am i going to die (now)?

[lpdb185]

i've not used my keggle yet, so i decided to give it a test run with 7 gallons of water to ballpark the boiloff rate before my first AG tomorrow night. anyways, i've been keeping an eye on it and there are some pretty strong smelling vapors coming from inside the keg. i just can't figure out if it's normal for the vapors to have this strong metallic smell, or if it's dome deadly chemical fumes that are going to cause me to develop parkinsons or something. the aluminum pot i was using didn't put off odorous fumes like this. anybody have some input.


forgot, i did clean/soak it with barkeepersfriend and oxyclean a few weeks ago and it's been sitting in my closet since then. really just wondering if there was something else i was supposed to do before using it or if there is some sort of caveat i was not aware of.

thanks -

 

[pompeiisneaks]

I've never had any metallic smell off mine, I wonder if you had some residue from the cleaning agents etc? That sounds suspect but its really hard to say.

 

[bad67z]

Couple of questions

1.Did you have any fittings welded in?

2 Is there a chance that there may be any residual crud of any sort on the rolled lip at the bottom of the keggle?

cheers..

 

[lpdb185]

i'm pretty sure i cleaned it fairly well. scrubbed with BKF and dish rag, rinsed, then repeated. filled with oxyclean and let sit for 24 hours. rinsed and put it up. after i drain all this through my CFC in a bit, i'll inspect for any missed crud or anything.

i've got a weldless fitting in it, but the pickup tube is soldered in two spots. now that you mention it, it does faintly remind me of the smell you get when soldering. am i just smelling the silver solder as it's heating up? is that bad or normal?

 

[beerocd]

boil again (twice) - once with pickup tube, once without. see if that's it.

 

[bad67z]

i'm pretty sure i cleaned it fairly well. scrubbed with BKF and dish rag, rinsed, then repeated. filled with oxyclean and let sit for 24 hours. rinsed and put it up. after i drain all this through my CFC in a bit, i'll inspect for any missed crud or anything.

i've got a weldless fitting in it, but the pickup tube is soldered in two spots. now that you mention it, it does faintly remind me of the smell you get when soldering. am i just smelling the silver solder as it's heating up? is that bad or normal?

Sounds like you have some residual flux, I don't believe your silver solder should not have any "smell" at that temp.

 

[TipsyDragon]

is the pot all shiny and new? if so thats my guess as to why your getting metallic fumes. the metal is dissolving a little and being carried away by the water vapor. letting the metal go dull gray will help allot.

 

[lpdb185]

i think i'll take the pickup tube and boil it on the stove in a regular pot to see if that's it. if so, i guess all i can do is scrub the joints real good and hope that's it. also going to give the inside of the keg another good scrubbing/cleaning.

the inside of the keg is already a very dull gray color, almost dirty looking but it's clean. the odor was not quite as bad after 2 hours at near boiling temps (because my damn burner in conjunction with 36F temps would not bring the water to a boil ).

oh well, i'm glad i decided to give it a test run instead of finding this all out in the middle of brew day (which was supposed to be tomorrow). OTOH, my homemade CFC chilled the water from 200F to 54F (success).

 

[Cliff897]

It it's SST it doesn't dissolve away when new or unused.
Aluminum will oxidize to a dull gray and before that some aluminum on the surface will form white gelatinous scum as it's oxidizing, but once it's done, it's good to go.

And off odor can be residual organics that found their way in especially if it was closed up wet or damp.

There are plenty of VOCs that ate used to clean metals. you could be smelling residual degreasing compounds.

I'd give them a good long soak in Oxiclean and hot water.

 

[ndoe22]

I'm guessing it is the smell of the paint on the burner stand burning off.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Sorry, I don't have time to read all this thread.



Is he dead yet?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

No. You are not going to die now. It doesn't work like that.

First, your hair will fall out and then your willy will fall off.

 

[beerocd]

Then you grow Moobs.

 

[BrewBeemer]

No. You are not going to die now. It doesn't work like that.

First, your hair will fall out and then your willy will fall off.

But he can brew all night by the soft green glow of those kegs, hell they'll glow for 30 years. The next generation of green energy lighting.

 

[TristanL]

Atleast you didn't brew with your keggle on a grill grate balanced by two lawn mower blades that had been soaking in oil and filling a garage in smoke. Oh, the joys of brewing with the F.I.L

We're all dying, might as well have a home brew

 

[jgourd]

Atleast you didn't brew with your keggle on a grill grate balanced by two lawn mower blades that had been soaking in oil and filling a garage in smoke. Oh, the joys of brewing with the F.I.L

We're all dying, might as well have a home brew

That reminds me of some fraternity jocks that were in the pool. Know what else was in the pool? A 6-outlet plug floating on two sandals. And it was plugged in.

 

[jgourd]

That reminds me of some fraternity jocks that were in the pool. Know what else was in the pool? A 6-outlet plug floating on two sandals. And it was plugged in.

Oh wait! I found the pic!

 

[GreenMonti]

I'm guessing it is the smell of the paint on the burner stand burning off.

Nailed my first thought. Even if the stand isn't new.......A keegle will cover more area then a pot that came with the burner. Thereby trapping in more heat causing the paint to burn off and give a smell.

 

[GreenMonti]

Oh wait! I found the pic!

If those a jocks then I am dieing. The farmers tan on the one is crazy.

 

[lpdb185]

well, i didn't die and so far i'm not twitching violently or vomiting up blood. still not sure what it was, but it did go away after cycling a few times (or either i just got used to it). hopefully it was just the paint (was green...now red) on the upper part of the burner or the compound i used to polish the keg.

 

[BrewBeemer]

The Darwin award belongs to those wacked out pool people bar none.

 

[bf514921]

the inside of the keg is already a very dull gray color, almost dirty looking but it's clean. the odor was not quite as bad after 2 hours at near boiling temps (because my damn burner in conjunction with 36F temps would not bring the water to a boil ).

I think you need a bigger burner, i have routinely made beer at 0F, boiling in a keggle with no issues. i suuple i was out of the wind in the garage it might help.

 

[Mirage]

If those a jocks then I am dieing. The farmers tan on the one is crazy.

That aint nothing! When I framed my first summer I didn't want to get sunburned all over (think pasty ghostly white skin) so I kept my t-shirt on most of the summer. When I went to the beach it looked like I was still wearing that white cotton or I had brown sleeves. It was intense.

 

[BrewBeemer]

I think you need a bigger burner, i have routinely made beer at 0F, boiling in a keggle with no issues. i suuple i was out of the wind in the garage it might help.

Good insulation will do wonders allowing you to reach a boil plus saves gas.

 

[lpdb185]

I think you need a bigger burner, i have routinely made beer at 0F, boiling in a keggle with no issues. i suuple i was out of the wind in the garage it might help.

yeah, i went to the gas company was just going to get one of the bayou classic double jet burners, but the guy said all i needed was a new regulator. he put a high pressure regulator on it and said it would put out about the same as the double jet burner, and i believe him. it brought my 7.75 gallons to a boil in about 15 minutes.