I had an enthusiastic but inexperienced brew buddy giving me a hand during cleanup after my last brew day. For the sake of anonymity, we'll just call her "my wife". At any rate, a whole lot of PBW got dumped in the bottom of an aluminum kettle with about four inches of water in it, where it then sat for at least an hour without me realizing it. Needless to say, the surface of the kettle is now pitted, scored and badly discolored. What's the best way to rehab the surface so that it's suitable for use again?
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No way that I know of to get rid of the pitting and scoring. You can either use it as is or replace it. The latter is my recommendation. Maybe "your wife" will buy you replacement made from stainless steel.
+1 spring for a stainless pot and use your old one for boiling crabs in
Robert65
Major Obvious (recently promoted)
???
Been using aluminum forever and never experienced such damage. PBW is perfectly safe for aluminum.
Been using aluminum forever and never experienced such damage. PBW is perfectly safe for aluminum.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
How bad can it possibly be? Does it rip sponges when trying to clean it? If it's just a little textured I would keep using it.
Maybe some pics?
Maybe some pics?
Sorry, PBW is not safe for Aluminum. Aluminum is amphoteric, reacts with both acids and bases. PBW is a base, it will attack/corrode aluminum. How much depends on the strength, time and temperature of the exposure. A 2-5 minute exposure for cleaning won't be enough to affect it.
I reckon the exposed area has turned dark gray with some white puckering. As @FloppyKnockers said, how bad can it be? One hour is merely not enough to totally dissolve the metal, IMO.
The dark gray oxide layer is actually good, it protects the aluminum from further corrosion, and is recommended when used for boiling (acidic) wort.
Just use a nylon scouring pad to remove the white dots, but leave the dark gray oxide layer. All is good.
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You've got to come clean on this.
Is she your wife or isn't she? If not, is she going to be your wife?
Robert65
Major Obvious (recently promoted)
I thought we learned in the Homemade PBW thread that the sodium metasilicate is there to protect aluminum?
I must have missed that.
There's 70% Sodium (Per)Carbonate in PBW. The carbonate ion isn't safe for Aluminum, AFAIK.
Robert65
Major Obvious (recently promoted)
Easy to get lost in that thread. There's something in this post. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?posts/7532200 Elsewhere too but I think this was the first mention and I haven't retraced it any further.
I normally use dish liquid on my aluminum, but occasionally will find PBW (or analog) necessary. At normal concentration and times it doesn't do any harm, but I do find it requires a good acid rinse (proper cleaning SOP anyway) and then it may be necessary to boil some water to restore the gray, passive, oxide layer. If dish liquid will do, it doesn't interfere with the oxide layer.
lol, not if she keeps f'n up his brewing equipment!
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