keggle rust problem

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MrStrangeBrew

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i got two kegs sent them out to get cut with plasma cutter and when i got them back the inside is covered with rust it looks like. and its kind hard to take off. is it becuase of plasma cutter? or is it just surface rust that will easily come off? does this usually hppen with keggles? What is best way to clean and prevent?
 
stainless steel wont rust, but when you melt it with a plasma torch it turns into small liquid metal beads which oxidize in open air and change their chemical properties and then do rust.

you just have to scrub, sand or chiesel all the slag off before you use them. this is why people prefer using a grinder- no metal slag left behind.
 
I had the same issue and learn from my mistakes... do not use anything to clean the inside that is metal!!! I used a wire brush to remove the slag! BAD IDEA!

In retrospect it embedded small particles of the brush in the SS as it cleaned and left more metal to oxidize and rust... Use coarse scotch brite pads on a air angle grinder. If that doesn't do it use sand paper but only if you have too (you shouldn't). Once all the slag is cleaned then progress to finer scotch brite pads and you'll have a pretty nice finish.

Finally, get some barkeepers friend and mix it up into a thick paste. I then scrubbed it in using a fine scotch brite. I let is sit over night to give the Oxalic Acid time to re-passivate the SS. Then rinse well and wipe with a wash cloth until it's all gone. Then rinse one more time for good measure!

I haven't had any rusting in my keggles since I did this! It is time consuming and a PITA but it's better than wasting good keggles!
 
dammit!! i thought plasma cutter was the way to go oh well ive and learn i guess thanks for all the help. Where do i get BKF?? and do some scotch brites have cleaning agents in them? if so should i stay away from them and use plain ones?
 
You need to put enough water in the keg to cover the bottom before cutting with a plasma cutter, this keeps the slag from sticking to the bottom...
 
You need to put enough water in the keg to cover the bottom before cutting with a plasma cutter, this keeps the slag from sticking to the bottom...

its not so much on the bottom as it is on the sides. feels like little pebbles all over. when i wipe with finger and a little elbow grease it comes off.
 
should be right near the bon ami and comet in your grocery store. As for the scrubies I strictly stick to plain green one

plain green ok good. and ill check grocery store today i could barely sleep i was so worried :( cant wait to get it all cleaned up.
 
I had the same issue and learn from my mistakes... do not use anything to clean the inside that is metal!!! I used a wire brush to remove the slag! BAD IDEA!

In retrospect it embedded small particles of the brush in the SS as it cleaned and left more metal to oxidize and rust... Use coarse scotch brite pads on a air angle grinder. If that doesn't do it use sand paper but only if you have too (you shouldn't). Once all the slag is cleaned then progress to finer scotch brite pads and you'll have a pretty nice finish.

Finally, get some barkeepers friend and mix it up into a thick paste. I then scrubbed it in using a fine scotch brite. I let is sit over night to give the Oxalic Acid time to re-passivate the SS. Then rinse well and wipe with a wash cloth until it's all gone. Then rinse one more time for good measure!

I haven't had any rusting in my keggles since I did this! It is time consuming and a PITA but it's better than wasting good keggles!

so after scrub you leave it on over night without any rinsing after scrubbing?
 
If your stainless steel is rusting it is boned and there is nothing you can do at home to fix it. It has to be heat treated to drive the chromium back into solid solution with the iron. You can't do this at home. This is why you should not weld stainless.
 
If your stainless steel is rusting it is boned and there is nothing you can do at home to fix it. It has to be heat treated to drive the chromium back into solid solution with the iron. You can't do this at home. This is why you should not weld stainless.

i owuldnt say its actually rust i think it is what the others were saying about the slag becuase it comes off if u scrub hard enough and it doesnt appear that the ss actually rusted i thhink its just a bunch of crap from cutting.
 
i owuldnt say its actually rust i think it is what the others were saying about the slag becuase it comes off if u scrub hard enough and it doesnt appear that the ss actually rusted i thhink its just a bunch of crap from cutting.

If you scrub until it is shiney and then it comes back you have a rust problem. Otherwise you might be ok. I would expect that the area around where it was cut with the plasma will be highly susceptible to rust regardless and you should expect that it will rust near the cut line.
 
If you scrub until it is shiney and then it comes back you have a rust problem. Otherwise you might be ok. I would expect that the area around where it was cut with the plasma will be highly susceptible to rust regardless and you should expect that it will rust near the cut line.

so is there anything i can do around cut line that can prevent it from rusting?
 
Many people do the BKF passivisation and don't have rust after Plasma cuts. Don't freak out. don't cut anything off, just hit it with some sand paper or a flap disk on a grinder.
 
Flapper Wheel on a 4" grinder to clean up the cut and remove enough material to stop it from rusting.

If the slag is coming off with a simple scuff pad you're a lot luckier than me. I had to grind it off. And as mentioned before using a wire wheel and brush only made matters worse. But with time, the right tools and not giving up on them I now have 3 Keggles that work perfectly and do not rust.

I promise you can do this at home... I did!
 
Many people do the BKF passivisation and don't have rust after Plasma cuts. Don't freak out. don't cut anything off, just hit it with some sand paper or a flap disk on a grinder.

ok so sand paper is safe? i was worrying about it embedding it self in the metal and causing more problems. what type grit? i was kinda freakin out. thanks for the reassurance. what you mean by flap disc? like a roloc disc on die grinder?
 
Flapper Wheel on a 4" grinder to clean up the cut and remove enough material to stop it from rusting.

If the slag is coming off with a simple scuff pad you're a lot luckier than me. I had to grind it off. And as mentioned before using a wire wheel and brush only made matters worse. But with time, the right tools and not giving up on them I now have 3 Keggles that work perfectly and do not rust.

I promise you can do this at home... I did!

i hope im lucky i dont really want to have to grind the inside. doing the outside was bad enough/ still gotta polish too. but im gonna wait to see what happens with inside first. what is flapper wheel?
 
What about installing a sacrifical anode like magnesium?

This works to prevent further rust. It won't clean up rust that is already there. He needs to get the rust off with sanding/grinding, use BKF to re-passivate, and then he shouldn't need an anode. If the SS is treated properly, it won't rust.
 
sounds like its a bit over my head :drunk: what do u mean?

that is a prevention for galvanic corrosion, not so much rusting which is just oxidation of iron.

what he means is putting a chunk of metal in the pot that is more reactive then the other parts, so that that chunk of metal would corrode preferentially to the rest.


your problem is just that you have small pieces of oxidized steel slag everywhere that need to be removed. im sure the underlying steel is still fine to use. you should be able to clean them up yourself without problems. it just might take a bit of scrubbing (or sanding).
 
that is a prevention for galvanic corrosion, not so much rusting which is just oxidation of iron.

what he means is putting a chunk of metal in the pot that is more reactive then the other parts, so that that chunk of metal would corrode preferentially to the rest.


your problem is just that you have small pieces of oxidized steel slag everywhere that need to be removed. im sure the underlying steel is still fine to use. you should be able to clean them up yourself without problems. it just might take a bit of scrubbing (or sanding).

yeah i dont think its damaged either i should be good and it makes me feel better to hear other people saying it too :mug: i dont mind a little bit of scrubbing to make alot of beer
 
Not really. It's safe to injest small amounts of rust. After all, you need iron in your diet. But what isn't desirable is off-flavors from rust. Don't want your beer tasting metallic.
 
Stopped at redners, got bkf in paste form(nitric acid) and cameo (sulfamic acid). Going to try to remove the rsut from my welds. Btw, if you only have bkf in powder, water and conr starch will make a paste.
 
Flapper Wheel on a 4" grinder to clean up the cut and remove enough material to stop it from rusting.

If the slag is coming off with a simple scuff pad you're a lot luckier than me. I had to grind it off. And as mentioned before using a wire wheel and brush only made matters worse. But with time, the right tools and not giving up on them I now have 3 Keggles that work perfectly and do not rust.

I promise you can do this at home... I did!

Listen to mmurray's advise.

A flapper disk or wheel can be bought at Home Depot or Lowes to remove the slag(most likely not rust) from the keg.
The reason I don't believe it's rusted is because the smoke created from the plasma torch resembles rust in color.
Do not ever use anything other than new abrasives when grinding or polishing on stainless and you will not have any problems with rusting or corrosion.
Passivation is only necessary when stainless has been contaminated.
Clean abrasives will not contaminate stainless.

Future advise...

Fill the keg to a few inches from the top with water before cutting the top out of a keg.
The water will catch the slag and prevent it from sticking to the keg interior.

RDWGAGAG

Relax Don't Worry Grab a Grinder and Grind!
 
Listen to mmurray's advise.

A flapper disk or wheel can be bought at Home Depot or Lowes to remove the slag(most likely not rust) from the keg.
The reason I don't believe it's rusted is because the smoke created from the plasma torch resembles rust in color.
Do not ever use anything other than new abrasives when grinding or polishing on stainless and you will not have any problems with rusting or corrosion.
Passivation is only necessary when stainless has been contaminated.
Clean abrasives will not contaminate stainless.

Future advise...

Fill the keg to a few inches from the top with water before cutting the top out of a keg.
The water will catch the slag and prevent it from sticking to the keg interior.

RDWGAGAG

Relax Don't Worry Grab a Grinder and Grind!

ya im going out today after work (i know its saturday and i could be brewing) and im going to get the scotch brite pads and im gonna grab some of that BKF and if that doesnt work ill move onto to flapper.
 
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Sorry... not on computer all weekend! Sick kid.

Above is a pic of a flapper wheel. As you can see this is a very coarse grit and could be used to clean up the lip of the keggle's from the plasma cutter and remove sharp edges.

For the inside, start with much less aggressive equipment. I eventually had to go to that on the inside and work my way to finer and finer grits, but don't go there if you don't have too!
 
nice thanks! sorry to hear about kid. pic really helps i was picturing something totally different. should def get the job done for cleaning up the cut. ya im gonna try the bkf and scotch brite before i go to the grinder
 
How about an orbital sander with 220? I have some slag on my sidewalls too...

i guess you could use that but from what people are saying just use some BKF and a scotch brite pad and the stuff should come off. only go with the sander if you have to.
 
The reason I don't believe it's rusted is because the smoke created from the plasma torch resembles rust in color.
Do not ever use anything other than new abrasives when grinding or polishing on stainless and you will not have any problems with rusting or corrosion.
Passivation is only necessary when stainless has been contaminated.
Clean abrasives will not contaminate stainless.

I had some kegs cut by a buddy of mine with a plasma cutter a couple weeks ago. I didn't put water in em, and had cleaned them out and removed the spears prior to his cutting. When I picked them up, the inside looks like the cloud of smoke from the gas coated much of the interior of the keg. I am just getting around to them, so they've had a couple weeks to let it sit on there...

With tiny slag particles attached to the side. Last night I used some bar keepers friend and a scotchpad, to minor success. THe inside is still discolored. The couplings haven't been welded, but I drilled the holes, and I got the keg to hot, I can see that color distortion in it now. I plan to scrub some more with Barkeepers Friend, and grind a bit if I need to, hopefully I can get it back to brewing shape. I should have taken a picture- I'll do that, I'd appreciate an opinion.....
 
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