lifeisafarm
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2017
- Messages
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Hi all, wondered if I could shoot a few DIY-repair questions your way and see what you think.
I have two standard pressure barrels/kegs with unique issues/problems.
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Keg 1
Basically, I lent one keg to a not-so-intelligent mate of mine who has burned some of the plastic using a heat-belt he placed too high above the liquid. The pressure from my last cider brew pierced a really tiny (barely visible) hole around the warped/melted area, near the top.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4n93qr6lqxjfw6u/IMG_4670.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bdx7vdg96u8dph/IMG_4671.jpg?dl=0
Idea
My thought was to stick the underlying plastic to a new piece of plastic on top using plastic cement weld, which actually fuses the two pieces together by dissolving a tiny surface area of each. But I don't know:
(a) What type of plastic these kegs use
(b) Whether the pressure will hold
Any other ideas? It's a really tiny hole, but the total warped/thinned area is maybe 1cm; I can see it's less opaque than the surrounding plastic. I've considered silicon/epoxy, incredibly strong tape (!!!), all sorts. Obviously ideally whatever touches the hole needs to be food grade material too.
--------
Keg 2
Was given this free, told the tap was leaking. It was almost impossible to remove, but I did so and saw that the hole has been warped so that I cannot screw in the tap with a tight fit. This would be fine were I able to get inside the kegs and e.g. use a nut on the inside, but of course this isn't possible. So this keg has no tap.
Idea
I was thinking of attaching a screw-nut to the OUTSIDE and then being able to screw in a tap into the nut. In other words, since the thread-hole is "screwed" (pun!) I am basically extending the thread/hole outwards. Pretty genius, I know, I know (not), but so far I haven't worked out a way to hold the nut on. It'd have to be exceptionally strong.
Maybe:
(a) Plastic weld cement again, with perhaps some Araldite epoxy-adhesive on the outside area for extra hold
(b) Change plans entirely: try to find a tap thread/pipe with a slightly larger thread and screw it in, almost brute force (maybe after "somehow" smoothing out the warped hole)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/molnnezhq15z0pq/IMG_4672.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/favf8pcmb493ksy/IMG_4673.jpg?dl=0
--------
Questions...
Do you think they are salvageable?! If not, is there any other use for them? E.g. I was thinking for keg 2, I could flip it sideways to use like horizontal tanks/casks, with the main (top) lid screwed on and without a pin or valve in (can you even get normal lids for these?) –– then I would get a big cork/rubber or something to stuff into the side (now top) hole!
---------
Araldite says it cannot be used on polyethylene, polypropylene (or Teflon). What type of plastic are the kegs made from?
My PVC pipe weld says it can be used on ABS and uPVC plastics.
Any suggestions welcome! (Even just: not worth it mate, bin 'em!).
Idea for rescuing Keg 2:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=398095&stc=1&d=1493230281
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=398096&stc=1&d=1493230281
I have two standard pressure barrels/kegs with unique issues/problems.
--------
Keg 1
Basically, I lent one keg to a not-so-intelligent mate of mine who has burned some of the plastic using a heat-belt he placed too high above the liquid. The pressure from my last cider brew pierced a really tiny (barely visible) hole around the warped/melted area, near the top.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4n93qr6lqxjfw6u/IMG_4670.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6bdx7vdg96u8dph/IMG_4671.jpg?dl=0
Idea
My thought was to stick the underlying plastic to a new piece of plastic on top using plastic cement weld, which actually fuses the two pieces together by dissolving a tiny surface area of each. But I don't know:
(a) What type of plastic these kegs use
(b) Whether the pressure will hold
Any other ideas? It's a really tiny hole, but the total warped/thinned area is maybe 1cm; I can see it's less opaque than the surrounding plastic. I've considered silicon/epoxy, incredibly strong tape (!!!), all sorts. Obviously ideally whatever touches the hole needs to be food grade material too.
--------
Keg 2
Was given this free, told the tap was leaking. It was almost impossible to remove, but I did so and saw that the hole has been warped so that I cannot screw in the tap with a tight fit. This would be fine were I able to get inside the kegs and e.g. use a nut on the inside, but of course this isn't possible. So this keg has no tap.
Idea
I was thinking of attaching a screw-nut to the OUTSIDE and then being able to screw in a tap into the nut. In other words, since the thread-hole is "screwed" (pun!) I am basically extending the thread/hole outwards. Pretty genius, I know, I know (not), but so far I haven't worked out a way to hold the nut on. It'd have to be exceptionally strong.
Maybe:
(a) Plastic weld cement again, with perhaps some Araldite epoxy-adhesive on the outside area for extra hold
(b) Change plans entirely: try to find a tap thread/pipe with a slightly larger thread and screw it in, almost brute force (maybe after "somehow" smoothing out the warped hole)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/molnnezhq15z0pq/IMG_4672.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/favf8pcmb493ksy/IMG_4673.jpg?dl=0
--------
Questions...
Do you think they are salvageable?! If not, is there any other use for them? E.g. I was thinking for keg 2, I could flip it sideways to use like horizontal tanks/casks, with the main (top) lid screwed on and without a pin or valve in (can you even get normal lids for these?) –– then I would get a big cork/rubber or something to stuff into the side (now top) hole!
---------
Araldite says it cannot be used on polyethylene, polypropylene (or Teflon). What type of plastic are the kegs made from?
My PVC pipe weld says it can be used on ABS and uPVC plastics.
Any suggestions welcome! (Even just: not worth it mate, bin 'em!).
Idea for rescuing Keg 2:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=398095&stc=1&d=1493230281
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=398096&stc=1&d=1493230281
