oxyclean and plastic carboys

[2thman]

I use plastic buckets, glass carboys and plastic carboys for fermenting. I clean all of them with oxyclean after use. Yesterday I lost my 2nd plastic carboy (ozarka water bottle) that had been soaking in oxyclean due to a crack in the bottom of it that was not there prior to cleaning. This happened to another one last summer that I thought was a defective bottle or something but now I'm not so sure. Neither bottle was dropped or anything and both had the oxyclean in them (1 scoop) for a couple of days. Has this happened to anyone else or is there anyone that can explain what is causing this? I know glass is better but it's so much cheaper (and lighter) to use the water cooler bottles. I would appreciate any help with this long winded question.

[brewmeisterintng]

Sorry for your loss but at least it wasn't full of beer when the plastic failed. I myself, ferment in glass only. I have the same three carboys that I stated with around 8 years ago. There are folks out there that won't use them for safety reasons but you just can't find a better vessel (opinionated).
As for long term soaking... Why do you let it set a couple days? On transfer/ keg day, its a matter of fill the fermentor with water and Oxi-Clean, hit it with a carboy brush, rinse and air dry. I am betting that the plastic is being broken down by long term exposure to the chemicals in Oxi-clean or beer. You might want to change your cleaning practices and/ or plan on replacing your containers of a scheduled basis. Just my two cents...