pressure barrel mishap

Done a stupid thing earlier with my pressure barrel.
Before I was going to sterilise it I poured boiling water into it to get rid of **** at bottom. But I stupidly put lid on also.
The barrel has now half imploded. Is this my barrel ruined or is there a way I can get it back to its original shape?

I would consign it to the bin, unless you have use for it in its new shape, and put it down to experience.
It's a pressure vessel and you may have damaged its pressure retaining capability.
Even if there is a way of getting some or all of its original shape back, in my view its not worth the risk of pressuring it again and the whole thing then going pop or worse.
The only things you could salvage are the cap and the tap.

I would of thought that it will have weakened it if its creased. You could try filling it three quarters full and then adding CO2 to see if it will push it back out again. But this might also expose any weaknesses caused by the implosion......

I wouldn't trust it myself, last thing you want is a barrel splitting in the future when it's full of beer.

mancer62 said:

Done a stupid thing earlier with my pressure barrel.
Before I was going to sterilise it I poured boiling water into it to get rid of **** at bottom. But I stupidly put lid on also.
The barrel has now half imploded. Is this my barrel ruined or is there a way I can get it back to its original shape?

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Not sure whether this will work but it's worth a try partially fill with boiling hot water again secure the lid & give it s good shake the hot water will soften the plastic & the air inside will expand & push the wall out reshaping, empty fill with cold water &!presurise to test leave in a safe place in case it splits.
Whether or not you feel comfortable enough to fill with beer is really up to you.
Let us know if it works

Part filling with hot water and shaking has done the trick and knocked it back into shape.
So how do I pressure test now?
Fill completely with cold water and use a bulb to fill with co2?
If so how long will I have to leave it before I know its working ok and suitable to keg my beer?

Slight thread hi-jack!
Why does it seem things made essentially of plastic for brewing are so susceptible to melting and deformation when hot water is applied?
I bought a plastic demi-john and figured a quick swill with just boiled water would be a good idea.
The damn thing virtually collapsed on itself!
I've any number of other plastic containers etc and none seem to do this. If I thought for one minute it would 'melt' I wouldn't have done it.
Is it something to do with 'brewing plastic'?


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When I started brewing again one of my barrels was pretty much in half, no idea how. It was fine once back in shape.

Well at least you know your PB is gas tight...
I would expect it to function as normal now. They don't after all hold that much pressure anyway.

OlliesDad said:

Why does it seem things made essentially of plastic for brewing are so susceptible to melting and deformation when hot water is applied?

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Most reusable food grade containers are made from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) which should hold its shape up to ~120C. However, if you seal up a hot barrel the pressure drop as the air inside cools will be quite big and it'll crush easily as it's designed to hold pressure in the opposite direction.

Other kit like funnels, jugs, tubing should also be fine with boiling water as they're designed to be reusable too. Easily recyclable containers like PET soft drink bottles on the other hand are useless for hot liquids and will fold up on contact like you describe.

mancer62 said:

Part filling with hot water and shaking has done the trick and knocked it back into shape.
So how do I pressure test now?
Fill completely with cold water and use a bulb to fill with co2?
If so how long will I have to leave it before I know its working ok and suitable to keg my beer?

Click to expand...

Great.

I would just fill it with cold water to 5 gallons usual brew length & pressurise with Co2 give it an extra squirt, see if it holds pressure. I recon it'll be ok to use again.:thumb: if it doesn't leak in a couple of days I don't think it's likely to.

On the flip side of this, I had a barrel cap pressure relief valve fail.
The pressure was finally relieved via. the washer on the flange of the tap at the base of the keg. Probably half of the contents spewed into my new insulated cabinet and over the garage floor.
I had been on holiday for 2 weeks unable to check it as I normally would.
So, question is how reliable are these relief valves?
The ale left is fine so I've not been able to check the cap to see if it is blocked.
Only had the kit about a year.
Since I now know it will stand a substantial pressure I'll keep on using it even though it looks an odd shape!!

dogwalker said:

On the flip side of this, I had a barrel cap pressure relief valve fail.
The pressure was finally relieved via. the washer on the flange of the tap at the base of the keg. Probably half of the contents spewed into my new insulated cabinet and over the garage floor.
I had been on holiday for 2 weeks unable to check it as I normally would.
So, question is how reliable are these relief valves?
The ale left is fine so I've not been able to check the cap to see if it is blocked.
Only had the kit about a year.
Since I now know it will stand a substantial pressure I'll keep on using it even though it look an odd shape!!

Click to expand...

My youngs PB did the same, but I was around to check it. I bottled it instead and had a bottle of it last night as its had a few weeks to carbonise and condition to see if it was ok which it was.

Since then I have taken off the cap, which is a S30 for use with CO2, and there was no visible blockage. It was just that the rubber seal was too tight so the pressure was too high. I moved the rubber seal so the hole is closer to the edge of the rubber and will try it again soon. Its not high tech, just a hole with a glorified rubber band over it.

The reason the OP's went out of shape would have been the steam condensing creating a vacuum, remember the old school experiment with the 5l tin? Someone said it was hot water, but thats not quite right.