Chipped Porcelain, Mad SWMBO!!

Bad night for my homebrew future!

Tonight I moved a beer from primary to secondary. There were 10 lbs of tart cherries in the primary per the recipe, and I wanted to get the beer off of them so it didn't get too sour.

First, i had to clean my glass secondary. I use my guest bath tub as a place to clean my brewing equipment. I got the carboy cleaned with PBW no problem, then mixed a sanitizer solution and let it soak. 20 minutes later I dumped the sanitizer, using the edge of the bath tub for support. Emptied the carboy, picked it up, and there it was... a giant chip in the porcelain of the tub!!! Are you kidding me?

I then finished moving my beer to the secondary, hung my head and called the SWMBO to come look at the damage I had done. (No use hiding from it.) At first she smiled. "Wow" I thought, "what a sweet heart." But, this was not a happy smile. This is the face that the SWMBO makes when she's grinding her teeth. Not a good sign! I see it and immediately know it's going to be a long night on the couch.

So what do I do? Laugh uncontrollably. These are the kinds of things that make a house a home, right? It was an accident afterall.

Huge mistake.

Welp, here I am on the couch, and the beer sample I took during transfer didn't even taste that good anyway. I should have just left it there! I never use a secondary anyway.

Anyone know how to repair a chip in a bath tub? Otherwise, I might be cleaning my homebrew supplies in a kiddie pool in the back yard during the Colorado winter. Rough night.

 

OK first get her a drink!!!! Second make dinner for a couple of nights. Third the major big box home stores (Lowes, Home Depot)make a kit to fix chips (about 20 bucks max) it takes some time to fix but worth it. Get her another drink and dinner. Fix the chip (fix her a drink) and you will be in like skin.

 

That sounds like experience talking

 

I've used those chip kits after smashing a carboy off the edge too. I was amazed at how well it works, you can't even notice where the chip was.

 

You might find this useful:
http://www.a-home.net/remodeling/bathrooms/porcelain-bathtubs.htm
I've used a sort of enamel paint to repair tub & sink chips, I think it's called "Appliance Touch-up," Comes in a little bottle, sort of like an iodine bottle, with the brush affixed to the inside of the lid.

It's NOT a perfect fix, short of reglazing the tub, nothing will be perfect; but it's good enough so that you hardly notice it if it's not in an obvious spot. If it is in an obvious spot, it'll still look a LOT better than nothing. Best of all, it's a quick & easy fix for a cheap price.

Good luck on the swmbo situation.
Regards, GF.

 

IIRC, the enamel base appliance touch-up kits are not recommended for tubs or sinks - you need to use the epoxy base repair kits for these. Just read the label to be sure it's OK for wet surfaces.