Warning! Keggle owners please read!

I'd hate to see any one get injured.
I've never thought/heard of this before.
I could cause you to loose a leg or worse!

Edit: Dead link.

Make sure the bottom rim of your keg has got holes in it!!!!!

Wow... that's crazy...

Thanks for the heads up...

Yeah...heard about that! Thank god all my kegs are drilled at the bottom!

I thought that was posted earlier in the year... May be I just read it over there, it's from May.
Bottom line, make sure your kegs have drain holes in the bottom rim.

Biermuncher knew this and was being proactive when he designed the BearTrapple.

I'm going to check mine later. I'll take a grinder to it if it needs it.

Mine has them, and I always wondered what those holes were for. I don't think they put those drill holes in the rim for venting for boiling though. kegs aren't designed and made for being converted into a keggle.

Ohhh I know what happened! Those holes are there to let rainwater out of the rolled rim, and I'll bet the one that asploded was full of water! When it got to boiling, it stressed the metal and kerfloom!

But the most important thing is, the keggle is still useable

damn that sucks. Have to look out for that if I can ever get a keg.

Thanks for the heads up Orfy. I've been brewing with mine for over 10 years and I never knew to check it. I'll be sure it's drilled before I brew with it again.

Not quite the same thing, but fun to watch.

Thanks for the heads up Orfy!!!

I'm going to drill this weekend.

Just checked - mine has the holes. However, one is filled with red plastic that used to be part of Cheese's kid's wagon.

Good to know, thanks!

Bump.............

Madtown Brew said:

Not quite the same thing, but fun to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3ZdzIJKUE

Click to expand...

Seems like a fitting way to dispose of BMC

Just picked up a couple of decommissioned kegs from New Belgium last week. Not only did they do me the favor of removing the ball valve and spear, they either drilled the lip, or the lip was already drilled.

orfy said:

Bump.............

Click to expand...

We should add this to the wiki/faq.

I have 3 of these kegs.....and they all have holes drilled in the tops and bottoms....Is there anything else I need to do with them? or are they ok?

If they are drilled, they are fine.

wow thats crazy!

im glad you posted this! im about to convert a sankey keg and this is deffinitly something i will have to look into- or atleast make sure i drill a holl in the proper place to vent

The idea that someone "repurposes" some piece of equipment and that makes it automatically safe to use is clearly an unwarranted assumption. Unwarranted assumptions can make a person a quick nominee for a Darwin Award......

This might make a good sticky over in the DIY section. Probably would need a title modification too.

I know this is kind of an old topic but for those wondering why they have holes drilled in the bottom of kegs it is to let pressure out while welding.

If you look at bicycle frames you will see they have tiny holes drilled in the tubes where they meet the bottom bracket. This is so the tubes don't explode when they are welding them together. Custom frame builders will weld the hole shut afterwards since that takes only a small tack weld.

The one kegs that exploded while being used for brewing was a fluke, someone forgot the safety holes, the welder was the lucky one in that case.

Still, it is a good idea to check your kegs...

I copy that! No reason our repurposed stainless kegs shouldn't be safe to use as boil pots. But I will most certainly make sure mine has a couple of holes in the rims. Forewarned and all that!

You mean they weren't thinking of us brewers when they put them in.

Lucky for us they do or there me of been a few more injuries!

Monster Mash said:

I know this is kind of an old topic but for those wondering why they have holes drilled in the bottom of kegs it is to let pressure out while welding.

Click to expand...

Also, if they clean them like cornies, they go into a big dishwasher with caustic and steam/boiling water. It would be rather dangerous to trap caustic solution in there and have it leaking out here and there.

sollar hotdogs

The link won't seem to work or me. If I remember correctly this is relating to the holes on the bottom skirt of kegs. Anyone care to post pics/further explanation?

When I get there I will make sure to take extra caution!

Just make sure there are unblocked vents in the rolled rims on the keg, especially at the bottom. If not it can explode with devastating effects. The link was to pictures of what happens when it does.

A few drilled holes or a couple of slots made with a grinder will suffice.

The vents are put in at manufacture so the do not burst when being manufactured.

Just checked my new keggles. The boil kettle had no holes. You can bet it does now!

Glad I found this. I am gathering parts and pieces to build a new rig and one of my kegs has the vents, the other doesn't. I will make sure to add them to the other keg.

Thanks!!

Pez said:

The link won't seem to work or me. If I remember correctly this is relating to the holes on the bottom skirt of kegs. Anyone care to post pics/further explanation?

Click to expand...

Is there an article and pics to go along with this?

Well, looks like I have a bit of modification to do as my keggle sits down into the burner. No biggie, but yea, dont want an explosion.

Wow...I am glad I read this. I knew about the exploding keg, but I always figured that the holes it didn't have were the four holes slightly below the bottom weld (on the sides). It wasn't until I saw the pictures that I realized there were holes on the bottom of the rims as well (and those were the ones that mattered).

Just checked mine and they both have holes.

Good thing i read this,just a week ago i did my first brew on a keggle in my kitchen.Sure enough there were no holes in the bottom lip after looking.My second brew two days ago sure had some holes drilled.

I don't understand all the hysteria about the rolled rim on the kegs. The rim is typically rolled and not welded closed. IOW, the inner lip is not welded to the keg, so the tube is not sealed and would pose no danger. It's possible that someone could weld the lip to the keg, but I don't know why they would go to the trouble to do so. The holes in the rims of most kegs are simply drains. I've never seen a keg with a sealed rolled rim. Maybe they do exist, but I don't think so. OTOH, it certainly can't do any harm to drill a few holes in the rim if yours doesn't have any.

I thought the same think about the non welded lip,but i sure did drill some holes anyway.Last think i need in my kithen is an exploding keggle.