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Thread: cleaning with Star San

  1. #11
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    My question should have been: What would happen if you used it to sanitize a tank mid-season? I can't easily get a pressure washer/water to the tank in the woods. I have to drag it out to civilization to do a proper cleaning. I may try it this week.

  2. #12
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    I don't think it will be very effective without a cleaning first. That would be true of any sanitizer, though. I would say let the tank be as is or you could fill a few 5 gallon buckets with hot water and haul them out there. That would be enough to clean a 275 gallon tote, I suppose. Ten to 15 gallons of water and a long-handled scrub brush could do a decent job. Use the first 5 gallons for a scrub down then use the next ten gallons for a rinse. It wouldn't be completely cleaned the way you would do at home, but it would probably be pretty good I think.
    Woodville Maples
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    Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
    Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
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  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeanD View Post
    I don't think it will be very effective without a cleaning first.
    Agreed. In the sugarhouse we hose down tanks (SS open top) with hot water, scrub with a brush, then rinse with hot water. In the woods we just slosh the sap around with a brush during the season, and then wash them with hot water at the end of the season.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
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  4. #14
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    I'll have to rig up a brush that will work for IBC tanks with a 6" opening. I have a pressure washer angled nozzle that ordinarily works great.
    Gary / Zena Crossroads / 42˚ 00' 24" N / Hobby in Early '70s, Addiction since 2014

    175+ taps on 3/16 (60 of which are on two Lunchbox Vac/Releasers)
    12x34 timber framed sap house w/attached 10x34 shed roof for storage
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  5. #15
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    What type of starsan are you guys using? There is a high foam and low foam. I can’t imagine the high foam would work well in the sprayers?
    305 taps on 2 Shurflo's, 31 taps on 3/16" and 229 taps on gravity. 565 in all
    Mountain Maple S3 controller for 145 of the vacuum taps
    2x6 Darveau Mystique Oil Fired Evaporator w/ Smoky Lake Simplicity Auto Draw
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  6. #16
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    Mar 2020
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    Westfield, MA
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    Question on using Star San.

    One ounce for 5 gallons of water. Any idea how many buckets that 5 gallons will clean? 60 buckets and 60 lids to clean so wondering when to change out the solution. I got about 10 buckets out of the bleach/water solution last year changing when it got cool to the touch.

    The Star San approach sounds like a time saver so wondering if similar, change out when cool..?
    2024 - Starting with the 25 then more late Feb.
    2023 - 25 taps on 11 trees to focus on the process. 9 Gallons and lots of sugar sand. 35 people over for breakfast in April
    2022 - 8 x 14 sugarhouse and a steam bottler. 50 buckets! 9 Gallons syrup and 4 pounds of sugar
    2021 - 20 x 30 divided pan on a Mason arch, 34 taps and 8 gallons for family and friends to judge. Dad hooked as well.
    2020 - 2 taps, 1/2 pint on a turkey fryer, About 3/4 pint syrup in two weeks - Proof of concept!

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Stack View Post
    Question on using Star San.

    One ounce for 5 gallons of water. Any idea how many buckets that 5 gallons will clean? 60 buckets and 60 lids to clean so wondering when to change out the solution. I got about 10 buckets out of the bleach/water solution last year changing when it got cool to the touch.

    The Star San approach sounds like a time saver so wondering if similar, change out when cool..?
    As I understand it, Star San is not meant to clean, it is meant to kill mold spores and keep them from growing back. If mold/dirt has grown or formed on the buckets it is not meant to clean that off. A pressure washer with just water will get that off. After that the Star San solution just needs to coat the surface of the bucket/ storage tank and then can and should be poured out into another container for the same use or for discarding. I am not certain how and where it should be discarded.

    After coating the surface of the bucket/tank it should be left to dry. I had a storage barrel last year that kept growing a black mold in it, so at seasons end I cleaned it with the pressure washer and then put about half a gallon of Star San solution in it and rolled it on the ground. Drained it and let it dry in the shed over the summer. No mold yet. I will rinse it well with warm water before sap collection with it.
    If you think it's easy to make good money in maple syrup .... then your obviously good at stealing somebody's Maple Syrup.

    Favorite Tree: Sugar Maple
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  8. #18
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    Sorry, wrong term "clean", I meant sanitize after cleaning. I cleaned and bleach/water sanitized after last season and will clean again before the kick off. Was going to sanitize also before using by immersing the them in the solution and letting dry for a week. My question is how long or how many buckets I might expect from each batch of sanitizer.
    2024 - Starting with the 25 then more late Feb.
    2023 - 25 taps on 11 trees to focus on the process. 9 Gallons and lots of sugar sand. 35 people over for breakfast in April
    2022 - 8 x 14 sugarhouse and a steam bottler. 50 buckets! 9 Gallons syrup and 4 pounds of sugar
    2021 - 20 x 30 divided pan on a Mason arch, 34 taps and 8 gallons for family and friends to judge. Dad hooked as well.
    2020 - 2 taps, 1/2 pint on a turkey fryer, About 3/4 pint syrup in two weeks - Proof of concept!

  9. #19
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    All of them - depending on how much you lose to spillage. Like a bleach-based sanitizer, it won't lose effectiveness with multiple uses on clean surfaces. You could make a 5 or even 2.5 gallon batch, pour a half-gallon or so into the first bucket, swirl that bucket, pour that sanitizer into the next bucket then repeat. Line up all your buckets and you could have relatively quick work. There's no need to sanitize the outside of the bucket with a dip IMHO.
    Woodville Maples
    www.woodvillemaples.com
    www.facebook.com/woodvillemaples
    Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
    Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
    2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
    Deer Run 250 RO
    Ford F350
    6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
    Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Altamont, NY
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    588

    Default Problem with High foam in sap

    At the end of last season I washed all of my tanks and rinsed well. I then sprayed starsan and let dry before storing for the off season. When I set out my collection tanks this season I did not rinse them out as everything I read said there was no need.

    I just transferred my first 250 gallons of sap out of my collection tanks and into my feed tank for my RO and wound up with a ton of foam on the sap. I am concerned that when I boil this down the syrup will have a off flavor. I would rather not dump 250 gallons of sap if I don’t need to, but I also do not want to contaminate the rest of my syrup because of this sap.

    Should I dump the sap and wash the collection tanks is the sap ok and I can keep on using the tanks without a problem?
    Leader WSE 2x6 w/hoods
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    250 taps.. Majority on tubing
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    www.mallardpondmaple.com

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