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WTF HAPPENED?

wkoti

wkoti

Flaky McFlakerton
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
3,136
I opened the Vinotemp just now to check the beads and of course the stock. I noticed the beads were a little dry to a added some water to the aluminum recyclable chaffing dish and water started dripping from everywhere. I lifted up the pan and found this... I moved these beads to another brand new aluminum recyclable chaffing dish and put it back in, we used these all last year and just switched back to them after experimenting with bags and pantyhose. The other 2 Vinotemps are running the same set up and no problems noticed in either of the other two. I also investigated a little further and found this on the inside of my Heartfelt tube. Please help a brother out, I almost sh*t my pants minutes ago.

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Looks like mold to me. I made the same mistake once with tubes; too much H2O and you get mold.

Bags seem to work better....
 
Those dark spots in the pan are holes that have been eaten through the pans... I realized the pictures don't show them very well!!!
 
I used an aluminum pan like that until I noticed that it was being eaten through just like yours. I now use a shallow porcelain dish to maximize surface area without the corrosion.
 
I can't explain the holes, but I can tell you that is mold on your beads and tubes. I had the same problem for a while with my vino setup when summer came and condensation became more prevalent. Although you used distilled water initially to hydrate the beads, small impurities fall in the moistened pan or water from either moving boxes around or just dust from the cigar boxes fall in the pan.

My solution was to just leave a rubbermaid drip pan without any beads in. It will catch the water and you can always just wash the pan with hot water. Leave your beads separated and things should be fine. It's during the summer months you have to be diligent in your frequent removal of water forming in the pan. In winter, you'll rarely have that problem.

My .02

You can wash the beads in a bowl of distilled water, agitate them with a whisk to knock off the flakes of mold and try to salvage the beads. Just gotta dry a whole bunch of beads after that.
 
wkoti said:
Those dark spots in the pan are holes that have been eaten through the pans... I realized the pictures don't show them very well!!!
Click to expand...
Could very well be that whatever is in the beads doesn't like aluminum very well. Like investandprosper said, plastic, ceramic, or cotton bags are probably a much better answer.
 
Mold can dissolve aka eat through aluminum if given enough time. :(
 
I didn't see any mold in the pan I used. It was there for maybe 2 weeks, with fresh beads and it ate through the pan. Maybe something in the beads?
 
Theoretically, distilled water has a neutral pH of 7.0. However, because of atmospheric CO2 distilled water rapidly absorbs, it becomes more acidic and brings the pH level down to somewhere between 5.5 -5.9 (roughly). In comparision, black coffee has a pH of about 5.0. It's possible that the more CO2 the water absorbed over time, the more acidic an environment it created for those aluminum pans - thus corroding them.

That 's the only thing I can think of. As for why it hasn't happened in your other 2 Vinotemps, I have no idea. How long have you had the aluminum pan setup going on in the other Vinotemps? As others suggested, it may be time to consider using something else or switching back to the cotton bags before the other Vinotemps suffer the same fate.
 
Damn,
I have 3 bead socks filled and a stainless dish in the bottom. I have one of the socks placed about an inch below the fan against the back to catch any residual moisture dripping down. I have no issues whatsoever.
 
wkoti said:
Those dark spots in the pan are holes that have been eaten through the pans... I realized the pictures don't show them very well!!!
Click to expand...


Are you sure you didn't have tomato from the pasta on your hands after working in the residency mess hall? You know more than anybody what tomato will do to aluminum. Hey, there's no shame in it. I used to work as a line cook and did a summer working in a cafeteria during my undergrad.
 
It looks more like a chemical reaction than mold to my untrained eye. PM Smokin'Sims and get his opinion, he's smart.
 
I will say this once again. I left on a trip to the UK back in 2002 and I forgot to clean my Rice Cooker. I was also gone for 2 weeks on that particular trip. I came back home and guess what happened.
Mold was able to dissolve holes through the pot. Just like the one in this picture but of an earlier model. http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/p-84-6-cup-rice-cooker-steamer.aspx

It had nothing to do with any chemicals other than what happened between the rice as it turned to mold and from dissolving holes into the pot. I wasn't to surprised as I have studied mold and bacteria while
studying Biochemistry at UNL. Obviously glass and plastic for example doesn't dissolve in this particular circumstances.
 
A catering half-tray for the beads? What do you have, a 5000 bottle Vino?
 
Well, I'd hazard a gue4ss that our beads our not 100% silica........Art Sorb beads (which are very similar to the beads we find at our friends) have Lithium Chloride in them, which is a corrosive substance.
I suspect it was this reaction that ate through your tray.

ArtSorb beads and Lithium Chloride


What is it?

ART SORB contains silica gel and lithium chloride. It is harmful if swallowed and irritates skin and eyes. Don’t inhale eventual dusts. Further informations see Material Safety Data Sheet..

The water adsorbed by ART SORB is present in a liquid phase on the surface of the particles. Direct contact with metals like iron, zinc and aluminium may cause oxydation.
Therefore ART SORB should not be in direct contact with art objects, especially since the liquid is containing chloride ions.
The same characteristics apply to dusts. Try to avoid dusting by careful handling and keep them away from your art objects.
Don’t touch ART SORB and art objects in turns in order not to transfer dusts to them. ART SORB should not be used in an environment with rapid air movements (>1m/s).

Precautions
 
Now that I think about it, I left a bag of beads on a Corian counter top and I wondered why it took off the top layer of it... ???
 
There have been several possibilities thrown out and each have merit. It seems that an acid of some sort ate through the aluminum. Silica in general is acidic, but varies greatly in what else is in the mixture. I doubt the beads are pure silica. It is silica alumina is also a very common compound, suggesting this is not a difficult reaction. I doubt the water alone was enough generate a high enough pH to do this but in combination with silica could. The fungi theory is equally possible and Loren has empirical evidence of this working. The acid in this case comes from the digestive enzymes used to break down food before transport into the fungal cell.

I use plastic with my beads as long as I don't start generate acetone or chloroform in my dish it should be ok. Moral of the story: Aluminum dishes and too much water with beads bad!
 
investandprosper said:
w00ts!te said:
Now that I think about it, I left a bag of beads on a Corian counter top and I wondered why it took off the top layer of it... ???
Click to expand...

Seriously? It took the top layer off? :0
Click to expand...

There was a smooth glossy filament on top of the corian countertop. There were spaces the size of the silica bead bag that were rough. You could see by looking at an angle that the layer was taken off.
 
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