Cracked Carboy Usable? (Help)

Hello fellow Brewers,
I recently received my Brew kit in the mail and it came with a few broken items. Midwest was more than happy to send me a replacement with no question and told me I could keep and try to use the broken items if I so chose.
I have attached pictures of the crack in my glass Carboy. It is on the mouth of the vessel and is about 2 inches long and goes through the thickness of the Carboy. It is not chipped.
Is it usable? I would love to have two carboys right off the bat and be able to brew another while one ferments.
Is it repairable? If so what product?

Thank you all for your insight.

V/R,
BrewTech

Looks useable to me. I would keep a hawkeye on it though and make sure nothing is breaking off or the like. I would research some different blowoff/airlock options. Don't think I'd recommend a stopper or anything that would expand it. Considering glass ones break a lot more easily than others, I wouldn't keep it around for long if I could help it, but technically speaking, it looks useable.

I also recommend a Brew Hauler to carry it so you aren't tempted to ever go near the neck while lifting it.

And yeah blow off tube forever on that one, from my understanding they build up the least pressure in the vessel

have you seen the threads on here about broken carboys? scary sh$t.. i wouldn't, but i value my blood. craigslist search "wine equipment" never pay mor ethen 10$ for a carboy again.. if it cracks throw it out.

Not worth the risk. Most of the "My carboy broke and all I got was these lousy stitches" stories are from people who thought their carboy was fine. This one, you already know it's broken. Get the hell rid of it (carefully).

depends on your pain tolerance and insurance co-pays. 1 of my co-pays is about the same as a used carboy, not to mention the time in the clinic and cleaning up the blood. toss it

Not worth the risk IMO

get rid of it

Been there, threw it away

Gonna crack worse the first time you wash it in hot water, or put it into the cooler to crash it.

Not worth the rsk!!!

I wouldn't use it. If you forget about the potential injuries, you can't sanitize a crack. Once you get those little bugs in cracks, you can't kill em.

The crack is on the end of the neck where the bung would be. The beer would never come in contact with it. If it were somewhere lower or the crack was bigger I can understand. It appears sturdy.

BigRob said:

Gonna crack worse the first time you wash it in hot water, or put it into the cooler to crash it.

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That sounds like a good way to tempt fate even with a "good" looking carboy. Having read enough horror stories, I've gathered it's just not a good idea to put anything hotter than lukewarm in glass. Putting it in a fridge to crash it should give it enough time to contract without shocking it.

Jaehnig said:

The crack is on the end of the neck where the bung would be. The beer would never come in contact with it. If it were somewhere lower or the crack was bigger I can understand. It appears sturdy.

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Cracks in glass are just not good, period. I think sanitation concerns rank orders of magnitude below the danger of it breaking. I understand a crack in the bung is less likely to cause a larger fracture than something in the wall, but when carboys break with liquid inside, they don't just leak and spray. They explode with tendon-slicing force. Is it worth saving $30 on a new one (or, better yet, a BB or a couple of buckets)?

I appreciate all the help and advice from you all. I'll just recycle it somewhere I suppose. Now to find out where to get that done.
When I need to brew a second batch when my first is in the secondary, I'll pick up another. Unfortunately when I looked on Craigslist I could only find carboys for $25. I could get new for like 30-35 at my local shop.

Better Bottles and Buckets are cheaper, plus you will never have to worry about a crack again.

kevinb said:

you can't sanitize a crack.

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Quote of the thread right there

For me I would not even own it (no glass over 1 gallon for me).

Beyond that, if you do use it find a place to put it where you never move it, even when cleaning!

I suggest recycling it.

Ahhh.. these guys generated a few ideas to test it...

Get it cold and then heat it fast or visa-versa.... if it holds you should be good.

But if they are sending a new one do you want to take the chance?

Why not just duct tape the $*** out of it and go with it? That way it will at least not shatter if not moved all that much

I would trash it. the likelihood of it doing insanely scary things to your body should it shatter, it's just too much stress. Any bump and you'r edone for since the integrity is already faulted. In addition, it's harder to clean with that crack and other isssues.

It would make a nice spare change jar, I know a few people that still have old water cooler jugs from the 50s that they still use, and take to one of those coin counting machines at the grocery store or bank.

My wife and I were just discussing what else we could repurpose it as. Change jar came up. We thought maybe filling it up with different beer bottle tops as a "decoration" as we drink them haha.
Now, anyone else have any good ideas for it? Turn this thread about a nightmarish carboy accident into a way to repurpose it!
Thanks for all the help everyone!

wouldn't a change jar be just as bad weight wise? I mean, a cylinder of essentialy metal would weight hundreds of pounds. I say fill it with wine corks!

KBentley57 said:

Why not just duct tape the $*** out of it and go with it? That way it will at least not shatter if not moved all that much

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Make sure you use multiple layers of Kevlar duct tape. Of course that would cost many times more than the carboy! If they even make duct tape with Kevlar.

This might be your opportunity to finally learn how to make a ship-in-a-bottle.

agcorry00 said:

This might be your opportunity to finally learn how to make a ship-in-a-bottle.

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Haha that's a good one! I don't have that kind of patience or skill!

Jaehnig said:

My wife and I were just discussing what else we could repurpose it as. Change jar came up. We thought maybe filling it up with different beer bottle tops as a "decoration" as we drink them haha.
Now, anyone else have any good ideas for it? Turn this thread about a nightmarish carboy accident into a way to repurpose it!
Thanks for all the help everyone!

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Scare tactics. I've given away one glass carboy, broke one, and just traded my last 2 for a corny keg. I have 6 better bottles now. I keep my change in a plastic culligan bottle.

One word: plastics. Just think about it. There's a great future in plastics. Nuff said.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/carboy-vs-thumb-334851/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/carboy-dangers-potential-death-232037/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/blue-glass-carboy-ok-325455/#post4048384
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/carboy-brewing-accident-313454/#post3896960
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/im-switching-better-bottles-graphic-340281/
http://bwbrewing.blogspot.com/2012/06/when-carboys-break-10-gallons-on-ground.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/when-carboys-go-bad-aka-fall-floor-338229/
http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?/topic/20152-warning-be-careful-with-glass-carboys/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f29/broke-carboy-box-321424/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/wife-broke-my-glass-carboy-323620/#post4023141
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/thank-god-i-spent-2-99-a-323311/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/wtf-carboy-self-destructs-no-help-me-323135/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/first-screw-up-boy-pic-264043/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broken-carboy-club-314087/#post3904783
http://brewing.lustreking.com/articles/brokencarboys.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/broke-carboy-today-123232/

Chuck it and get plastic.

There wouldn't be anyway to repair it with a glass rod and a torch, would there? Kind of like soldering, but with glass?

Jaehnig said:

My wife and I were just discussing what else we could repurpose it as. Change jar came up. We thought maybe filling it up with different beer bottle tops as a "decoration" as we drink them haha.
Now, anyone else have any good ideas for it? Turn this thread about a nightmarish carboy accident into a way to repurpose it!
Thanks for all the help everyone!

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My wife has been threatening to steal my 6.5 gallon one to use as a terrarium, since it doesn't have those thicker strips on it!

KingBubbaTruck said:

My wife has been threatening to steal my 6.5 gallon one to use as a terrarium, since it doesn't have those thicker strips on it!

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Tell her she has to turn it into a giant ship in a bottle thingy if she gets it.

As for OP i wouldnt use it for anything you'd ingest. Its not the crack exploding and cutting everything around it, which is horrible, but rather the thought of serving someone a beer that has microscopic shards of glass that fell in that you cant see i'm worried about. I dont need people dying or puking up blood because they drank my beer.

Good call on that one. Just for looks from now on!