Old flip tops with corroded gaskets...salvageable?

[myerstyson]

(I searched this forum for this question and couldn't find a thread. Sorry if I missed one. Perhaps I'm searching the wrong words?)

My bro-in-law gifted me about 45 flip-top bottles of the Fischer type. I went through the boxes today to clean and inspect them, in preparation for bottling my Golden Ale.

About 1/3 of them had gaskets that were melted (?) to the ceramic top thingy. I didn't use those; I left them in the boxes. The ones whose gaskets popped off cleanly, I cleaned them and added a brand new gasket. Thankfully, I had plenty of those to bottle my Golden Ale.

Question is this: Can I salvage those bottles? Some of them still have pieces of gasket attached to the ceramic topper. Can I take a steel wool and clean off the ceramic to remove all traces of the old gasket? The bottles are otherwise in great condition. New gaskets are relatively cheap. I'd love to be able to "recycle-reuse" these bottles.

Thanks for your help, as always!

 

[Owly055]

(I searched this forum for this question and couldn't find a thread. Sorry if I missed one. Perhaps I'm searching the wrong words?)

My bro-in-law gifted me about 45 flip-top bottles of the Fischer type. I went through the boxes today to clean and inspect them, in preparation for bottling my Golden Ale.

About 1/3 of them had gaskets that were melted (?) to the ceramic top thingy. I didn't use those; I left them in the boxes. The ones whose gaskets popped off cleanly, I cleaned them and added a brand new gasket. Thankfully, I had plenty of those to bottle my Golden Ale.

Question is this: Can I salvage those bottles? Some of them still have pieces of gasket attached to the ceramic topper. Can I take a steel wool and clean off the ceramic to remove all traces of the old gasket? The bottles are otherwise in great condition. New gaskets are relatively cheap. I'd love to be able to "recycle-reuse" these bottles.

Thanks for your help, as always!

You can buy the wire bail, and plastic top as a complete unit for the EzCap bottles. It might be worth checking to see if these will work.

H.W.

 

[IslandLizard]

The old ceramic tops are superior to the new plastic ones, so yes, clean them off with a razor blade or so. If you have it, naphta should be able to dissolve/remove the last gooey rubber remnants.

The size of the metal bail system is crucial to form a tight seal. New ones may not have the exact same size required.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I use a couple of styles of swing-top bottles, and now and again the gasket adheres to the ceramic. I use a razor blade to scrape it off, and am satisfied with the results. I hadn't considered @Owly55 's idea, though, and since a few of the bails have rust on them, I think I'll check out replacement bails.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Acetone or perhaps GooGone will help remove the residue as well.