Can I patch a broken carboy?

Does anyone knwo if it is possible to patch a glass carboy?

Basically, a jar fell on top of a 5 gallon that I have. It made a small dime sized hole, with a few small cracks coming off of it (kind of like when a little rock cracks a winshield). I do not want to fix it myself, but I wanted to offer it up to some folks who both homebrew and work glass and might already have equipment to do this...

Just wondering if anyone has ever done this and had it work well, or might know how to do it, or... might want to advise for or against it? (i was just reading broken carboy stories online. yikes!) I would love to hear how one might go about patching a carboy.

Thanks!

-phoenix

 

You might honestly give Safelite a call - with something this out-of-the-ordinary, they might do it for very cheap. They have that gel stuff they push into windshield chips...

 

Throw it away. Doing anything else would be crazy. Wish you were close, I'd give you one for free (I hate my glass carboys).

 

If you keep it. Tell us which hospital you will use so we can send Get Well cards and flowers.

 

Wear kevlar gloves when handling it, as well as a thick apron. IMO, risk of serious injury is simply too high to warrant keeping/repairing it.

I'm with passedpawn on this one, in that I'd give you the last [glass] carboy I have, for free, if you were close to where I am. I've gotten rid of my 3 gallon carboys and just have the 5 gallon left...

 

Its not worth it, just buy a new one.

 

Haha, thanks for all the tips!

I just read the the broken carboy section (well, one of the many, on here) and scared the crap out of myself... Regardless, I definitely wouldn't use it as is or with some kind of mediocre patch (i will see about that safelight thing though)

What I was curious about is if someone who works with glass could fix it fairly easily, in such a way that it would be structurally sound and good to use again? Like, could someone melt the area where the hole is and melt some new glass onto it and fix it up? (like welding!) Does glass even work like that? Has anyone on here ever done anything like that or ever heard of it (for a carboy?)

Just wondering...

 

Duct tape?

 

Not only should you not even consider using it, you should be very mindful of even handling again! I suggest that you carefully place it in something and bust it up the rest of the way and toss it out! A friend of mine severed his femoral artery simply carrying his brand new glass carboy after washing it! For no apparent reason, it broke in pieces and did a number on him!

 

As soon as I see any crack on my carboys its goes to garbage. I would not reccomend to try patch up one and wait till its explodes in your hands.

 

Hope you're kidding about the safelite idea. Just in case you are not, a car windshield is laminated. It has many layers that are not even glass, so repairing that is nothing like your carboy. Pitch the carboy.

 

You can find new ones on Amazon with free shipping. Toss that thing in the garbage.

 

Start tossing your loose change into it and when it's full, buy a new one or 30.

 

Hmmm. Picking up a broken carboy full of pennies sounds at least as hazardous as one full of beer.

You can take parsimony too far.

 

Thanks for answering, everyone! However... none of you have answered my question.

Yes, I know you all think I should throw it away. Got it.

I already have 4 other carboys, so no chance in hell I am going to use it like it is. Nor, do I even need to. I also ferment in some modified cornys that I altered.... Anyway...

What I am wondering is... could a professional glassworker or glassblower fix it easily, so it is structurally sound again?

The original reason I asked is because... I wanted to offer it up on craigslist for FREE to someone with the proper skills to fix it safely and use it. (actually, someone is already going to come get it... they know how to work with glass and plan on cutting the broken part off and using the bottom half to brew kombucha...) But, I only wanted to offer it to someone who could fix it SAFELY, not someone who will use it to cut their femoral artery and die. That's the orignal reason I made this post. Now, it is kind of moot, since someone's already taking it. But... I am still curious!

 

No.

Cheers!

 

Kevlar isn't very good at protecting against stab, slash or puncture wounds. Wear chainmail gloves instead.

 

The answer is yes. A professional glass blower could "fix" it, so that it's structurally sound again. They would do this by breaking it into pieces and adding those pieces to the crucible in the furnace and mold blowing another one.

 

Yep... And out of the three my buddy ordered, only one came intact. The packaging is really crappy.