Ok so I bought this about three years ago for $100:
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And I’m wondering if it’s usable, or fixable (within reason). Here’s the problem, the welds on the inside are hideous. Any ideas on how to salvage this? What else to do with it to make it functional, other than scrap…
[attachment=1]conical2.JPG[/attachment]
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does it leak? or are you worried about bacteria/microbes in the weld seams?
Not a very experienced welder, but the few things I have attempted to weld I used a ‘peak and valley’ type motion, almost like making repeated/connected subtle lower-case cursive “i’s” in the weld seam. Looks like that’s what they did here, but went a little deep/hot with the torch.
Yes, worried about gunk and microbial riffraff. Everything is ok but the welds, which are pretty shady. I don’t know if it can even be ground out with a rotary tool. Just trying to figure out if it’s worth it. 25 gallon conical fermenters don’t just come along every day, but maybe I should’ve passed on this one.
The HLT/MT/BK are not an issue. But you could clean them up if you wanted to.
You could use StayBrite, StayBrite8 or Bridgit to solder the welds clean on the fermenter.
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/P ... Brite.aspxYep, that would work. Did some YouTube research and found a decent video of BobbyfromNJ putting a fitting in the bottom of a mash tun using the staybrite8. Basically, I need to fill in the valleys and then sand and polish it so there are minimal crevices. Not sure if I’ll ever be comfortable with it to be a fermenter.
Thanks!
I don’t weld stainless. Mostly because I haven’t had an opportunity to learn the technique. That said a good shop could fix that up for you. They would need to do some grinding, reweld the seams and then grind it all smooth. It is amazing (to me at least) what a good welder can do and how easy they make it look.
Probably won’t be cheap though, unless they’re a buddy and doing it (mostly) for beer. The guys I know will help me out but I would never ask them to work on something without at least paying for the materials. Rod and gas and gas are pricey.
Paul
I’m no welder either but not sure there is that big a problem. Everything gets boiled for a long time at the last stage. Sure you don’t want any crud building up but nothing can survive the boil that will make you ill. Think I would try polishing it up and running a few batches through to see what happens. I assume someone used it for brewing at one time.
EDIT: Didn’t take a close look at the conical. Not sure about using that. I would post a picture of the inside of mine but it is full right now. The MT, HLT and kettle might still be usable.
if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,no leaks no problems.Sometimes you have to ask yourself is it a Rolex or a Timex.A 4.5 inch angle grinder would cost about 60 bucks, 15 20 mins and she will look better.
If you’re not going to fix it, you might get away with pumping boiling water into it to sanitize.
