pH levels

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jakejoe30

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I have some chemsan sanitizer and 3 year old Starsan Steriliser.

When I dilute any of them even with spring water they go cloudy.

I have ordered some PH strips and PH down solution.

My question is do I add the pH down to the mixed solution or add it to water then mix it. What PH level for the water should I aiming for to bring the mixed solution to below 3.

Also the Starsan is undiluted and 3 years old. Would it be okay to use if I mixed it with water and pH down solution so level is below 3?

Thanks
 
Unfortunately I cannot help you with your question, however I felt compelled to tell you that reading your post gave me flashbacks of last week when I accidentally added 50ml of undiluted Chemsan sanitiser to my strike water and only figured it out when my Mash PH was reading low, like 3.4 low.

safe to say I threw it away
 
Unfortunately I cannot help you with your question, however I felt compelled to tell you that reading your post gave me flashbacks of last week when I accidentally added 50ml of undiluted Chemsan sanitiser to my strike water and only figured it out when my Mash PH was reading low, like 3.4 low.

safe to say I threw it away

Having re-read your post I would say to adjust ph of water first and then add the chemsan/starsan.

I’m not sure how necessary it is though as I have fairly alkaline water resulting in cloudy sanitiser/cleaner but it’s never caused any issues with sanitation.
 
I would dilute the chemisan and then measure the ph before doing anything else. If it is 3.5 or lower I would carryon as usual. If it was cloudy I wouldn't care as long as the ph was OK.
 
Does starsan have a shelf life?

My starsan always goes cloudy thanks to hard water, but it doesn't seem to affect the pH, so I agree with Richard - dilute it down, check the pH, and hopefully you'll be good to go.
 
Does starsan have a shelf life?

My starsan always goes cloudy thanks to hard water, but it doesn't seem to affect the pH, so I agree with Richard - dilute it down, check the pH, and hopefully you'll be good to go.
So no matter how old it is. If pH is good it's safe to use? Thanks
 
You may find that the pH is low enough, yet the starsan is still cloudy. The cloudiness is minerals, iron or manganese binding with the surfactant to form hard mineral soap. Citric Acid can be added to chelate with the minerals as it has far greater chelating properties than the phosphoric acid used in starsan.
 
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