I recently purchased a new burner and 10 gallon stainless kettle to get into all grain brewing. The new kettle is a brand that has a good reputation. I did a test run with a few gallons of water, just enough water to cover the thermometer probe just to make sure that there were no surprises on my upcoming brew day. After I tried it out I put it away without taking out the thermometer and valve. A few days later I took it out to get ready for brewing the next day and I noticed both of the welded ports had rust in the threads. My question is if everyone normally removes the thermometers and valves after every use? I never had any rust problems with my old kettle that has weld less fittings.
New kettle rust
- Thread starter DPJP2010
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brew703
Well-Known Member
You should not have any rusts spots- I don't have a thermometer but i do have a valve but never remove unless it's time to clean the guts.
I would contact the company you purchased the kettle from.
I would contact the company you purchased the kettle from.
jtp137
Well-Known Member
You can try scrubbing the threads with bar keepers friend powder rinse it out and let it soak in high concentration of star san
I did send them an email with pictures. They said that it may just be HAZ from the heat of the welding. It's not. It's rust. I scrubbed with bar keepers friend and I believe I got it out of all the threads. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything wrong that may have caused this. Thanks. I just don't want this to come back.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
jtp137
Well-Known Member
My concord kettle had a scratch inside that would rust as soon as I put water in it. I actually buffed it out with really fine grit sandpaper and used bar keepers friend then made up some star san and let it soaked it has not come back hopefully when you cleaned it out it repassivated and will not come back. Wonder if insert is made with cheap Chinese SS
brew703
Well-Known Member
I've never had that issue with my kettle. Maybe since you cleaned it with bar keeps friend it solved the issue. Put some water in the kettle and let it sit for a couple hours then drain. If the rust re-appears then you might have a bigger issue. Didn't think stainless would rust like that- at least mine hasn't.
augiedoggy
Well-Known Member
as someone whos brewery is made with lots of cheap chinese stainless and done some reading on it I can say thats a bit of a myth... most fittings are chinese and even the ones sold cheap have advertised metal composition. chinese stainless is decent... Its some of the stuff from india thats questionable.
if someone used a non stainless tool or contaminated tool it often causes this type of surface rust. personally I dont like the hole and dead space around the element... its going to get nasty in there unless the OP removes the probe and cleans in there which is more hassle than weldless setups.
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