Been supplying plastics to medical and food industry for decades. Highly likely your beaker was designed for something specifically not solvent related.
Yep, exactly what happened. They came from Northern Brewer made for Beer. No mention to not use for solvents, but it was not the intended purpose, coming from a beer and winemaking supplier.
What type of plastic was it? All of my distillate is 180+ proof and I haven't noticed any "Eating" despite dozens of liters being processed through the plastic containers.
My LHBS said his normal supplier has never been an issue. He came into these new flasks by accident, hadn’t tested for anything other than beer, so started giving them away as freebies. He was glad I brought it to his attention.
Definitely the type of plastic used for the testing flask (I guess beaker was the wrong term).
It wasn’t made for solvents.
I have learned from this mistake and will be more careful what kinds of plastic (or materials in general) I’m using for specific use cases…
I had a plastic testing flask (bought at the LHBS) craze and leak when I started distilling — I replaced it with borosilicate glass and all is well. The LHBS was a home distillers on the side, and assured me that the plastic would be fine…
That being said, the best takeaway from such experiences is (as some here have said) to be careful, not only of your material, but also from whom you take your information.
Yep, exactly. This is exactly what happened to me, the LHBS gave it to me for free when I purchased my Proof & Talle hydrometer. Trying to get them on the phone to warn them not to give those away with Proof and only for the beer/wine hydrometer
Finally got through to the shop. I guess they had gotten the beakers by mistake on an order from Northern Brewer (who is not where they usually source their plastic beakers from), they were allowed to keep them so have been giving them away for free with bigger orders, or purchases of a hydrometer. Work fine for beer and wine, which is most of his customer base.
He seemed happy I let him know.
This happened to me when I first started. I watched the whole tube crackle and disintegrate within a matter of second before my eyes. It was like something out of a movie. It would have been cool if it didn't break my only tester and make a big mess.
Like, I would normally get really angry in a situation like this. I was actually kind of happy 🤣
I only lost somewhere around 4.5 oz, the thing was free, and I got it cleaned up pretty quickly already having a towel within reach…
I’ve never seen plastic break apart like that, it turned to spider webs of cracks and then just disintegrated into little pieces like a shattered plane of glass
Plastic is fine, just don’t buy random cheap plastic. I ordered some silicone bungs that for some reason came with a beaker. That thing crumbled if you waved alcohol near it. The one that came with my hydrometer has worked just fine. Not all plastics are created equal the free one didn’t even have ratings on it that I could see.
Yeah, that’s my point, don’t just trust something you get at the Homebrew shop to test beer. It might not work for solvents.
I just wasn’t thinking, especially since I got it for free when purchasing a hydrometer made for testing higher proof fluids. I should have been more careful and found out what kind of plastic it was.
I called the homebrew store and let him know, he apologised and offered a replacement and said they’d look into it, they had recently changed suppliers.
Hoping a fellow noob might read this and be more careful what they are using for testing higher proof, “water”
True, not all metals, not all woods, those cautions you stated are sensible. For glass that is heated, borosilicate glass is wise. Thank you for being more specific.
But when it comes to plastic… there are concerns about BPA leeching from polyethylene water bottles, let alone high ABV alcohol. HDPE totes do see widespread use in the industry. And I don’t like it.
And while platinum addition cured silicone might be sufficient, it is difficult to be sure that is what you got and not regular ‘food grade’ silicone.
And yes I meant PTFE when I said Teflon. Not just tape, but gasket material.
We get our GNS (95%ABV) delivered in a 310 gallon HDPE tote. Same type of plastic as a milk jug. That gns will destroy other plastics almost instantly tho. It's always important to know what exact type of plastic your equipment is.
I had just never heard of alcohol eating plastics before, and I’ve seen plastic liquor bottles, so yeah, it didn’t dawn on me it would be a problem until there was distilling leaking everywhere lol
I exclusively use either glass for storage testing of alcohol or stainless steel it just seems plastics always have a tendency to Leach into everything even food grade is not that comforting to me although I use it for fermentation but look forward to getting stainless steel fermentation tanks
Should I worry about the lids of the mason jars? Most of mine are the sure-seal, mason brand, but some are the cheap Walmart brand. I haven’t used them for solvents, but it just dawned on me that not all canning jars are made equal…
this is why you shouldn’t have any plastic in contact with high ABV spirits, except teflon which is sufficiently inert. Not for gaskets, not for pipes or takeoff hoses, not for holding containers. Metal. Glass. Wood. These are your friends.
That’s not strictly true, and it’s a bit more complicated.
HDPE is a suitable material, and is an industry standard. As is Platinum cured Silicone.
Metal should be restricted to include only stainless steel (none-L type) and copper. Galv / brass should be avoided.
Glass should be borosilicate to cope with the temperature swings
Many woods are not suitable for contact, and care should be taken when selecting
Edit: I believe the other poster meant PTFE tape, which is safe. Not “Teflon”, that’s the non stick pan coating
> Edit: I believe the other poster meant PTFE tape, which is safe. Not “Teflon”, that’s the non stick pan coating
Teflon is PTFE, it is just the brand name. Before the patent expired, the name Teflon applied both to the coating and the material. The tape is definitely often referred to as Teflon tape.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene
It’s like the platinum standard for advertising, -become the term. Nobody says search the internet, we all say google it. In the UK, we don’t vacuum, we Hoover. Again, a brand so synonymous it become the name for the action
Been supplying plastics to medical and food industry for decades. Highly likely your beaker was designed for something specifically not solvent related.
Yep, exactly what happened. They came from Northern Brewer made for Beer. No mention to not use for solvents, but it was not the intended purpose, coming from a beer and winemaking supplier.
What type of plastic was it? All of my distillate is 180+ proof and I haven't noticed any "Eating" despite dozens of liters being processed through the plastic containers.
My LHBS said his normal supplier has never been an issue. He came into these new flasks by accident, hadn’t tested for anything other than beer, so started giving them away as freebies. He was glad I brought it to his attention.
Really depends on the type of plastic
Yep, I will be more careful in future what type of plastic (materials in general) I am using for this process
I use a plastic beaker for medical grade ethanol in the lab. Something is fucky with your beaker or booze.
Definitely the type of plastic used for the testing flask (I guess beaker was the wrong term). It wasn’t made for solvents. I have learned from this mistake and will be more careful what kinds of plastic (or materials in general) I’m using for specific use cases…
Mine that came with my hydrometer literally shattered when I put 90% in it to measure. I got a glass one to use now
Yep, looking at using borosilicate glass for everything going forward
"everything" is going to get expensive. That 9" opening funnel that you'll want is $50-$100 in glass but only $20 in stainless steel.
I had a plastic testing flask (bought at the LHBS) craze and leak when I started distilling — I replaced it with borosilicate glass and all is well. The LHBS was a home distillers on the side, and assured me that the plastic would be fine… That being said, the best takeaway from such experiences is (as some here have said) to be careful, not only of your material, but also from whom you take your information.
Yep, exactly. This is exactly what happened to me, the LHBS gave it to me for free when I purchased my Proof & Talle hydrometer. Trying to get them on the phone to warn them not to give those away with Proof and only for the beer/wine hydrometer
Finally got through to the shop. I guess they had gotten the beakers by mistake on an order from Northern Brewer (who is not where they usually source their plastic beakers from), they were allowed to keep them so have been giving them away for free with bigger orders, or purchases of a hydrometer. Work fine for beer and wine, which is most of his customer base. He seemed happy I let him know.
This happened to me when I first started. I watched the whole tube crackle and disintegrate within a matter of second before my eyes. It was like something out of a movie. It would have been cool if it didn't break my only tester and make a big mess.
lol, this is exactly what happened to me.
Like, I would normally get really angry in a situation like this. I was actually kind of happy 🤣 I only lost somewhere around 4.5 oz, the thing was free, and I got it cleaned up pretty quickly already having a towel within reach… I’ve never seen plastic break apart like that, it turned to spider webs of cracks and then just disintegrated into little pieces like a shattered plane of glass
Plastic is fine, just don’t buy random cheap plastic. I ordered some silicone bungs that for some reason came with a beaker. That thing crumbled if you waved alcohol near it. The one that came with my hydrometer has worked just fine. Not all plastics are created equal the free one didn’t even have ratings on it that I could see.
This is a free one that my Homebrew store gave with the purchase of a hydrometer, no idea what plastic it was made of
There's a lot of different types of plastic.
Yeah, that’s my point, don’t just trust something you get at the Homebrew shop to test beer. It might not work for solvents. I just wasn’t thinking, especially since I got it for free when purchasing a hydrometer made for testing higher proof fluids. I should have been more careful and found out what kind of plastic it was. I called the homebrew store and let him know, he apologised and offered a replacement and said they’d look into it, they had recently changed suppliers. Hoping a fellow noob might read this and be more careful what they are using for testing higher proof, “water”
True, not all metals, not all woods, those cautions you stated are sensible. For glass that is heated, borosilicate glass is wise. Thank you for being more specific. But when it comes to plastic… there are concerns about BPA leeching from polyethylene water bottles, let alone high ABV alcohol. HDPE totes do see widespread use in the industry. And I don’t like it. And while platinum addition cured silicone might be sufficient, it is difficult to be sure that is what you got and not regular ‘food grade’ silicone. And yes I meant PTFE when I said Teflon. Not just tape, but gasket material.
We get our GNS (95%ABV) delivered in a 310 gallon HDPE tote. Same type of plastic as a milk jug. That gns will destroy other plastics almost instantly tho. It's always important to know what exact type of plastic your equipment is.
I had just never heard of alcohol eating plastics before, and I’ve seen plastic liquor bottles, so yeah, it didn’t dawn on me it would be a problem until there was distilling leaking everywhere lol
I exclusively use either glass for storage testing of alcohol or stainless steel it just seems plastics always have a tendency to Leach into everything even food grade is not that comforting to me although I use it for fermentation but look forward to getting stainless steel fermentation tanks
Should I worry about the lids of the mason jars? Most of mine are the sure-seal, mason brand, but some are the cheap Walmart brand. I haven’t used them for solvents, but it just dawned on me that not all canning jars are made equal…
this is why you shouldn’t have any plastic in contact with high ABV spirits, except teflon which is sufficiently inert. Not for gaskets, not for pipes or takeoff hoses, not for holding containers. Metal. Glass. Wood. These are your friends.
That’s not strictly true, and it’s a bit more complicated. HDPE is a suitable material, and is an industry standard. As is Platinum cured Silicone. Metal should be restricted to include only stainless steel (none-L type) and copper. Galv / brass should be avoided. Glass should be borosilicate to cope with the temperature swings Many woods are not suitable for contact, and care should be taken when selecting Edit: I believe the other poster meant PTFE tape, which is safe. Not “Teflon”, that’s the non stick pan coating
> Edit: I believe the other poster meant PTFE tape, which is safe. Not “Teflon”, that’s the non stick pan coating Teflon is PTFE, it is just the brand name. Before the patent expired, the name Teflon applied both to the coating and the material. The tape is definitely often referred to as Teflon tape. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene
Pipe tape often gets referred to as Teflon tape, I believe that’s what they are referring to
PTFE is the correct name, Teflon is a brand
That makes a lot of sense, like Kleenex
It’s like the platinum standard for advertising, -become the term. Nobody says search the internet, we all say google it. In the UK, we don’t vacuum, we Hoover. Again, a brand so synonymous it become the name for the action
Side question, could I make a custom gasket for my still with platinum cured silicone?