Rust in Kegerator

[RedAle]

Hello!

I recently acquired a kegerator. This is my first time owning one and got it from a friend for free.

I started cleaning it up and noticed some major rust under the drip tray (evaporator tray? The part under the tap that catches drips.). I cleaned it up a little but it appears that the rust has completely penetrated the surface sheet of metal. I'm not sure just how deep.

Is there anything I can do about this?
Should I leave it and get as much use as I can from the kegerator before it spreads too much?

Any thoughts or advice about this are welcome. This is my first time owning a kegerator so any knowledge will most likely be new to me.

Thanks!

 

[sibelman]

Your cam scrub at it with Barkeepers Friend, but that's some hefty rust and will not likely be much affected. Oh well, it's just some rust. RDWHAHB.

 

[day_trippr]

Welcome to the forums at Homebrew Talk

Given there's actually metal missing around and inside that port, it's about as bad as it gets. Conceivably one could cut that section out and weld in some fresh steel - it looks galvanized so some precautions wrt inhaling zinc fumes would be required but that's not exotic stuff. I'd take my MIG (aka metal squirt gun) to it if the rest of the unit has some life left. If you know someone with a welder you could give a case or two to to do that kind of work you'd be in like Flynn.

Otherwise, use it as is and maybe stick a big drain pan under it...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

Welcome to our forums!

If the rust is in a non-critical area, where it won't affect the kegerator's function in the foreseeable future, if it were to rust through, I'd just keep an eye on it.
Otherwise you could scrape the rust off, sand and put on a few layers of primer/paint to seal it.

That drain looks rusted through. You can probably mount a new, similar one in that hole, perhaps with some epoxy around it, before painting the tray.

That said, you could just put a catch tray and/or towel under the tap to catch and drips and spills and keep that whole drain pan underneath dry. Make sure the tap remains fully closed when not being used (think of cats and other unaware passers-by), or you risk having a (small) beer flood on the floor.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Welcome to the group!

I agree that with mr. lizard, cleaning up that rusted area is your best option. Sand all around the hole and use a wire brush where the rust has eaten away the metal. You could use epoxy around that hole but fiberglass putty would work too both would be water proof and almost stop any further rusting.

Since you got this for free spending some time and money to make it right is a good investment.

 

[hottpeper13]

My mechanic has a spray can of something that stops rust and hardens. I'd go to Fleet Farm, they most likely have it.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

My mechanic has a spray can of something that stops rust and hardens. I'd go to Fleet Farm, they most likely have it.

It's a rust neutralizer then forms that hard coating. Sanding it down some and using that spray is a good way to go before paint.

Yup, Fleet Farm has so many great things besides farm stuff. It's fun just strolling through.

 

[mac_1103]

The part under the tap that catches drips.

Can't you just replace it? OTOH, that doesn't look much like a tap drip tray to me, so maybe we're talking about some other part? What sort of kegerator is this?

 

[day_trippr]

"scrub" that?

 

[Broken Crow]

As much as I love any excuse to break out the MIG, it'd burn the crap out of the insulation. If the entire floor panel can be pulled out, then its an easy cutting and welding job, or more likely given the amount of rust at the drain; the edges are likely to be somewhat rotted as well so you might as well replace the whole floor panel.
I'd put a cup type wire wheel on an angle grinder (https://www.dewalt.com/products/accessories/cutting-grinding-accessories/wire-brushes-wheels) and clean it down as much as possible, then use a copper-based 'weld-through primer'..not with the intention of welding, but because it'll dramatically slow, practically arresting the spread of the rust once you 'putty' over it with a metallic body-filler: https://www.amazon.com/Fibreglass-Evercoat-889-Metal-2-Metal-Reinforced/dp/B000P72HG8
Just my 2-cents.

 

[bwible]

Do they still sell “bondo”??

 

[Broken Crow]

Do they still sell “bondo”??

I hope I didn't link to the wrong stuff, though even crappy bondo over a cleaned and zinc or copper primed surface would probably serve for the remaining life of the unit. I'm years out of the loop, but though I always preferred to use metal to repair metal, on the rare occasions I needed a small 'putty' filler I used what was then called "Cold Casting Aluminum" which looks like these days is an entirely different product for an entirely different purpose.
I hate bondo! Most of the jobs I honed my metal-working skills on in my dad's shop between the ages of 10-12 invovled replacing bondo that someone else had used a few months earlier (because they had no metal-working skills) and it had fallen off when the surrounding material continued to rust... I usually cut the whole area out, remade the part from steel and gas-welded it in....NO bondo!! Like I said; I'm out of the loop with a brain-injury and incalculable amount of memory loss, but it does my heart good to here bondo joked about.. Thanks.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

"scrub" that?

View attachment 862385

Wire brush?

 

[bwible]

I bought a drip tray like this that sits under my taps. No matter how you fill the hole, something like this should hide it?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Do they still sell “bondo”??

Bondo is still sold, it's not waterproof. Fiberglass putty mixes just like bondo with a separate hardener.

In my previous life I worked with lots of bondo, fiberglass and all sorts of unhealthy products.

 

[sibelman]

fwiw, there's a well under my deep tray with a hole that I've blocked with a square of packing tape. I don't value the extra capacity of my kegerator's overflow bottle - more cleaning hassle than benefit. I can easily wipe up drips on and under the drip tray.

 

[TheBluePhantom]

The cheap coating on the inside of my keezer pulled off on the bottom and rusted up a bit. I cleaned with a wire brush and primed with Rustoleum rusty metal primer. Topcoated with liquid Flexseal. The looks are passable, it is holding up for a few years so far. Depends on your ambition and budget I guess.

 

[RedAle]

Can't you just replace it? OTOH, that doesn't look much like a tap drip tray to me, so maybe we're talking about some other part? What sort of kegerator is this?

I'm not sure what kegerator this is but here is a picture from the outside. The other pictures are from the inside of the kegerator looking up at the drain.

Also the tray looks like someone tried to pry it off. Wasn't me that did that but I have no doubt water/beer can get in there and has contributed to the rust.

 

[RedAle]

Thank you all for your replies!

My plan right now is to first seal the drain in the tray with epoxy with the hope of preventing moisture from further spreading the rust. Once that's dried and sealed I'm going to spray the visible rusted area shown in the images with some of that rust treatment/primer spray a few people have mentioned. Then I'll cover it up with some FlexSeal spray.

It seems to me like this should at least slow the spread of the rust.

While cutting out and replacing the rusted section is probably the only way to 100% fix this I just don't have the tools or skills to do so.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I had some rust in a keezer, and I used Dupli-Color truck bed spray. Incredible stuff. Flex Seal is pretty wimpy. You can probably scratch it off with a fingernail. I made a mobile base for a band saw and coated it with truck bed spray, and when I took it apart to reuse the steel later, it was hard to tell the truck bed spray from mill scale, which is extremely hard.

If you try it, you want the nasty solvent-based version, not the water-based Gaia-smooching one. It will give off horrible fumes for a couple of days, but it's worth it.

 

[day_trippr]

I imagine that drip insert is bonded with some type of sealant. Put some heat on it and I bet you can pull it right out and then do whatever you want to it...maybe even straighten it back out before putting it back in place...

Cheers!

 

[mac_1103]

Put some heat on it and I bet you can pull it right out and then do whatever you want to it...maybe even straighten it back out before putting it back in place...

Or replace it.

 

[day_trippr]

Sure, if a replacement can be found

 

[mac_1103]

if a replacement can be found

Well, you would probably just make one.

 

[day_trippr]

Ugh. Working with stainless is tough. If you don't have a solid plan it can work-harden you into a bad place...

Cheers!

 

[Broken Crow]

Does this help?
https://www.truemfg.com/support/parts/

 

[mac_1103]

Does this help?

I looked for that but the only page I found said I needed to be an authorized user with an account.

But alas, no results for "drip" "tray" or "pan".