Polycarbonate sight glass and PBW

[Bad Goat Brewing]

There was 14 gallons of PBW on my garage floor this morning. It turns out Polycarbonate tubing and PBW don't get along very well. In the past I've left my brew kettle filled with the PBW I used to clean the brew stand until I needed to clean my carboys. I recently "upgraded" my kettle with sight glasses from brewhardware.com turns out that was not a good ideal. I should have done some research about PBW and polycarbonate. Oh well it's not the first mistake I've made building my brew equipment.

http://brewhardware.com/sightglass-61/5 ... th-bushing

[Bad Goat Brewing]

[Ozwald]

Polycarbonate doesn't play well with a host of chemicals - there's been big problems with polycarbonate tanks in the e-cig/vaping realm... dissolving/cracking with some of the nicotine juices that are used. Other than that, it's not the best idea to store PBW in stainless either. I keep mine in regular plastic buckets, but glass is a good option too.

Spend the few bucks on some colored buckets from Lowes/Home Depot & not only can you store it safely, you can save some money by reusing it many, many times. I make up 10 gallons at a time (just shy of a 1bbl system) & use it for well over 6 months. I try to filter out as much of the particulate matter as possible when I put it back in the buckets & add a spoonful of the powder every few uses as well. Every time I throw it out, it's still cleaning great... I just can't stand the smell of it anymore.

[Bad Goat Brewing]

Polycarbonate doesn't play well with a host of chemicals - there's been big problems with polycarbonate tanks in the e-cig/vaping realm... dissolving/cracking with some of the nicotine juices that are used. Other than that, it's not the best idea to store PBW in stainless either. I keep mine in regular plastic buckets, but glass is a good option too.

Spend the few bucks on some colored buckets from Lowes/Home Depot & not only can you store it safely, you can save some money by reusing it many, many times. I make up 10 gallons at a time (just shy of a 1bbl system) & use it for well over 6 months. I try to filter out as much of the particulate matter as possible when I put it back in the buckets & add a spoonful of the powder every few uses as well. Every time I throw it out, it's still cleaning great... I just can't stand the smell of it anymore.

I had not realized storing it stainless wasn't a good ideal. My kettle was always so clean after sitting with PBW inside for a couple weeks! The next time I'm at the hardware store I'll grab some more buckets.

[Ozwald]

It won't damage stainless, but it will leave a residue that's tough as shit to get off. It's just better not to store it in stainless if you don't have to. Either way, those buckets are dirt cheap (don't forget the lid!) & they'll pay for themselves the 2nd time you use the PBW.

I bought 4 buckets, 2 blue Lowe's buckets & 2 orange HD buckets. I keep the PBW in the blue & acid in the orange. In my kettles 5 gallons just barely comes up to the ball valve, so I need that little extra for when I'm doing CIP on it. On my old 10g system I only kept about 5 gallons of each around.

[Bad Goat Brewing]

.......In my kettles 5 gallons just barely comes up to the ball valve.........

Wow, how much are you brewing at a time?