Cleaning test vials

[AlanM]

How do WAMAS members clean their test vials?

 

From time to time I give mine a soak in DI with a little bit of citric acid to lower the pH and dissolve whatever scale has formed in the bottom or on the sides of my vials.  Then I do a good rinse and another soak in DI and on a rack to dry.

 

I thought about filling a 2L bottle with DI and then carbonating it to lower the pH to let them soak that way to avoid any acidic residue. 8)

 

I'm wondering what others do.  

[VTBig053]

Sorry, no meaningful input from me. I have been wondering about this myself, so I will be following along. 

[Coral Hind]

I've never done anything special, just rinse with tap water.

[madweazl]

I've been rinsing them and storing them with RO/DI in them (curvettes for Hanna checkers) and have wondered what the best method is. Thus far, I've just used new curvettes when I noticed an issue or thought I had one (had a few spares). 

[AlanM]

I've never done anything special, just rinse with tap water.

 

OK.  I had done that for a while, but I notice that I often have scale on the bottom of my test vials.  I assumed it would be from whatever hardness is in my tap water as it dries.  

 

On usage, since it's kind of related:

 

When I go to use them I tend to give them a little dip in the aquarium water a couple of times to rinse out anything that wouldn't be in the water I'm trying to test.  Then I turn them upside down and whack them on a towel a couple of times to get them mostly dry inside before using them.

 

For the Hanna checkers, I use a 10ml syringe to fill them instead of the little printed line.  After putting the cap on I also rotate the bubble around in there to get all of the tiny bubbles off the inside walls and use a paper or microfiber towel to get off the fingerprint smudges and water on the outside.  The last thing I do is rotate the printed "10ml" around to the front so I'm testing through the same section of glass each time.  No idea if all of this ritual is necessary, but that's what I do to try to get consistent readings.

[gmerek2]

I soak it in food grade vinegar once every couple weeks. It removes the build up. Then rinse with a lot of RODI.

[Jon Lazar]

After use, I rinse mine with tap water and wipe dry with a twisted up paper towel.  Then I store the vial upside down in the box to prevent any remaining moisture from collecting at the bottom of the vial.

[SandJ]

I store mine full of rodi water.

[smh254]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hanna-cuvette-cleaning-solution-hi93703-50-230-ml.html

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AlanM]

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hanna-cuvette-cleaning-solution-hi93703-50-230-ml.html

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

They can't fool me into paying $25.00 for 230ml of expensive soap...

[gmerek2]

I store mine full of rodi water.

Just make sure you dry the leftover drops of water in the bottom. I have found that they dilute the test sample and throw it off

[madweazl]

Just make sure you dry the leftover drops of water in the bottom. I have found that they dilute the test sample and throw it off

I rinse them out with water to be tested after I dump the RO/DI. 

[AlanM]

In the past I've thought about trying to use something like this to quickly get them clean:

 

https://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-63256.html

[molcott]

rinse them then use compressed air to dry them out quickly

[Origami]

Rinse in tap then distilled. Occasionally will soak in a diluted hydrochloric acid solution.

 

I remember back in organic lab, we used to have to clean our tubes with with a detergent and water, followed by acetone and then a jet of air to blow the tubes dry. This kept things nice and shiny.

[molcott]

Rinse in tap then distilled. Occasionally will soak in a diluted hydrochloric acid solution.

 

I remember back in organic lab, we used to have to clean our tubes with with a detergent and water, followed by acetone and then a jet of air to blow the tubes dry. This kept things nice and shiny.

Science!!!!

[newbie2014]

I soak it in food grade vinegar once every couple weeks. It removes the build up. Then rinse with a lot of RODI.

 

+1

 

Vinegar, tap water rinse X3, RODI rinse X3, then fill with RODI and store.

Edited October 17, 2017 by newbie2014

[malacoda]

Boy, you guys are making me feel like a neglectful reefkeeper.  I typically just rinse with tap, follow with a quick rinse in RODI, shake 'em off, then stick 'em back in the box for the next test a couple days later. I do notice a little bit of scale build-up on the upper third of the calcium vial but the rest remain pretty clean right up until the kits run out.

[Origami]

Boy, you guys are making me feel like a neglectful reefkeeper.  I typically just rinse with tap, follow with a quick rinse in RODI, shake 'em off, then stick 'em back in the box for the next test a couple days later. I do notice a little bit of scale build-up on the upper third of the calcium vial but the rest remain pretty clean right up until the kits run out.

A vinegar soak will help that calcium. For photometer tests, that build up and films that some kits can leave behind can have an adverse effect on sensitivity for some testers. You do pretty much as I do unless I feel that the vial is getting dirty or hazy.

[zygote2k]

rinse with tap, throw back in box, repeat.

I go through test kits pretty fast- about 4x/year