Why is PBW so expensive?

[Ducatiboy stu]

Spot on. Importing a hazardous chemical is SUPER expensive. Believe me.

Prob cheaper to import it mixed with cocain or heroin....

 

[Spiesy]

Prob cheaper to import it mixed with cocain or heroin....

Not to mention more fun.

 

[barneey]

Cheapest way to buy the stuff is to group buy a 22.5kg tub of the stuff and split it 5 ways (4.5kg each). Just in the process of doing a 2nd group buy with some UK members brings the price down from £20.00 a kg to £7.55 a kg.

 

[Yob]

Or... Buy 25kg sacks of percabonate and metasillicate and mix it 3/1 for about $1.50kg

 

[mofox1]

Or... Buy 25kg sacks of percabonate and metasillicate and mix it 3/1 for about $1.50kg

3:1? I thought it was 2:1...

Anyway - bulkbuy anyone?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

It was 4:1 at the time of the bulk buy when I got some and mixed it??? Lol

 

[Yob]

It's been so long since I mixed any up TBH.. Usually the percabonate is enough for my cleaning needs, wolfy added the mix rates and extras needed to make home made PBW back in one of my bulk buys for perc and met.

I can't be arsed looking it up though sorry

 

[HBHB]

For a business to legitimately import anything and play by the rules, you've got to fork out a heap of dollars that are generally poorly understood.

You see, we don't only pay GST on the goods themselves but the freight component, the clearance fees on this end, the transport fees on the suppliers side & if you use a logistics & shipping agent to fill out the piles of paperwork for a pallet that may contain 20 different items, then there's Australian road freight plus a $50 fee to get a pallet off a truck at receiving.

Freight from the USA with most brewing supplies tends to work out at around 50% of the cost of the gear, but can blow out to 80% with DG rated stuff on board.

So, if you bring in $10K worth of stuff, we'll call it $15K post freight, plus fees of about another $2K, then plus GST $1.7K, then ship it to In store and put a few % on it over your gross business expenses and that pallet of gear that was only worth $10K is now a liability worth $18.7K before you even mark it up with a bread and butter margin to maybe help keep the lights on.

I can assure you, it isn't the retailers that are responsible for the prices.

 

[AdelaideHillsBrewer]

Really does it matter, For the little amount One uses after each clean down. Dont be so tight guys and just fork out for the real stuff.

 

[Yob]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/66741-eoi-sodium-metasilicate/?p=946502

Ok Found it... dayumm Ive done a lot of these buys :lol:

For clarity here so you dont have to follow the link unless you want to..
_________________________________________________________________________________________
"Just an FYI, to make the equivalent of PBW, to the 70% Sodium Percarbonate 30% Sodium Metasilicate mix add:
Sodium laurilsulfate (detergent/surfacant, suggested mix 0.5-1%) is about $8/kg
EDTA (water softer, limescale remover, suggested mix 1-5%) is about $7/kg (only available in 25kg bags)"
_________________________________________________________________________________________

So yeah, 3:1 Ratio is about right.

 

[mofox1]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/66741-eoi-sodium-metasilicate/?p=946502

Ok Found it... dayumm Ive done a lot of these buys :lol:

For clarity here so you dont have to follow the link unless you want to..
_________________________________________________________________________________________
"Just an FYI, to make the equivalent of PBW, to the 70% Sodium Percarbonate 30% Sodium Metasilicate mix add:
Sodium laurilsulfate (detergent/surfacant, suggested mix 0.5-1%) is about $8/kg
EDTA (water softer, limescale remover, suggested mix 1-5%) is about $7/kg (only available in 25kg bags)"
_________________________________________________________________________________________

So yeah, 3:1 Ratio is about right.

And you said you weren't going to look it up, you big softy.

 

[DU99]

Must check and see how much perc i have left.

 

[Yob]

must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....

at least until all the SS FV's, SNIPA Glassware, Rogue Stout Glassware *and ton+ of NFH's grains has all been collected..

 

[SmallFry]

All I read was 'Yob... bulk... buy'

I'll go you quarters in a bag of Sodium Perc, okay?

Thanks for stepping up to the plate and organizing yet another bulk buy, Yob. A true champ...

:lol:

 

[mofox1]

must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....
must... not... arrange... bulk... buys....

at least until all the SS FV's, SNIPA Glassware, Rogue Stout Glassware *and ton+ of NFH's grains has all been collected..

Come on... Hucon chemical supplies is just sooo close to you. Hardly any effort at all really.

I'm choosing to ignore the fact that it's even closer to me - you're the official BB guy.

Speaking of a ton of grain - where the heck are you going to put 40+ bags of malt?

Edit: OT about the grain. Sorry... maybe. Still curious though. Still OT. Sorry.

 

[Yob]

Under or in the bed

 

[mofox1]

Under or in the bed

Okay. Now I'm sorry. But I'm sure someone will take up the invitation Yob.

 

[DU99]

:icon_offtopic: wouldn't mind a speciality grain bulk buy either

 

[pk.sax]

Only dishwasher with sodium metasilicate in it was the one I named above. Rest were phosphate based. This one is mostly plant based. Will let know results, have a really dirty kettle to wash.

 

[pk.sax]

Ok, time for that review.

Had to clean out a ss saucepan that I burnt some rice into. Boiled with this cleaner and it did a stellar job of loosening the crud. Not completely gone but still quite good. Next hit with acid cleaner and subsequent rub with a lime and overnight soak did the job.

Now, for the brew pot. Here is a story. I'd brewed a few Sundays ago and left the pot to sit outside overnight without cleaning meaning to do it the next day. Got a call at midnight and had to rush out at 6 in the morning overseas. Back a week later the thing was covered in moulds of all hues!
Hit it with some industrial phosphoric acid first, overnight soak and rinsed the next day. All good so far.

Now, I put some of that pbw like dishwasher powder in there and filled it up with water - cold. Left to soak for a week until I got a chance today. It ate through everything in its path! The ss bits were fine. The aluminium was exfoliated out of every pit/groove in that pot. Lots of pitting in the base and sides. Pot is still usable but I'm gonna have to watch out and make certain to sanitise it before use and clean harder to ensure there isn't trapped crud in those pits now.

Basically, I would never recommend extended soaking of aluminium with pbw or any other caustic cleaners.