Rust in HLT just noticed, already brewing

I just noticed a streak of rust in my HLT coming from the element area. Not sure exactly what started rusting yet but I'm already in the middle of my boil at this point. I didn't see anything in the BK. I'm guessing that the filing I did to install the element contaminated the hole, so I'll have to take everything apart and clean and repassivate. I post a pic later.

The big question. Do you think I'll have any flavor issues in the final beer? I didn't notice it last night but I filled the HLT and let it sit over night which is when I'm sure it happened.

Either way I'll have to wait and see but I wondered if this has happened to anyone else.

Thanks.

More than likely your element base is rusting. Not a big deal. You can seal with silicone if it bothers you. I've never noticed any off flavors from mine.

Linc

Good to know. Thanks!

And to add to my problems today, I tried a wine degasser to aerate. It spun right off into the wort. A few dunked knuckle hairs later, I got it out. Combine that with whatever came off the drill chuck, plus a little rust. Mmmmmm, ought to be good!

Eh there's iron in your drinking water, you'll be fine!

Linc,

It was definitely the base of the elements rusting. Now that I've seen a few threads on the subject I might go the anode route to fix it.

Thanks

Your beer could turn out awsome and you won't be able to replicate the amount of rust ever agian.

brum said:

Eh there's iron in your drinking water, you'll be fine!

Click to expand...

Iron's good for you. Does the yeast need some iron?

This happened to me and a friend while we were making a porter. It turned out great, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

After some reading it seems that some people recommend using a magnesium fire starter in the pot to prevent rusting. One person talked about cutting it in half and bolting it to the pot. Does anyone have any recent experience to show that just throwing a starter, or half of one in the pot without bolting definitely stopped the rusting? If it is shown to work, I was going to buy just one starter and use half in each pot during use.

Another question. I've been trying to get the rust off the element with some sand paper and then some bar keepers friend. Is it ok/normal for the treated areas to look black or have black areas after treating, or should they be shiny? I'm hoping to avoid having to put the elements back in only to have to do it over again because it's hard to get the nut to thread.

Thanks