How can I soften

[Joerg]

After my old 5/16" clear plastic siphon hose from a starter kit began to
discolor I order a new hose. Problem is, the new hose is much stiffer.
It once squished off the racking cane and another time it slid off the
filling wand. You can imagine the mess this made. Even worse, beer was
lost ... \

So I am back to the old hose which is much more pliable and does not
slip off. However, that hose really wants to retire.

Is there a way to make these plastic hoses softer? I tried a weeklong
Starsan soak which did not help.

[Joerg]

Sorry, the subject line got truncated for some reason. I didn't plan to
soften myself :-)

Post by Joerg
After my old 5/16" clear plastic siphon hose from a starter kit began to
discolor I order a new hose. Problem is, the new hose is much stiffer.
It once squished off the racking cane and another time it slid off the
filling wand. You can imagine the mess this made. Even worse, beer was
lost ... \
So I am back to the old hose which is much more pliable and does not
slip off. However, that hose really wants to retire.
Is there a way to make these plastic hoses softer? I tried a weeklong
Starsan soak which did not help.

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Joerg
After my old 5/16" clear plastic siphon hose from a starter kit began to
discolor I order a new hose. Problem is, the new hose is much stiffer.
It once squished off the racking cane and another time it slid off the
filling wand. You can imagine the mess this made. Even worse, beer was
lost ... \
So I am back to the old hose which is much more pliable and does not
slip off. However, that hose really wants to retire.
Is there a way to make these plastic hoses softer? I tried a weeklong
Starsan soak which did not help.

The material is made to a certain density. You can't change it. Heating
it will soften it but it will go back to the way it was when it cools off.

[Baloonon]

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Joerg
After my old 5/16" clear plastic siphon hose from a starter kit began
to discolor I order a new hose. Problem is, the new hose is much
stiffer. It once squished off the racking cane and another time it
slid off the filling wand. You can imagine the mess this made. Even
worse, beer was lost ... \
So I am back to the old hose which is much more pliable and does not
slip off. However, that hose really wants to retire.
Is there a way to make these plastic hoses softer? I tried a weeklong
Starsan soak which did not help.

The material is made to a certain density. You can't change it.
Heating it will soften it but it will go back to the way it was when
it cools off.

I agree that you can't really change it, at least not without the risk of
weakening the plastic enough that it may break at a bad place and time.

Some spigots have a graduated nozzle so that they can accept different
diameters of hose, so maybe it might come in useful with a new spigot if
you want to hoard it....

[Joerg]

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Joerg
After my old 5/16" clear plastic siphon hose from a starter kit began
to discolor I order a new hose. Problem is, the new hose is much
stiffer. It once squished off the racking cane and another time it
slid off the filling wand. You can imagine the mess this made. Even
worse, beer was lost ... \
So I am back to the old hose which is much more pliable and does not
slip off. However, that hose really wants to retire.
Is there a way to make these plastic hoses softer? I tried a weeklong
Starsan soak which did not help.

The material is made to a certain density. You can't change it.
Heating it will soften it but it will go back to the way it was when
it cools off.

Oh, that's bad news :-(

Though the old hose turned yellow after I made the mistake using it as a
blow-off tube on a Belgian Tripel (didn't work, diameter too small,
plugged up ... phssst ... POOF). I cleaned it thoroughly using PBW and
it seemed softer afterwards. The new hose did not change softness at all
when trying that.

Post by Baloonon
I agree that you can't really change it, at least not without the risk of
weakening the plastic enough that it may break at a bad place and time.
Some spigots have a graduated nozzle so that they can accept different
diameters of hose, so maybe it might come in useful with a new spigot if
you want to hoard it....

I should get a spare spigot anyhow for my bottling bucket. It's not the
spigot but the wands that are critical. Those are made from straight
Lexan or Perspex pipes and it is very smooth material. The new stiffer
tube works itself off of those no matter how hard and how far I push it
on. The only way I could use it would be with tiny hose clamps. I wonder
why they don't sell softer hose at brew shops, like they used to.

[Howard]

Post by Joerg
I should get a spare spigot anyhow for my bottling bucket. It's not
the spigot but the wands that are critical. Those are made from
straight Lexan or Perspex pipes and it is very smooth material. The
new stiffer tube works itself off of those no matter how hard and how
far I push it on. The only way I could use it would be with tiny hose
clamps. I wonder why they don't sell softer hose at brew shops, like
they used to.

I know some of the chemicals used in plastics to maintain softness like
phthalates, are suspected of causing health problems, so that may be
related.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/10/phthalates-plastics-
chemicals-research-analysis

I'm sure that short term use for transferring beer is not a serious source
of exposure, though. But it's possible they may not get a food-safe rating
any more.

I use the kind of hose clamps that consist of a metal band that gets
tightened by a little screw for my chiller, and I've been meaning to find
the kind that work more like the kind of clip you use to close a bag of
chips after it's been opened. I find the kind I have to be more awkward,
but never remember.