Doh! Bleach corrodes stainless

[browntown52]

I'm sure this is old hat to most of you folks, but maybe someone can learn from my mistake. The kegerator sits in the garage, and is used most days, but goes some days without use when I go out of town.

Invariably, I wouldn't clean out my drip tray for a couple weeks and the beer drippings would grow some seriously nasty penicillin under the grate.

So this genius, last time he cleaned the drip tray, poured a 1/4 cup of bleach in the bottom of the tray thinking that nothing can grow in bleach - so the semi-monthly cleaning would not be as gross.

Well I got home yesterday and saw rust streaks running down the kegerator. I took apart the drip tray and found pinholes in the creases, and what looked like rust. Shocked, I was complaining about the crap kitchen supply store that sold it to me years ago, and must be some shoddy made in china stainless.

Then I Googled it, and turns out bleach corrodes the heck out of stainless (by stripping the top protective layer I think), and is known to pinhole. Now when I was a teenager and was a dishwasher - the stainless sinks always had a bleach solution in one of the bays. It would appear that casual contact or diluted contact is no big deal - but don't let pure bleach sit on your stainless for long.


Now I have to shop for a new drip tray (not cheap, considering the smoker firebox right now). Hope someone avoids disaster from my example.

I should put the bar sink poster on my kegerator so I don't ruin anything else.
http://www.krowne.com/media/downloads/170/Stainless Steel Care.pdf

 

[WalterAtMarchPump]

Yep i found that out the hard way as well a number of years back....cleaning off some mold on a boat some bleach got spilled on my nice stainless props...few days later they look like they are 50yrs old!
Here's a trick i was told by an old timer.......get a stainless wire brush...in my case i found a true stainless wire wheel brush i could fit on the end of my drill......after you clean all the corrosion off you need to passivate the stainless. Nitric acid will work if you can find some locally or take it to a shop that does passivating. If you can find the nitric local then you can soak it for about 15-20 min then rinse off...and repeat if necessary but don't let it sit for more then that 20 min or it will start to turn the stainless black.....but it did work and my props never corroded after that.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

There are ways to use bleach safely on most grades of SS but this is not one of them. Still, with all the SS safe, easier to use sanitizers there really is no reason to do so.

 

[maierhof]

Stainless Steel Cleaner (Bar Keepers Friend) and a non-scratch blue sponge at the store then a little elbow grease = your done.