Would you toss it?

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guitar510

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So, I brewed my first AG last weekend kind of in a rush since I was running out of home brew. I just completed my MLT which utilizes a beverage cooler and copper manifold at the base. I used a zinc plated steel fender washer inside the cooler to secured the ball valve and manifold to the cooler.

While preparing to brew, I let the cooler sit with about 3 gal of water and PBW. After 10 min or so I noticed corrosion on the fender washer. I rinsed thoroughly and thought the corrosion may have just been from the PBW not th water. I proceeded to brew with the washer in place.

I wasn''t too worried since I would be boiling water after the mash, but now I'm having second thoughts after going back to the MLT and noticing more corrosion/rust with minor water sitting near the washer days after brew.

Should I toss the brew that is fermenting due to possible contamination with products of corrosion?

Also, what to others use for the fender washer? I looked at home depot and all they had in the size I needed was galvanized, zinc plated or silicone. No SS or Al.

Another reason to toss is I lautered WAAAYYY too fast and my OG is quite low. :(
 
I wouldn't dump it. I'd give it some time and get it in the bottle to see how it ends up. I've seen a few people on here mention they were forced to use zinc washers when they couldn't find the stainless fender washers. I was able to find a nylon washer that was slightly too small at a local ACE Hardware. I just used a knife to widen it out until it fit properly.
 
You dont need to throw out the brew, but if you get a slight metallic taste you'll know why, if its real apparent you may want to through it out just for taste reasons. Fastenal will have the SS washers. However, any washer that big will be big enough so if it doesn't say "fender" its okay, a flat washer of the correct size in SS will do fine...I built mine with those and have had no corrosion or leakage. However...get rid of the zinc as it is too reactive.
 
Thanks guys...as long as it doesn't kill me I don't plan to toss it. I just want to make sure I'm not taking some big health risk here. I suppose there is plenty of metals in normal drinking water so this should be a big difference. I doubt that I will even taste the metal...but we'll see.

Shooter, I think it is 5/8 in...2 Nylon washers should do the trick assuming they'll stand up to the torque. I'll check when I get home and PM you. Thanks for the offer!
 
I got everything I needed at Home Depot except for the SS washers. Like shotorum said, you can get them through Fastenal. You can either order them online or find a local store. Some stores may make you buy a whole sleeve of them (10 washers). I was lucky and had a store with an open sleeve, so he sold me what I needed.

Still, not a huge expense.
 
I couldn't find a washer either, I just used the one from the spigot that came on the cooler... I had to bore it out for over a half hour with a knife but I eventually got it wide enough to work.
 
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