How to repair the black rubber on top of a corny keg?

[aolcot]

Hi,
I've a few kegs but one in particular seems to need some repair and need some advice.
The black rubber on the top all seems to have started degrading where its rough, matt looking and easily rubs off onto my hands or other items like cloths that touch it.. Its like the top "lacquer" has worn off exposing the rubber material underneath.
The keg is sound itself so I'm loathe to throw it away when it probably has a few more years in it..
Any ideas how i can engineer a repair job on on the rubber to reseal it again? I've had a google around to see if I can find a rubber paint or seal but wasn't convinced it was the right approach, which to choose, and many seemed expensive when I probably only need like 100ml to paint/seal the rubber.
I'm assuming its a rubber material, but happy to be corrected to what the top of a corny is made from

Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks!..

 

[AJA]

Following. One of my kegs has a marking sole and resulted in a carpet cleaning operation and an angry OH.
I was considering painting it.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

In my usual spirit of trying to be helpful - have you thought about one of these rubbers?

Yorkshire Pudding Flavour - yummy

 

[SMP Brewery]

If the above doesn't work!.. I had something similar and after jet washing it, it is fine now.. Not sure if it's like a layer in-between the rubber and the coating.

 

[aolcot]

If the above doesn't work!.. I had something similar and after jet washing it, it is fine now.. Not sure if it's like a layer in-between the rubber and the coating.

thanks.. no harm in giving that a go when I have the pressure washer out, will try that out...

failing that, I think I'll prob try an acrylic based lacquer with plenty of masking off as thats the only thing I can find from my own research that seems to come close to being what i need to seal the rubber again..

 

[phildo79]

By any chance is this keg one of the smaller, wider kegs that has a top handle bit with no breaks in it?

The other standard keg being the taller, slimmer type with two obvious handles and easy access to the posts.

I have one of these shorter kegs and it bugs me that my hands end up black after messing around with it. It was a reconditioned keg from MM. Made in Italy. The bottom of the keg has the same issue. I have had a little success with steeping the top and bottom in a bucket with boiled water and oxy. However it isn't totally fixed.

 

[aolcot]

By any chance is this keg one of the smaller, wider kegs that has a top handle bit with no breaks in it?

The other standard keg being the taller, slimmer type with two obvious handles and easy access to the posts.

I have one of these shorter kegs and it bugs me that my hands end up black after messing around with it. It was a reconditioned keg from MM. Made in Italy. The bottom of the keg has the same issue. I have had a little success with steeping the top and bottom in a bucket with boiled water and oxy. However it isn't totally fixed.

Hi, I have the standard shaped 19L kegs. The one with the issue was a recon keg from The Homebrew Company. I've not actually done anything further since this thread to try and fix it as haven't had the time. I will jet wash it though and feedback any successes when I get chance..

 

[phildo79]

 

[phildo79]

The one on the left is the bothersome one...in more ways than on ffs.

 

[phildo79]

It has like a dusty black coating. While the other is smooth.

 

[aolcot]

It has like a dusty black coating. While the other is smooth.

Yep that is exactly like my troublesome one.. a dusty, old, degraded, matt effect look/feel.. I did purchase a couple of recon kegs recently from MM, so another reason for the priority of this going down my list, but I am going to play around in the weeks ahead and see if there is a way to bring these back, even if just out of interest.

 

[phildo79]

Yep that is exactly like my troublesome one.. a dusty, old, degraded, matt effect look/feel.. I did purchase a couple of recon kegs recently from MM, so another reason for the priority of this going down my list, but I am going to play around in the weeks ahead and see if there is a way to bring these back, even if just out of interest.

Could be wrong but I think there was a post or thread about this issue before and someone had a solution. Not sure what it was but it was possibly washing the paint off with a particular substance.

 

[Davegase]

 

[YeastFace]

Possibly an American product, but this walk-through recommends Armor All Protectant for the rubber parts.

https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2020/11/rebuilding-reconditioning-homebrew-kegs.html

 

[phildo79]

That was a really informative read. Thanks for posting. If only we could get keg specific o-rings for that price.

 

[AJA]

Dip tube/ post O rings are about 6p each on AliExpress.
The big o rings are 50p or so.
Posts are a couple of quid

 

[phildo79]

Dip tube/ post O rings are about 6p each on AliExpress.
The big o rings are 50p or so.
Posts are a couple of quid

Yeah, seen quite a few options. Want the correct size. Seen ones that you can order whatever size you want, basically. Custom sizes. But I don't think they are food grade. Shame.

 

[phildo79]

Yep that is exactly like my troublesome one.. a dusty, old, degraded, matt effect look/feel.. I did purchase a couple of recon kegs recently from MM, so another reason for the priority of this going down my list, but I am going to play around in the weeks ahead and see if there is a way to bring these back, even if just out of interest.

Did you have any luck fixing the keg?

 

[aolcot]

Did you have any luck fixing the keg?

I tried the suggestion to blasting it with the pressure washer but it didn't really seem to do much to stop the black rubber from marking my hands everytime i moved it.. I was going order some of that armor all protectant as its seems to only be a few quid off amazon. might do that in a week or two as i'm going to have to have some kegs to clean anyway by then.

 

[Crappyfish]

I tried the suggestion to blasting it with the pressure washer but it didn't really seem to do much to stop the black rubber from marking my hands everytime i moved it.. I was going order some of that armor all protectant as its seems to only be a few quid off amazon. might do that in a week or two as i'm going to have to have some kegs to clean anyway by then.

Gloves?