New stainless kettle showing signs of rust? HELP!

[GenIke]

So I bought a new kettle and burners so I could get off the stove and outside for my brewing.

I bought a stainless kettle that has 2 welded ports. I scrubbed it up with some bar keepers friend and dried. Then I screwed on the ball valve and thermometer and filled it with tap water to make sure I didnt have any leaks. I left it sit over night.

This morning I checked it and there is some discoloration on the bottom of the kettle and some pretty noticeable staining around where the ports are welded.

Is this normal? I dont want to use it if I should just cut my losses and send this thing back.

 

[GenIke]

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[SpikeBrewing]

You're first problem is it's not a Spike kettle

The 1st picture you have doesn't look like rust. It looks like the bottom has been heated and the metal has tinted a little, which is normal.

Second picture you see both couplers rusting and the weld ring along the bottom is rusting as well. It looks like the couplers were welded and the ground flush which really isn't the proper way to do it. An inside weld should look like this:

The 3rd shows the bottom weld ring and you can see there are nodules of iron that have come to the surface and started to rust.

During the welding process an iron nodule can come to the surface and begin to rust. What I would usually recommend is using some Bar Keepers Friend and giving it a good scrub. It has oxalic acid in it which will passivate the weld and should cure the rust issue.

HOWEVER looking at the pictures I'm assuming the stainless being used is very cheap Chinesse stuff and/or it was welded incorrectly. Too much heat can pretty much make the 'stainless' not stainless anymore. You can see it's been ground down which leads me to believe that is the case.

If it were me I would send it back. I can almost guarantee this will be an ongoing issue as long as you own this kettle.

 

[GenIke]

It's never been heated.

I washed it up with with bar keepers friend and warm water, then put my fittings in, then filled it with tap water to check for leaks. This is what it looked like after 12 hours in tap water.

 

[luhrks]

I would take Spike's advice.

Before that I would try making a thick paste out of BKF and working it in good on the welds and the letting it air dry before rinsing off.

Also, Glacier Tanks has a nice write up on passivation on their website.

 

[SpikeBrewing]

I would take Spike's advice.

Before that I would try making a thick paste out of BKF and working it in good on the welds and the letting it air dry before rinsing off.

Also, Glacier Tanks has a nice write up on passivation on their website.

Unfortunately if my train of thought is correct and the welder used to much heat the area is pretty much nuked and no amount of passivation will bring it back.

 

[amandabab]

I'm sorry about that pot, try to return it.

This is why I went weldless.
A good quality welded was just out of the budget.
I looked at a cheap 2 weld kettle (i believe the same one) also and just didn't trust it.

a $20 step bit seemed less of a risk than the $20 per hole weld job
"oh yeah we weld stainless all the time"

 

[bdjohns1]

Second picture you see both couplers rusting and the weld ring along the bottom is rusting as well. It looks like the couplers were welded and the ground flush which really isn't the proper way to do it. An inside weld should look like this:

Not to rain too hard on your parade, but that weld wouldn't pass muster at my day job either.

This is a sanitary weld with acceptable surface finish (inside view of a butt-welded tube connection).

 

[SpikeBrewing]

Our welds are all within spec. AWS Standard D18.2. We're clearly between a 2 or 3.

I know people like to one up each other and prove how much they know but the two things you're trying to compare really can't be. Welding 1/16" tube to 1/16" tube is much different than welding a 1/8" thick coupler to a 1mm thick kettle. If you're implying that our welds are somehow not up to par I take great offense to that and will direct you to our welding company who welds brewing equipment for some of the largest breweries in the country.

 

[bdjohns1]

Our welds are all within spec. AWS Standard D18.2. We're clearly between a 2 or 3.

I know people like to one up each other and prove how much they know but the two things you're trying to compare really can't be. Welding 1/16" tube to 1/16" tube is much different than welding a 1/8" thick coupler to a 1mm thick kettle. If you're implying that our welds are somehow not up to par I take great offense to that and will direct you to our welding company who welds brewing equipment for some of the largest breweries in the country.

I'm not arguing that they're not up to par in terms of the bead/HAZ. I'd agree your sample photo is just a touch above the 2, but definitely better than 3.

That weld would need to be smoothed to be acceptable in a dairy, even if it weren't a threaded coupling (which you can't do and get 3-A certification). The quality requirements in a dairy are tougher than in a brewery. The bead would need to be ground flat (or at least flatter, especially in the area between 3 and 5 o'clock on the outer edge).

 

[SpikeBrewing]

I'm not arguing that they're not up to par in terms of the bead/HAZ.

That weld would need to be smoothed to be acceptable in a dairy, even if it weren't a threaded coupling (which you can't do and get 3-A certification). Slightly more stringent sanitary design requirements than breweries.

Yes I agree. Dairy and Pharm are more stringent.

 

[bdjohns1]

Yes I agree. Dairy and Pharm are more stringent.

The Pharma guys are where it gets really nuts. Basically, you need a near-mirror finish. I think we accept surfaces finished to roughly 400-grit.

 

[bdjohns1]

The 3rd shows the bottom weld ring and you can see there are nodules of iron that have come to the surface and started to rust.

Looking at the pictures a little closer, I think it might be a combination of overheating as well as cross-contamination from using a grinding wheel previously used for some other metal, based on those rust spots that are nowhere near the coupling. Those spots at least might be fixable with a little touchup work.

 

[BobbiLynn]

Judging by the way the bottom looks, doesn't look "new". I'd return it and get a better kettle.

 

[GenIke]

It's been sent back this afternoon. I assume I got a lemon, but I still want to get a different kettle.

 

[luhrks]

Unfortunately if my train of thought is correct and the welder used to much heat the area is pretty much nuked and no amount of passivation will bring it back.

You're probably quite right. I'd still give it a go though just to be sure.