5 gallon oil drum

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zamo27

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Can I use these drums for my electric brewery.com style brew set up?
They are easy to plum and I can get them free and very clean

Has anyone any experience with these drums?



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Normal oil drums from a garage
I'm sure they're steal but not sure what they are coated with inside


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You need to figure out what they are lined with. Steel is not ideal and the lining material may not be heat tolerant.


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What about kegs? Is that a better option over plastic buckets


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You wouldn't believe the amount of oil that can impregnate into metals. It just oozes out when you apply heat the metal before catching fire.
 
Even if they were unused I wouldn't use them as they are likely made from mild steel and may be lined with some coating.
 
What about beer kegs can they be used to build a brewery


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Kegs are fine to use because they were designed from the beginning to be food-grade. Oil barrels are not.
 
What metals are you talking about specifically?

Mild steel like what the OP's oil drum is made of and a few steel alloy's used to make engine parts. It happens faster with rough surfaces.

My boss at the time was making a crank turning tool and couldn't get an old timing gear clean enough to weld on so he warmed (not red hot) the gear up with the cutting torch. The oil caught fire cause he did not remove the heat soon enough. Up to that point I never knew anything like that was possible on a machined surface.
 
Mild steel like what the OP's oil drum is made of and a few steel alloy's used to make engine parts. It happens faster with rough surfaces.

My boss at the time was making a crank turning tool and couldn't get an old timing gear clean enough to weld on so he warmed (not red hot) the gear up with the cutting torch. The oil caught fire cause he did not remove the heat soon enough. Up to that point I never knew anything like that was possible on a machined surface.

I suppose poor quality cast iron, steel or aluminum could be somewhat porous but the rolled steel used to make an oil can is not. If it was, it would leak.
 
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