I think I have everything together for a nice keg turned into pot still setup. Yesterday I put it all together with 12 gallons of water as the first part of cleaning and checking for leaks. As I was putting the heating element in, I noticed what kind of looked like a dusty patina around the ferrule solder. Wiped it off with a damp paper towel and didn't think about it. Boiled 12 gallons in about 50 minutes. Filled the garage with steam. Turned on the leibig pump and it had no problem knocking down the steam. No leaks. Went to set up the vinegar run today and noticed the dust was back over the solder. I attached a picture.
My plan was to double check my soldering with water and then the vinegar run before installing the keg. So far no leaks but I'm wondering if I screwed up here. Took me 3 tries to get the ferrules on the keg. I could get them attached but they had slow leaks. Used Harris Stay Clean and Stay Brite. Wondering if I should take the ferrules off and start from scratch again. From searching it kind of looks like some photos of sugaring but I didn't weld. Was hoping for a sacrificial run and insulation tomorrow. Got a batch of All Bran clearing and was looking forward to starting some UJSSM.
Looks like flux residue to me. Get some soapy water and a stainless steel wire brush and give it a good scrubbing and rinse it. How does it look on the inside? Did you cool it with water directly after soldering. Sometimes if you cool it too soon it will get that grainy texture on the finish. Looks plenty strong though.
corene1 wrote:Looks like flux residue to me. Get some soapy water and a stainless steel wire brush and give it a good scrubbing and rinse it. How does it look on the inside? Did you cool it with water directly after soldering. Sometimes if you cool it too soon it will get that grainy texture on the finish. Looks plenty strong though.
From what I can see, it looks fine on the inside.Your diagnosis makes sense. It was my third time trying to get these on and I didn't skimp on the flux. I'll get a wire brush and scrub it down tomorrow.
Forgot your other question. I did let it cool a little and then wiped with a wet paper towel to try and clean the extra flux. I saw it in an instructional video from a homebrew shop showing stainless to stainless soldering.
FLOB wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2020 6:38 pm
Forgot your other question. I did let it cool a little and then wiped with a wet paper towel to try and clean the extra flux. I saw it in an instructional video from a homebrew shop showing stainless to stainless soldering.
I think it will be fine. Good luck on your adventure.
Give it a good scrub with Barkeeper's Friend and a coarse Scotch-Brite green scrubbie, then rinse thoroughly. The oxalic acid both cleans and re-passivates the stainless steel.
