TSP Problem

[USAFA1990]

I haven't brewed in several months and decided to get my equipment out for a clean-up. I noticed that my racking cane and some of my plastic tubing had some tiny brown and black deposits which I can only imagine are fungus or mold.

I have heard about the use of tri-sodium phosphate as a cleaning agent for some of these tough deposits and thought I would give it a try. I bought a small (1lb) box from Lowe's and diluted it in hot water at 1 teaspoon per gallon. I soaked the cane and tubing in the solution for one hour and then rinsed thoroughly with cold water.

To my dismay, some of the black spots are still present. Any ideas where I went wrong? Too short a soak? Too low a concentration? Any other thoughts on cleaning the insides of these tubes?

Your help is appreciated.

Terry Arnold

[adbachtell]

You may not want to try and save the plastic. I've heard even if you get all the visual nasties out of older tubing there still may be enough that survive to spoil a brew. You might want to purchase new tubing and cane. That way no worries.

[mmmBeer...]

I have found that TSP will loosen the stuff up, but some times you need a way to wipe it off.

I have never used it on plastic...just my glass carboys and even after a long soak I still need to run a brush around the neck to wipe off the gunk. You can get a tubing brush and give it a quick run through.

How long did you soak it for?

[MrMethane]

I would just buy a new racking cane and tubing. It will probably cost you about the same as what you spent on the box of TSP. Its worth the piece of mind and a lot cheaper than ruining a $30 batch of beer.

[USAFA1990]

Okay, thanks for the feedback. I think I'll just buy some more tubing and a new racking cane and try to rinse more thoroughly when I finish.

Incidentally, I only let the tubing soak for one hour. I know other people soak in TSP overnight, but I remember reading that a soak longer than 1 hour would leave white deposits on everything. I also noticed that it says at least twice on the TSP box that it shouldn't be used on glass. Seems strange since this is usually the application where it works best.

Thanks,

[toneyc]

For tubing, I have fed a long wire through the tubing and hooked a gun barrel patch on it, wet with sanitizer, and pulled it back through the tube. Then I bought a brush from Austin Homebrew that works great!

:)
Toney.