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Ball Bearings in Brew


Journeyman

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I've got a fermentasaurus Gen 3 with floating dip tube. It's nice because the dip tube is anchored to the centre tube, which is a thermowell.

I want to weight the filter on the dip tube to hold it just under the fluid level and out of the krausen. I have some ball bearings but I'm not sure if they are stainless or chrome steel. They don't LOOK as glossy as I'd expect chrome steel ones to be. I got them cheap in a bulk lot of 400 but that doesn't really help because I don't know which is cheaper, chrome or stainless. 

Are there any issues with using chrome steel in the ferment? It's not like it's chrome plated, the chrome is in the steel so I'm not sure there'd be a corrosion issue anyway.

I'm leaning towards trying it in the next brew and see if there are any effects on the surface of the ball. Any reasons screaming at someone as to why I should NOT do that?

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11 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

I've got a fermentasaurus Gen 3 with floating dip tube. It's nice because the dip tube is anchored to the centre tube, which is a thermowell.

I want to weight the filter on the dip tube to hold it just under the fluid level and out of the krausen. I have some ball bearings but I'm not sure if they are stainless or chrome steel. They don't LOOK as glossy as I'd expect chrome steel ones to be. I got them cheap in a bulk lot of 400 but that doesn't really help because I don't know which is cheaper, chrome or stainless. 

Are there any issues with using chrome steel in the ferment? It's not like it's chrome plated, the chrome is in the steel so I'm not sure there'd be a corrosion issue anyway.

I'm leaning towards trying it in the next brew and see if there are any effects on the surface of the ball. Any reasons screaming at someone as to why I should NOT do that?

I am not much help on this matter but be careful you don't ballsitup 🤣

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16 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

I've got a fermentasaurus Gen 3 with floating dip tube. It's nice because the dip tube is anchored to the centre tube, which is a thermowell.

I want to weight the filter on the dip tube to hold it just under the fluid level and out of the krausen. I have some ball bearings but I'm not sure if they are stainless or chrome steel. They don't LOOK as glossy as I'd expect chrome steel ones to be. I got them cheap in a bulk lot of 400 but that doesn't really help because I don't know which is cheaper, chrome or stainless. 

Are there any issues with using chrome steel in the ferment? It's not like it's chrome plated, the chrome is in the steel so I'm not sure there'd be a corrosion issue anyway.

I'm leaning towards trying it in the next brew and see if there are any effects on the surface of the ball. Any reasons screaming at someone as to why I should NOT do that?

Pretty sure you could add a stainless ball bearing  if you wanted to i have seen others do this with  unitanks such as yours and the fermzillas etc

I also have been contemplating some weight on the diptube as i use a filter on the end of the dip tube on my snubby and fermzilla   and find it sits in the krauesen
and want to it sit below the krausen  as well

I have seen  people using stainless steel nuts  to aid in getting the dip tube under the Krausen

 

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37 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

Pretty sure you could add a stainless ball bearing  if you wanted to i have seen others do this with  unitanks such as yours and the fermzillas etc

The question is more about, is there an issue if they turn out to be chrome-steel bearings?

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1 hour ago, Journeyman said:

I've got a fermentasaurus Gen 3 with floating dip tube. It's nice because the dip tube is anchored to the centre tube, which is a thermowell.

I want to weight the filter on the dip tube to hold it just under the fluid level and out of the krausen. I have some ball bearings but I'm not sure if they are stainless or chrome steel. They don't LOOK as glossy as I'd expect chrome steel ones to be. I got them cheap in a bulk lot of 400 but that doesn't really help because I don't know which is cheaper, chrome or stainless. 

Are there any issues with using chrome steel in the ferment? It's not like it's chrome plated, the chrome is in the steel so I'm not sure there'd be a corrosion issue anyway.

I'm leaning towards trying it in the next brew and see if there are any effects on the surface of the ball. Any reasons screaming at someone as to why I should NOT do that?

I bought some ball bearings off eBay and they went rusty when I used them in a dry hop bag, they were meant to be stainless. I would go to Bunnings and get some stainless marine rings or something similar for piece of mind. I use the rings as they are smooth and easy to clean.

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19 minutes ago, Journeyman said:

😄 Well, at least you're still here to talk about it. 😄 Thanks!

I didn’t drink much of it, it was tipped. No huge loss it was an attempted pimping of a Woolworths tin wasn’t too flash 🤣 don’t know if it was the rust or it was probably just crap or both.

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24 minutes ago, RDT2 said:

I didn’t drink much of it, it was tipped. No huge loss it was an attempted pimping of a Woolworths tin wasn’t too flash 🤣 don’t know if it was the rust or it was probably just crap or both.

Wait - they went rusty in ONE brew? I was thinking maybe after a while and now I'm wondering what is in there to eat metal so quickly. Rust is oxidation so I'd have thought the yeast would eat that faster than it could affect the metal.

I might have a think about how I can lift the dip tube above the wort until ferment activity drops.

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@Journeyman Make sure you get 316 SS rings which are usually classed as marine grade.  If you are unsure if something is SS then try sticking a normal magnet to it.  

A normal magnet will obviously stick to chrome plated steel and 304 grade SS to a certain extent but it will not stick to 316 SS so that is a quick way to check.  That's why most induction cook-tops do not work well with 316 SS pots and pans but are ok with 304 grade.

Ball bearings would not be SS because SS work hardens, with temperature variations, then chips and fractures.  Bearings would be more likely to be polished hardened high tensile steel IMO.

Wort is very low PH so quite corrosive.

Edited by iBooz2
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