Glass carboy repair???

[Timothy Gibbs]

Long and short, I got a widemouth carboy w a bubble from manufacturing that left a sharp edge and want to know if anyone has experience w possibly filling the void successfully w epoxy or something to remove the possibility of a bacteria hideout??? The area in question is obviously on the inside of the fermenter close to the top.

 

[augiedoggy]

I would take it back to where you bought it

 

[passedpawn]

Try one of those windshield crack repair kits from the auto supply stores (though, I wouldn't use a glass carboy with a flaw like that - I'm a chicken).

 

[Timothy Gibbs]

I'm being sent a replacement. I was told I could either keep it or toss it. I would prefer to keep it if repairable. I may try the windshield repair kit.

 

[BBBF]

If the bubble is on the outside and doesn't touch the beer, you don't have to worry about bacteria hiding in it. But that's a weak point in a glass carboy and it would make me nervous to fill it up.

 

[Timothy Gibbs]

If the bubble is on the outside and doesn't touch the beer, you don't have to worry about bacteria hiding in it. But that's a weak point in a glass carboy and it would make me nervous to fill it up.

The bubble is on the inside and it's close to the top where the shoulder would be.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Best solution: Keep it for 3 gal batches of cider...

 

[kh54s10]

I would say get rid of it before it hurts you. But if you have seen my replies, I wouldn't have a glass carboy anyway so take my input with as much ?? as you think it is worth.

 

[passedpawn]

I'm being sent a replacement. I was told I could either keep it or toss it. I would prefer to keep it if repairable. I may try the windshield repair kit.

It's likely that those kits are just CA (superglue). If you have a spare tube of that around, you might be able to fill it with successive applications.

 

[madscientist451]

Best thing to do with it...
make a target practice video:

 

[corax]

So to review:

You are seriously considering hanging onto a piece of equipment that has a not-small probability of transforming into artery-slashing shards under the stress of 5 gallons of wort.

You are seriously considering adding, on the beer-side of said equipment, a substance that is not only non-food safe, but also has a not-small probability of contributing off-flavors to the beer.

All to save the net-zero dollars you have invested in said equipment?

Hey, your arteries, your beer. Go nuts.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I'm pretty sure those windshield repair kits use a vacuum pump to draw the cement into the crack. If you can do that through the neck of a carboy, you should be building ships in bottles instead of brewing beer.

This thing should have been recycled into the melting furnace as soon as it came out of the mold. Glass carboys are dangerous when perfect.

 

[passedpawn]

So to review:

You are seriously considering hanging onto a piece of equipment that has a not-small probability of transforming into artery-slashing shards under the stress of 5 gallons of wort.

You are seriously considering adding, on the beer-side of said equipment, a substance that is not only non-food safe, but also has a not-small probability of contributing off-flavors to the beer.

All to save the net-zero dollars you have invested in said equipment?

Hey, your arteries, your beer. Go nuts.

CA is biologically inert once cured. Used extensively on the battle field in the past to close wounds. I think it's safe to use, both in flavor and safety.

Regarding the flaw in the glass, people decide how much risk they are willing to live with. That's a personal decision that I won't criticize. I don't use glass carboys at all, even when they are structurally perfect, due to my own constant carelessness. So I wouldn't use it, especially with the flaw.

 

[passedpawn]

Here's the much maligned Broken Glass Carboy Horror Stories Compendium.

 

[corax]

CA is biologically inert once cured. Used extensively on the battle field in the past to close wounds. I think it's safe to use, both in flavor and safety.

Good to know -- I stand corrected!

Regarding the flaw in the glass, people decide how much risk they are willing to live with. That's a personal decision that I won't criticize.

Well, I did say (and mean):

Hey, your arteries, your beer. Go nuts.

But there's always the hope that the OP just hadn't fully thought through the potential consequences.

And thanks for the link to the horror stories. I've had a pair of 6.5 gallon glass carboys for coming on 25 years now, and I think it might be time to retire them. That 30L Speidel looks like a good alternative.

 

[day_trippr]

Treat glass like it's a nuke and it'll last forever

The oldest of my half-dozen 6.5g Italian carboys were bought new 15 years ago and still persist.
But, I've always treated them like unexploded ordnance, especially wrt temperature changes - when you see the bottom fall out of a carboy it's because of accumulated thermal stress from using too hot cleaning solutions - or even room temperature water to flush out a still cold crash-cooled carboy.

And never test fate by lifting a full carboy by the neck...

Cheers!

 

[homebrewer_99]

I h

Treat glass like it's a nuke and it'll last forever

The oldest of my half-dozen 6.5g Italian carboys were bought new 15 years ago and still persist.
But, I've always treated them like unexploded ordnance, especially wrt temperature changes - when you see the bottom fall out of a carboy it's because of accumulated thermal stress from using too hot cleaning solutions - or even room temperature water to flush out a still cold crash-cooled carboy.

And never test fate by lifting a full carboy by the neck...

Cheers!

Amen! I have carboys from 1994. As previously mentioned, I've never had one crack or break. Anytime I transport carboys they are placed in milk crates before I fill them. PERIOD.

 

[MaxStout]

Recycle it.

I'm a glass carboy guy and I wouldn't use it.

 

[kh54s10]

To me, older carboys = stronger glass = less likely to break = but, better at severing arteries when it finally does break.

Be careful out there!