into the water, did the smell of it still burn the inside of your nostrils? sodium percarb only does that before , found that out the hard way... ouch

You would have to snort sodium percarbonate for it to cause a burning effect. I use it uncut and there is no detectable odour.

regards,
Scott

 

[albrews]

I started to sanitise my fermenter so i can kick off my Grumpy's Hoegaardenm kit.

I used the coopers sanitiser and followed the recommended guidelines.

I was called away for work and forgot to empty out the sanitising solution in the fermenter. It has been a week and im wondering if it could have damaged the fermenter (coopers plastic kit one) or any of the rubber seals?

hi, i have had the sanitiser in the fermenter for about 3 weeks and no future problems have developed, in fact it may have helped.
cheers, alan

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Sodium Per-Crab ( Nappi-San ) will not affect your fermenter in any way, you could leave it in there for months without issue..

Bleach on the other hand will attack annd degrade the plastic, so it is not recommended leaving bleach based cleaners for any longer than 1hr or so..

I had a cube that I filled with a mild bleach solution and let it for a week...went to pick it up and the top tore out of it..

 

[0M39A]

I think you're confusing Coopers with Brigalow. The latter sell both.

coopers have actually changed their cleaning agent to sodium percarbonate, which still isnt a sanitizer, but it does a hell of a lot better than metabisulphate thats for sure.

ive been in a pinch and used just percarbonate for cleaning bottles with before, and its done the job (no infections), but i sure as hell wouldnt rely on it.

you'd think that when coopers finally realised that metabisulphate was shite, that they would switch to something half decent at least.

 

[sah]

In relation to sodium metabisulphite, although it isn't the best sanitser because it isn't good at killing existing bacteria it does do a fantastic job of preventing further growth. For this reason I use a small dusting of sodium met in cubes and fermenters that I'm not using. The little bit of residual water remaining in the container after the clean is enough produce a heap of sulphur dioxide gas which does the job of keeping the microbes at bay.

It's important to take care when releasing this gas from container prior to next use though. It damages the respiratory system. It's pungent stuff and you'll know if you've inhaled it.

regards,
Scott

Ps. It's also a good antioxidant and can be used in the mash or at bottling / kegging in tiny amounts. But that's not "all natural / preservative free" then is it?

 

[PartyPooper]

Why is sodium met so bad? I've never heard this before. I use both but have been seriously considering napisan in lieu of them. What do most ppl recommend as a sanitiser and cleaner?

By the way, never mix sodium met with sodium perc or you'll end up with a nasty reaction. I mixed them together one night in a small plastic bottle (thinking they were both sanitizers/cleaners so what the heck) and 5 minutes later it exploded. I had to evacuate the house because it became very difficult to breathe in the kitchen. When I got back in, I found that the bottle had exploded and that the plastic was (still) melting and was making it's way through the vinyl floor tile (like a scene out of one of the Alien movies). Needless to say, that almost ended my home brewing career but I managed to convince she-who-must-be-obeyed to give me another chance.

EDIT: forgot to add that I also use oxyper for cleaning but I have no idea what it is.

 

[Doogiechap]

Why is sodium met so bad? I've never heard this before. I use both but have been seriously considering napisan in lieu of them. What do most ppl recommend as a sanitiser and cleaner?

By the way, never mix sodium met with sodium perc or you'll end up with a nasty reaction. I mixed them together one night in a small plastic bottle (thinking they were both sanitizers/cleaners so what the heck) and 5 minutes later it exploded. I had to evacuate the house because it became very difficult to breathe in the kitchen. When I got back in, I found that the bottle had exploded and that the plastic was (still) melting and was making it's way through the vinyl floor tile (like a scene out of one of the Alien movies). Needless to say, that almost ended my home brewing career but I managed to convince she-who-must-be-obeyed to give me another chance.

G'day PartyPooper and welcome to the forum. (Glad you survived the meltdown !! )
The Top of the page has a link for articles which has some great information here on sanitisers.
Another great link on cleaning and sanitising is here
There are many ways to skin a cat but your choice will be determined to some extent to what is easily available and also cost effective.
Cheers
Doug

 

[PartyPooper]

Thanks Doogiechap, I'll check them out.

 

[v8r]

after two months, a fermeter with a strong napisan solution and the lid (with airlock hole) smelt quite gungy and gross.. i wouldnt recommend you leave em too long.. and rinse, some new solution and overnight soon brought it back to usable again tho.

 

[kook]

I've found if you leave napisan for much more than a month it does break down and start to smell funny. I have a 57L garbage bin half full of napisan solution that I dump my airlocks, hoses, spoon, hop measuring containers etc in after a brewday. They're normally left for a week, then rinsed. Everything gets another quick soaking before use (plus sanitising). I've found I need to change the napisan every month (though I'm now doing it 2 weeks) or else it goes gungy.

 

[Lobsta]

You would have to snort sodium percarbonate for it to cause a burning effect. I use it uncut and there is no detectable odour.

regards,
Scott

umm, yeah... i was testing them in the grocery store to see which ones were unscented, and as i breathed in, the powder shifted a bit and a big plume of it went up... all i could smell was burning for about the next 4 hours...