Copper Plated 6 tap tower

Hi all,

I just picked up 2 draft towers that are copper plated. they are in pretty rough shape, but the faucets seem to be in ok condition. I would like to post pics on here but it says i may not post attachments. How do i post the pics on here so i can start getting advice on how to possibly restore these?

Thanks,

Joe

Photobucket, it's free and you can just post the links.

Thanks!

Here is a link, hope it works.

<a href="http://s748.photobucket.com/albums/xx127/jtd_1/?action=view&current=IMG00028-20091207-1709.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx127/jtd_1/IMG00028-20091207-1709.jpg" border="0" alt="6 tap"></a>


Joe

damn! I messed that up. How did you fix it?

Thanks

Joe

<http://s748.photobucket.com/albums/xx127/jtd_1/?mediafilter=images>

alright,

Now that there is a pic, does anyone have experience with these? anyone take one apart? Hopefully i can make it nice, i got it so that i can build a keezer over the holidays.

Joe

i have a similar one, but the actual tower itself is ceramic


Taking it apart should be fairly straightforward and obvious. I used a brass/copper polisher/cleaner I got from from Home Depot. It took a lot of elbow grease, but I was able to get a lot of the stains out. I was never able to restore it back to the original tho but it was a significant improvement compared to when I first got it.

Well i thought it would be easy to take apart, but it is not. This thing is packed with foam. It resembles the spray style foam. The lines going down threw the tower are stainless, i wanted to just drill out the rivets for the tower and pull off the stand but no go, now im comtemplating cutting the lines so i can get it off(i dont think im going to use the stand portion anyways).

wow, that's a pretty good looking tower you got there. care to share how you came across it?

I doubt your talking about mine, but i got it off of craigslist. On a side note, I became a supporter, simply due to all the good info ive recieved here. benefit is now i can post pics.
Here is the bottom of the top portion. Its pretty messy.

oof. That's pretty gnarly looking. You might try tomato paste.... or a solution of vinegar, water and flour.

If the other guy is talking about my tower, I got it off of ebay. I watched the bids go up to $600, but the guy who won it renegged on the deal and so it was relisted. I won it at a little over $200 [with shipping, it came out to a little under $300 IIRC]. I got lucky. [/off topic]

i was talking to the OP....nice find by both of you

A4J said:

oof. That's pretty gnarly looking. You might try tomato paste.... or a solution of vinegar, water and flour.

If the other guy is talking about my tower, I got it off of ebay. I watched the bids go up to $600, but the guy who won it renegged on the deal and so it was relisted. I won it at a little over $200 [with shipping, it came out to a little under $300 IIRC]. I got lucky. [/off topic]

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Nice score, devastating for the seller though. Do you use a blower or some device to keep it cold or is it too tight with all the lines?

alright, so i finally opened this up with a saw tonight. All the foam prevented me from being able to just remove the upright base. this is what it looks like on the inside, completely encased in foam. Anyone know of an easy way to remove the foam completely and safely (other than pouring gasoline)? I would like a way easier than cuting a million pieces out. and dealing with the mess.

Thanks!

alright, so i went the route of just cutting away and vacuuming. I started to clean up the copper and made some progress. The copper is clean but it still has some stains (maybe deep into it). attached are some photos. Has anyone used any mechanical action (further from elbow grease, ie like how to polish stainless with an angle grinder and buffing pads)?
I really want this to look nice. Any other suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks

i would think using an angle grinder may be overkill, and remove more material than you want. I'm thinking a scumbuster may work great, but not everyone has one. How bout a drill with some buffing pads? dremel?
I actually think the patina looks great

Get one of those powerballs for your drill at Wal-Mart. A little bit of polishing compound and that should get it for you. And Ketchup soaking on those stains should get them out I would think.

If the lines are stainless, get beer line cleaner and flush them. I would not want to try to get in there. Soak and flush with BLC and then rinse with water or starsan and you're in good shape. Look at micromatic http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/line-cleaning-pid-CK-1100.html
That cleaner kit is not "cheap" but it's easy to use and works well. You could make up your own.

I would do almost anything for a copper tap like this. I am obsessed with copper...

I have copper pots and pans for the kitchen and collect anything copper. I think it is the most beautiful metal.

It is looking great nice job. I may have to go buy some copper sheets and construct something like this.

Made some serious progress with the cleaning tonight....all polished up!

You need to get a very very very fine buffing compound that should take all the corrosion off the bottom. The patena will come back regardless though and it actually attractive when the thing is kept clean.

d510addict said:

You need to get a very very very fine buffing compound that should take all the corrosion off the bottom. The patena will come back regardless though and it actually attractive when the thing is kept clean.

Click to expand...

is there no way to protect the finish? Poly?
looks great

brasso will clean that right up and leave a protective caoting