Cleaning Racking Cane and tubing

[BJD]

I am new at wine making and learning a lot as I go but I'm curious how folks clean their racking canes.

 

[Jim Welch]

I make sure I rinse them very well immediately after use, this usually keeps them clean.
Is it a plastic or stainless racking cane?
Keep in mind plastic will have to be replaced sooner or later no matter what. I long ago went to stainless racking canes.

 

[balatonwine]

Personally, I do the following:

Tubing: Rinse immediately. Send some hot water through it. Or KMeta solution. Grab in the middle and spin it around to remove most of the water. Then hang dry. Ideally add weights to the ends as the tubing may curl, and the water may not all drain out. Let air dry. Do not leave too long to dry in some times of the year, I have actually had solitary bees try to use the tubing as nests.....

Racking canes, actually plastic is fine. Simply clean them well with KMeta solution and allow to drain. When dry, keep them in a dry area till you need them again.

You can run a string and small bit of cloth through them to clean them even more if you wish.

Both canes and tubes keep out of direct sunlight during storage. Sunlight (mostly UV) can degrade the plastic.

In all cases, re-wash tubes and canes with KMeta solution prior to next use. Inspect the tubes for issues and if none seen, they are most likely fine to use. If you detect issues, simply discard them. Old tubes are great to help support the string around young trees.

Hope this helps.

Side note: I have used the same plastic tubes for over a decade, and almost all are still fine. A few issue here and there, but if following what I wrote above, no worries.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

Grab in the middle and spin it around to remove most of the water. .

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who does this! Feels like I'm trying to lasso a barrel or something

 

[winemaker81]

Tubing: Rinse immediately.

Absolutely! This is the best advice for protecting your hardware. Never let equipment dry before you rinse it!

In addition, I clean everything with One Step a few times each year. I rack a gallon from container to container, so the tubing and canes are exposes numerous times.

 

[bstnh1]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who does this! Feels like I'm trying to lasso a barrel or something

Yep! I do the same standing on my deck.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Racking canes and tubes are rinsed with water, pumps have one step circulated then water. ,,, and I would never spin tubing ,,,, if the wife is home.
After something nasty like elderberry I plan on replacing tubes, always used flexible connections as off a press get replaced every one to two years based on how clean they look.

I create racking canes out of poly tubing from the hardware store (using the gas stove to soften). As the system evolves I have some which were stretched into dropper points or 90 degree bends for bottle filling, or the SS shapes Steve sells. I use lots of two inch long silicone tubing to join racking canes/ filler heads/ vacuum lines etc since I can put ‘em together / pull apart at room temperature. Lastly a lot of racking canes have one inch marks to warn me if I am close to the inlet.

 

[QuiQuog]

I use a tube brush like this one. It's long enough for a racking cane, and the siphon tube if I run it down both ends.
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/col...ing-and-sanitizing/products/liquid-tube-brush
I use a straw brush for the bendy side of the racking cane. It's thin enough to bend around the corner.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DZVRY22/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1