Corny Kegs rust?

I know they are supposed to be stainless Steel..but anyone else find specks on the instide of there kegs that seems or apears to be specs of rust...I would assume this is from nicks or gouges.

Jay

Hummm, maybe someone cleaned them with something that cleaned another rust-able metal. I would clean them really good and use BKF (barkeepers friend) to passivate the stainless. If you keep getting it, maybe sand down those areas and then passivate before use. I have one weld on a keg that the guy must have used a wire brush to clean up. It rusts easily so I have to really watch it. I also had a spec on my false bottom once. It was there forever and I tried to clean it like I suggested earlier. One time I check and it isn't there any more and hasn't returned???? Phantom rust maybe. I will bet though that someone used something with rust on it to clean it and it made it into a little crack or something.

Never noticed that myself, in any of my 6 kegs.

Anything that destroys the passivation layer can do it, AFAIK. Nicks and gouges are one possibility, as is using unsuitable scrubbers (like steel wool, and/or overdoing it with the wrong kind of scotch-brite), or using chemicals which can eat it away. FWIW, don't ever use oxiclean in your kegs for anything longer than a quick soak. If you clean up the rust and treat it right to let it re-passivate itself, it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Funkenjaeger said:

NFWIW, don't ever use oxiclean in your kegs for anything longer than a quick soak.

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I've soaked my kegs and SS kettle for hours in Oxyclean, on multiple occasions, thinking it was harmless. Am I risking damage?

IFP said:

I've soaked my kegs and SS kettle for hours in Oxyclean, on multiple occasions, thinking it was harmless. Am I risking damage?

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Oxyclean is an oxidant. It will speed the process of oxidation up, but I don't think it will eat through the chromium film. I accidentally soaked the lid for my SS pot for about 3 days, and it left little pits in it, but not rust.

I soaked a blowoff tube in a SS bowl full of oxiclean overnight. In the morning I picked it up and there was liquid on the counter - the oxiclean ate pinholes in the bottom of the bowl, you can actually see light through it. It wasn't rust, but perhaps if I had left it wet after this happened it may have rusted due to the damage. It did seem to be localized - rather than eating up the whole surface it was touching, it only ate away in a few localized places, leaving the metal sort of rough looking - but the rest of the bowl looked unharmed. Perhaps it can only eat into the metal if there are minor existing nicks or scratches where it can 'get started', in which case it may be fine in some cases but destroy the metal in others. I had also used quite a lot of oxiclean powder that time, so there was some undissolved on the bottom, which may have contributed significantly to the problem.

In any case, that was enough of a lesson for me - now I never leave oxiclean in stainless for more than 20-30 minutes, usually even less than that.

Funkenjaeger said:

I had also used quite a lot of oxiclean powder that time, so there was some undissolved on the bottom, which may have contributed significantly to the problem.

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Now that you mention that, I think that's what happened to my lid. I sprinkled oxy over the whole tub full of water and I don't think I mixed it in well enough. Everywhere that there was a little granule was where it pitted it...

I hope all of you know that Stainless Steel is not rust resistant, it is simply rust preventative.

Stainless is only different in that is steel melted and mixed with very small amounts of nickle and chromium. And it is usually coated in some form of oil that just wears of in short order.

A very good trick is to use some mineral oil to protect the surface right after you clean the keg. Trust me just do it. Its very cheap, just put it on a rag and wipe down the keg. NEVER use vegtable oil though, it coagulates and makes really nasty stuff for bacteria to grow in.

I work at Hobart food equipment so I deal with stainless all day and customers always complain about thier stainless equipment rusting and corroding. But they usually dont understand that stainless needs to be protected like all other metals.

This stuff works wonders. A few drops on the rust spots followed by a soft scrub pad, and they are gone.

rollinred said:

A very good trick is to use some mineral oil to protect the surface right after you clean the keg. Trust me just do it. Its very cheap, just put it on a rag and wipe down the keg.

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Nice tip, rollin. Must be cool working with those giant mixers.

Would the same mineral oil rub apply to stainless appliances and grills?

EdWort said:

This stuff works wonders. A few drops on the rust spots followed by a soft scrub pad, and they are gone.

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Hey Ed..I did this and it removed the rust great...but the SS is not the same..will the rust come back??? how long and should I fear a batch of beer for a few months in this keg?

Jay

So glad I found this post. Bought a used keg with long scratches of rust on the inside. BKF worked wonders.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

I have a corny keg with a little bit of rust in the quarter sized "dimple" in the bottom of the keg. It's about a 1/4" wide. I'll try using some of the suggestions in this thread. If I can't get rid of it will it be a problem? Thanks.

Untreated rust spots can become holes. For removing rust, Citric Acid is pretty good on stuff you can't reach; Bar Keeper's Friend on a stiff sponge or scrubby is good on stuff you can.

Cheers

I have some Rust-Oleum Rust Dissolver Jelly I was thinking about trying. Is that too strong?

I'm not familiar with that product. Reviews are mixed wrt effectiveness but phosphoric acid is used as a cleaning agent for stainless steel so it's unlikely to harm your keg. Btw, it's also not considered a passivating agent, while Citric Acid is considered as the best agent for that purpose...

Cheers!

Wow! You guys have gotten rid of all the rust on this thread! Well I maybe got the last last part.....

Rust-Oleum, naval jelly, all phosphoric as is in the original soda the cans are designed for. Maybe find out how much phosphoric acid to add to homemade cola and dilute to the same strength?

I know that oxyclean will put tiny pits on the keg, been there done that.

What I do when I get a keg that has gunk or some rust is clean it with oxyclean solution at the full 5 gal keg full -not letting it sit anymore than say 8 hrs after scrubbing and filling.

I then rinse with hot water mega times until I feel comfortable oxy is gone.

I have a fully loaded keg with starsan solution as a holding tank, I then use keg to keg transfer using C02 pressure to transfer the starsan to the affected keg, then IT then is my starsan holding tank until I find another one that needs the "treatment", and the process begins again.
If the new starsan holding keg gets low, mix starsan to correct level, and top it off so it waits to be relieved of duty by another "HOBO" keg. [HOmeBrewing Oxide sanitation methods?]
HOBO keg, -eheh, I want a dime everytime someone sez it!

Haven't had any keg issues as far as infection or off taste for years now since I've been doing this "HOBO Keg" routine.

what's with the oxyclean and staniless?

I use oxyclean in all my kegs. a couple scoops and fill with water and leave soaking for a few days sometimes.

Am I destroying my kegs?

Overnight or 8 hours MAX soak time. It has shown in the past postings in this forum [try a search] that micro pitting can occur over time, I have seen it myself! It shows as a non smooth surface, where it was shiny before, it freekin looked like aluminum instead of shiny stainless!. Past postings in this thread of this forum, as well as others, thru the consensus of our postings are there for your evidence.

I think it probably depends on the uncontrolled quality of the nickel and other metals in the stainless at the time of the particular construction, so some pit faster than others, so why risk eating the surface of the metal? Short soaks only, max 8hrs I say. No more problems doing this routine since then.