Keggle Bad Weld Question

[trueblue21]

Long time reader, first time poster.

I recently had two keggles welded up. One turned out great the other not so much. I looks like they did not purge it properly and it resulted in some bad sugaring(?).

Is it safe for me to use a steel grinder to clean up the weld, then use it as my HLT and nothing else. If I use it for my HLT shouldnt it be ok since it will still be boiled?

What should I do?

 

[trueblue21]

Pics http://imgur.com/a/NMMq5

 

[FireManDan]

Take a wire brush to it first then take a look at it. If you're still in doubt just use it as your HLT and you should be good to go.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Yowza!
That's a Tig weld?


Edit: Concur on the "forgot to" purge, I'm thinkin'!

 

[trueblue21]

Take a wire brush to it first then take a look at it. If you're still in doubt just use it as your HLT and you should be good to go.

No off flavors? Nothing dangerous to someones health?

 

[SpikeBrewing]

Looks like the first was MIG welded and the second was TIG welded. Neither were back purged. Also really bizarre how they only drilled a ~3/8" hole and then welded to that. The TIG'd weld doesn't look bad but your welder should have back purged and also should have cut the hole to match the size of the coupler!

Recommended solution...
-Do not use a wire brush. They are made from carbon steel and it'll impregnate the metal with steel and will rust even more.
-To clean the front side get some Bar Keepers Friend and scrub the crap out of it. That should polish/passivate the front side.
-Take an angle grinder with a ~120 grit wheel and grind away the sugaring. It may still rust as it was welding improperly but it will be much smoother and easier to clean. After grinding scrub with BKF to passivate.
-If you have a Dremel I would try and open up the holes on the inside to match the size of the coupler.

 

[trueblue21]

Looks like the first was MIG welded and the second was TIG welded. Neither were back purged. Also really bizarre how they only drilled a ~3/8" hole and then welded to that. The TIG'd weld doesn't look bad but your welder should have back purged and also should have cut the hole to match the size of the coupler!

Recommended solution...
-Do not use a wire brush. They are made from carbon steel and it'll impregnate the metal with steel and will rust even more.
-To clean the front side get some Bar Keepers Friend and scrub the crap out of it. That should polish/passivate the front side.
-Take an angle grinder with a ~120 grit wheel and grind away the sugaring. It may still rust as it was welding improperly but it will be much smoother and easier to clean. After grinding scrub with BKF to passivate.
-If you have a Dremel I would try and open up the holes on the inside to match the size of the coupler.

Good deal. I will do what you advised. If it continues to rust, what kind of off-flavors should I expect. Should I do this for both welds? Or is the TIG OK?

Also what is BKF? Beer Keepers Friend?

 

[SpikeBrewing]

As far as off flavors, I don't know if it'll be enough to give off flavors. If you grind the inside and passivate the rust should stay to a minimum. Correct, BKF = Bar Keepers Friend. It's like $3 at Walmart.

 

[trueblue21]

As far as off flavors, I don't know if it'll be enough to give off flavors. If you grind the inside and passivate the rust should stay to a minimum. Correct, BKF = Bar Keepers Friend. It's like $3 at Walmart.

Thanks man! I really appreciate it.

 

[SpikeBrewing]

Not a problem! Hate seeing botched weld jobs

 

[FireManDan]

Looks like the first was MIG welded and the second was TIG welded. Neither were back purged. Also really bizarre how they only drilled a ~3/8" hole and then welded to that. The TIG'd weld doesn't look bad but your welder should have back purged and also should have cut the hole to match the size of the coupler!

Recommended solution...
-Do not use a wire brush. They are made from carbon steel and it'll impregnate the metal with steel and will rust even more.
-To clean the front side get some Bar Keepers Friend and scrub the crap out of it. That should polish/passivate the front side.
-Take an angle grinder with a ~120 grit wheel and grind away the sugaring. It may still rust as it was welding improperly but it will be much smoother and easier to clean. After grinding scrub with BKF to passivate.
-If you have a Dremel I would try and open up the holes on the inside to match the size of the coupler.

I've wire brushed almost every bead I've laid, never had I had a bead become impregnated and rust. I will concur with cleaning it with bar keepers.

 

[Bobby_M]

You may have an actual stainless steel wire brush then. I've seen dozens of badly spotted rust problems from a steel wire wheel on a drill. It probably doesn't happen with a handheld brush as easily.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Yes you have to have stainless brush. Anything you grind needs to be new. Never used on carbon steel. I had my first kettle welded and it looked way worse. I ground it down and it works fine. You won't have any worries with it. I brewed many batches with mine before I ground. Never infected, never had any off flavors.

 

[outside92129]

Yowza, i hope you didn't pay too much for those welds! Like the others above said, try to remove all the sugaring you can. You'll get some rust but no biggie- rust/iron oxide is insoluble in water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(III)_oxide


You want to see something scary? Scroll down on this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/55-gallon-ordinary-steel-drum-system-143410/

 

[dex0807]

The first weld looks like your welder forgot to turn on his gas. The brownish/copper color haze up the inside of the kettle is a dead giveaway.