fixing sloppy weld job

Of course it was too good to be true. Long story short - my welder who swore her did all sorts of medical and sanitary welding got a bit sloppy on my MT. the inside MT welds around the nipples are not pitted, but are a bit rough. Also, and more importantly, there is funk - burnt beer and small slag in the keg.
My question - what is the most effectively way to clean this all out?

I am wondering the same thing. What can i grind/polish with that will not cause the stainless to rust?

maybe a rough sandpaper and then finish it with a smaller grit? I sand all the crap off the outsides of my kegs and they don't rust I don't see why it wouldn't work for the inside.

A grinding stone in a Dremel would work fine. Just make sure you use a new stone that has not been used on other metals or you'll have the rusting issue. Working/cutting the SS doens't cause a problem, it's embedding other metal in the SS that rusts.

oh boy - a dremel would take a lot of time. What about an angle grinder or orbit sander?

It's probably not an issue....but maybe you should take it back and tell her it's not a sanitary weld, though.

no matter what you do youll still have gouges in the metal your removing. its not a sanitary weld and needs to be redone. granted youll be boiling it afterwards and sterilizing the wort while boiling so it depends on what you want to do and if it maters.

If you paid that welder why don't you take it back and ask that it be cleaned up? Stress that any grinding will need to be done with a new stone or wheel and explain why.

You don't need a sanitary weld in a HLT, MT or BK. It would be important in a fermenter.
You can buy a flap wheel for your drill or angle grinder and clean it up a bit. I would also hit it with a 3M green scrubbie and some Bar Keepers Friend.

Sanitary is not necessary. As long as it's not leaking or rusting, consider it a success.

Bobby_M said:

Sanitary is not necessary. As long as it's not leaking or rusting, consider it a success.

Click to expand...

True.

But if there's slag, and it looks like a sloppy job, you either fix it yourself or take it back. If it's not terrible, I'd suggest cleaning it up yourself and not burning bridges with the welder. You may need them later!

If it totally sucks, take it back, then find someone else (or learn yourself)

it doesn't totally suck - mostly the slag is bumming me out. But I suppose w a little elbow grease I can clean it up

Storytime: I got 4 keggles when I bought my equipment. They had all been modified by the previous owner. 3 were awesome with great welds, 3 couplers, and nice clean holes at the top.

The 4th keg had the slag at the bottom, an ugly weld for the coupler, etc. It still boiled wort. I could have cleaned it up like new, but already had 3 good kegs, so I sold it and made about $80 back on my $400 purchase.

Short story long....if it doesn't totally suck, there's something to be said for becoming "one" with the keggle. Clean that sucker up and you'll really be proud of it. BobbyM has a nice tutorial on keg polishing (and many others). You can grind the slag out as well.

Good luck, and post pics of your finished product!