BeerBorg

How long do you use siphon tubing before tossing and replacing?

Even after one use and a PBW soak, when mine dries, it looks cloudy and always makes me wonder if nasties are hanging out in there, waiting to ruin subsequent batches.

Just curious what conventional wisdom is on the topic.

I've never been accused of conventional wisdom, but I toss mine when it looks questionable. I'll buy 30 feet or so at a time and just cut off 6 feet. I actually just tossed mine today before kegging. There's always some white "film" after mine dry, but today I didn't like the looks of it. I think I got about 5 uses out of this one. So nothing really scientific for me...

I go by the "looks of it" also. Since it's fairly cheap, I replace when it get pretty cloudy. If you're thinking it should probably be replaced, be safe, and replace it.

I buy mine in large amounts, cut it up and usually keep mine about 6 months or so.

Crazy Climber wrote:How long do you use siphon tubing before tossing and replacing?

Even after one use and a PBW soak, when mine dries, it looks cloudy and always makes me wonder if nasties are hanging out in there, waiting to ruin subsequent batches.

Just curious what conventional wisdom is on the topic.

As soon as you can, run the hottest water you can stand though it before you put it away and then do it again before using and sanitizing it. Mine last for awhile by doing this. If it gets cloudy and hard, time for some new tubing, but you should get quite a few use's out of it, way more then one time.

I soak the tubes in a 6.5 gallon bucket filled with water and oxiclean.
I also fill the fermenter with water and about 2 tablespoons of Oxiclean let soak for a day.

Thanks for the replies. I usually throw the siphon/tubing right into a vessel (either the kettle or fermenter, depending on whether it's brewing or bottling day, respectively) filled with water and PBW. I give the siphon a few draws to get the tubing filled with the solution, and let it soak overnight. Even still, after the very first use, it's "filmy" looking, and stays that way for as long as I use it. That's what makes it tough -- on day-2, it looks as used as it does on day-365. So...how to know when it's "time to move on?" And it sounds like most of you use the same method I do: you just kinda go by looks and gut-feel.

I brew about every 4 weeks, and use the tubing on brewing day, for racking to secondary, and bottling day. I usually swap out old tubing every 4 months or so, I would guess. Sounds like I'm within reason (if the Borg can be considered "reasonable," that is!)

I think the filmy look may be from the PBW acting on the plastic. I use clear unscented dish soap and warm water to clean my siphon, bottle wand and tubing. It doesn't haze. Then I pump starsan through it before use.

I may not brew as much as some of ya'll but I can go well over a year if not years with the same hose with no problems. I am pretty anal about cleaning it and sanitizing it immediately after use tho.

I would suggest you try just rinsing the tubing in a plain (no fragrance or dye) dish detergent and soak in vinegar as an experiment.

The PBW/Oxygen cleaners are carbonate based and may be leaving a scale like material on your tubing. If you've seen how scale can "stick" to tile you can see where it would attach to softer tubing
quickly.

Since your tubing is for siphoning, as compared to say a beer line in a keg, it really should not need a long soak as it doesn't have long term exposure that might lead to a build up of materials.

I'm thinking a short soak in hot soapy water, since you can't scrub, and "roll" the solution inside the tubing to insure thorough coverage followed by a good clean water rinse and you should be good to go. A vinegar soak would create an unfriendly environment for nasties while in storage as a safe guard but Star San is your friend on racking and bottling day.

Also it is possible that clouding could result if you have hardish water and the tubing takes a while to dry out (for lack of airflow inside) and a vinegar slosh should fix that as well, just don't put the tubing away in a dark, airless space while there is still water vapor inside or you could get mold/mildew type issues.

Brewbirds wrote:I would suggest you try just rinsing the tubing in a plain (no fragrance or dye) dish detergent and soak in vinegar as an experiment.

The PBW/Oxygen cleaners are carbonate based and may be leaving a scale like material on your tubing. If you've seen how scale can "stick" to tile you can see where it would attach to softer tubing
quickly.

Since your tubing is for siphoning, as compared to say a beer line in a keg, it really should not need a long soak as it doesn't have long term exposure that might lead to a build up of materials.

I'm thinking a short soak in hot soapy water, since you can't scrub, and "roll" the solution inside the tubing to insure thorough coverage followed by a good clean water rinse and you should be good to go. A vinegar soak would create an unfriendly environment for nasties while in storage as a safe guard but Star San is your friend on racking and bottling day.

Also it is possible that clouding could result if you have hardish water and the tubing takes a while to dry out (for lack of airflow inside) and a vinegar slosh should fix that as well, just don't put the tubing away in a dark, airless space while there is still water vapor inside or you could get mold/mildew type issues.

<Hits 'thanks' button>

Tubing is so cheap it's a good idea to replace it as soon as you question whether it's still good or not. But with that said I've used the same tubing and bottling wands for years without getting any infections or off flavors. I guess it depends on how they are cleaned, stored and sanitized on how long they'll last.

as you guys have been saying tubing is cheap. I would also recommend replacing your fermenting buckets often too. save the old buckets, tubing, siphons etc for doing sours