Large Kettle Clean Up

G

Greg Brunett

Member
https://imgur.com/gallery/duRaumM

I bought this 22" kettle with spider for $60 a few weeks ago at a junk shop. It has 8 sprue marks on the bottom. I thought that whiteish layer in it was dirt when i bought it. Got it home and immediate began hunting for a large enough tub for an e tank. Found a 100 gallon livestock water tank on facebook marketplace free for the taking. I took it to a friends house that had a couple pots he wanted to clean also. We made a grid for the tank out of a band saw blade that broke at my work. Welded a grid up with some rebar so we could easily lift it out for cleaning. Made about 80 gallons of solution, then discovered the white layer was lime. took a wire wheel on an angle grinder and a lot of patience to get it out. etched the inside surface with vinegar just in case the wheel slicked it up too much. now its time for business. put the pot in the tank like it would sit in the spider. hung a brake rotor in the middle to provide an, anode for the inside surface. hooked up my battery charger to it and it immediately tripped out. turns out that with that much surface area there that my 6 amp charger wouldn't cut it. Had to borrow a big one. the 24 amp setting worked the best on it. got it clean as a pin then washed and dried it, coated it with veg oil and put it over the turkey fryer for some seasoning. took a long time to get it up to 450, but it is done. Would have been nice if the wind wasn't so bad. Sorry for the long read, but no one made you read it. lol
 
I've avoided the big old kettles so far... just because I don't want to start fabricating all the components necessary to deal with things that size. looks like pretty good end results though... do you think the lime would have come off with electrolysis eventually or not? I've never dealt with a lime coated piece.
 
Would using CLR have gotten rid of the lime? Is it okay to use on a piece of CI?

---------- Post added at 04:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 PM ----------

I would like to see the inside of your finished kettle.
 
D_Madden said:
I've avoided the big old kettles so far... just because I don't want to start fabricating all the components necessary to deal with things that size. looks like pretty good end results though... do you think the lime would have come off with electrolysis eventually or not? I've never dealt with a lime coated piece.
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The pot was in the tank for about 24 hours. Some pieces of the lime was starting to lift off. It would have taken a very long time for it all to have came loose.

---------- Post added at 02:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 AM ----------
GTurner said:
Would using CLR have gotten rid of the lime? Is it okay to use on a piece of CI?

---------- Post added at 04:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 PM ----------

I would like to see the inside of your finished kettle.
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I tried CLR. It worked for about 10 minutes then quit being effective. My guess is there was enough lime there to neutralize the chemicals. Probably would have taken about 15 bottles at $5 each.

I’ll get a pic of the inside up later today
 
I see big kettles like that all the time, and I've even bought a couple. I don't think that's scale. It looks like severely worn enamel.
 
Not 100% lime. That is a wash pot that had a build up of Borax or lime soap to clean clothing under a wood fire. I have cleaned several southern kettles that look like yours. Was the "crust"thicker in the bottom? That was from allowing the water to cool and the settlement to drop to the bottom. The ones I have cleaned were stored in a dry environment, like a barn. Most were left outside and the rust formed under the scale and popped off. At least no one hammered a hole or drilled a hole to make a planter.
 
I agree that it is not 100% lime. I was just disagreeing that it was enamel. It’s hard to tell what all was involved in that concoction. Lol
 
Residue from soap makes a lot more sense than enamel. If you find a non-destructive way to remove it, please share. I've seen a few kettles like yours at flea markets for fairly cheap and I always avoid them because of that stuff.
 
Ty L. said:
Residue from soap makes a lot more sense than enamel. If you find a non-destructive way to remove it, please share. I've seen a few kettles like yours at flea markets for fairly cheap and I always avoid them because of that stuff.
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The wire wheel method is the best way to strip a large old kettle.Most are dimpled in the cooking area. The surface is lightly etched allowing the lard to coat the surface.
 
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