Would this be OK for a boiler?

[BrotherMalice]

Just had a nose on ebay as my boiler isnt big enough for my needs and found this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60LT-APPROX-S ... 3a766dc00f

would it be any good as a boiler?

 

[31bb3]

You need to find out what's been in it before and If it's food grade plastic also of it will stand the heat

 

[joe1002]

You need to find out what's been in it before and If it's food grade plastic also of it will stand the heat

+1. It's being sold by D&V Fuels and says 'seller refurbished'. That would make me a bit wary.

 

[BrotherMalice]

That did cross my mind, will have to ask them, thanks for the replies :)

 

[EskiBrew]

Also - about the heat. It is one thing to have a 25 litre plastic tub full of boiling liquid but 50 or 60 litres of boiling liquid in a plastic tub sounds worrying - hopefully someone will come along and say they have done it and it is ok though because that is a good price :thumb:

 

[BrotherMalice]

There are a few big plastic boilers used by people on here which is where I got the idea from.

Ideally I want something shiney if I am honest, just cant afford shiney (or even new plastic ) hence looking at this, as I get further through my 1st AG brew it seems I will be watering the wort down which will increase my wort volume which was the reason behind me wanting a bigger boiler so I may not even bother upgrading until I can afford shiney :)

 

[EskiBrew]

Ah - got it now - was thinking you were stepping up to larger sizes. If you are doing similar sized brews to your 1st one then I would have thought this was an option. If you buy this and fit elements now then you can always transfer the elements over to a shiney setup as and when time/money allows.

I've been meaning to make a shiney HERMS system for years - just never get the time or spare cash

Worth checking what it has been used for previously though. Also, someone has offered something similar for free in the wanted/for sale section - might be worth following up :thumb:

 

[BrotherMalice]

Cant seem to see a free one? - will look closer when I get home :)

 

[EskiBrew]

Cant seem to see a free one? - will look closer when I get home :)

Here you go - linky :thumb:

 

[BrotherMalice]

Ta, I didnt look in that thread

 

[Dave1970]

I've bought smaller containers from them a year or 2 ago, they hadn't been used for fuel - one was clearly a mango chutney barrel, so I wouldn't be put off straight away by the dv fuels name. From what I remember they were good at answering e-mails and were prepared to tell you what had been in the container if they knew....I'd drop them an e-mail

 

[BrotherMalice]

Have emailed them, will see what they say :)

 

[BrotherMalice]

got a reply:

They have contained food products previously, made from HDPE plastic

Any good?

 

[BrotherMalice]

£10 delivery, not too bad but it really does up the price quite a bit

 

[Vossy1]

They have contained food products previously, made from HDPE plastic
Any good?

Yep, that's what you want :thumb:

 

[miker7301]

Just a quick thanks for posting this BM, I've been looking at dv fuels as well. They are in Flintshire, or around Chester, so only about 25 miles away from me.
I am a long way (in kit, and money) from being able to buy from them, but have a look round their website, I was looking at brewing stuff, but also cheap water butts (could use the water in an immersion chiller, perhaps) I'm on my phone, so please excuse any daft typos.

http://dvfuels.co.uk/

 

[Kev888]

Just to mention: I had a similar plan and enquired about some new blue HDPE clamp top barrels, but the manufacturers will only rate them to a maximum of 75c 'hot fill' - which means a 'temporary' peak up to 75c that will then cool. So they aren't officially safe for boiling in, although a fair few people do so anyway, and clearly its up to you.

If you choose to try it, keep an eye on the shoulder where the base and sides meet - when the thing heats up some barrels can soften and slump slightly under the weight - and also I've seen pics of one that has got brittle over time and started to crack underneath at a mould line just below the shoulder.

Cheers
Kev

 

[miker7301]

Yeah, cheers Kev. That has also gone through my mind, some of the American forums have shot down posters who were looking at hdpe boilers. I was thinking stainless boiler, and hdpe hlt, but still not convinced from your warning! I'm not alone in having kids, and obviously don't want anything to happen to the most precious people in my life. Metal it is for me, cheap n chearful is one thing...

 

[Kev888]

Yeah, I decided not to boil in one too, although I've every intention to continue using a boiler for many years so a stainless one is still a good investment for me.

The American forums have historically been a bit more gas-oriented, and also stainless (amongst other stuff) is cheaper over there too, so they probably have a bit less temptation than we do. I'd be pretty happy to stretch one of the blue barrels as far as HLT temperatures myself, keeping kids/pets away and all that, and even happier with a thick-ish polypropylene one, as pp is far less affected by boiling type temperatures than HDPE is (copperkettle do some 60L pp euro bins that they say are suitable for boilers).

But theres no doubt metal is safer - especially if (as many people do) you remove the boil-dry/over-heat protection from the elements you put in it.

Cheers
Kev

 

[BrotherMalice]

I think I will save for stainless, 3 kids and 1 dog around the house generally (other than for this brew :) )

My current boiler is an old FV that is older than me (I am 35)