Oak water keg

[gabee]

I have an oak water keg that has sat dry for a few years and now leaks through every crack. I soaked it in the lake for 24 hours and only took care of some of the leaks. Any ideas on how to get it completely sealed up again?

 

[watmoc]

just keep soaking it. It didn't dry out in 24 hours, and it won't seal in 24 hours.

 

[Billnpatti]

If it once actually held water, that means that the wood is there to make a water tight barrel and has simply dried out and lost the seal that it once had. You will just have to keep soaking it and the cells of the wood will eventually swell up and reseal your barrel. If it was made just for show and never actually held water, it may never seal up. I have seen nail kegs sanded and made to resemble a water keg but actually used to store dry materials. Just keep soaking it and it will seal up again if it is an actual functual water barrel.

 

[Bryanbrown]

I dry mine out over the winter every year, it takes 2 or 3 days for all the cracks to swell shut again. Make sure it is as full as you can keep it while soaking, if it is full of air soaking the air inside will prevent proper soaking in or at least slow it down

 

[tg]

I would fill it and put it in a tub of clean water and weight or hold it under in some manner so it can soak from both sides of the wood.

 

[kansas_volunteer]

I used to work at a hotel, where the owner, a reenactor, kept his kegs in the basement. They dried out and wouldn't hold water. So I threw them in the hotel's hot tub and got a petty good seal, but not perfect, and one of the reenactments on the owners farm, I got a blacksmith to make me a tool for driving down the bands. I used it and the bands drove down quite aways. That took care of the problem of the small leaks.

 

[necchi]

Those kegs can only take the wet/dry cycle so many times before they need some help.
Brewers pitch;
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?products_id=373

I had one second hand,,that after one week's soaking still lost a gallon every 8 hrs or so,PITA. I got the thing warm in my oven, then poured 2# of melted parrafin wax in the bung and sloshed it around! Viola',,I had a water tight keg! Until that fall, during an October camp, it didn't git freezing temps that night but cold enough to crack that wax away from the wood and it was a sive again.
That keg lives happily in a second life. I knocked one end out of it and it now holds my tent stakes
:wink:

 

[Coot]

Those kegs can only take the wet/dry cycle so many times before they need some help.
Brewers pitch;
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?products_id=373

I had one second hand,,that after one week's soaking still lost a gallon every 8 hrs or so,PITA. I got the thing warm in my oven, then poured 2# of melted parrafin wax in the bung and sloshed it around! Viola',,I had a water tight keg! Until that fall, during an October camp, it didn't git freezing temps that night but cold enough to crack that wax away from the wood and it was a sive again.
That keg lives happily in a second life. I knocked one end out of it and it now holds my tent stakes
:wink:

You are quite correct. Wood kegs, wood barrels and wood boats all share the shrink when dry & swell when wet issue. After an undetermined number of shrink & swell cycles, the wood will not swell as much as it once did & you have leaks. Driving the barrel bands down tighter will sometimes fix the issue. On boats the bottom has to be re-planked (this is for the thin planked boats like Chris-Craft runabouts - heavier planking is dependent on caulking to stay tight). Regular paraffin wax is neither adhesive or flexible enough to make a long term seal - I have tried it & the results are poor. I have not tried brewers pitch so cannot verify any long term results there. We leave water in our pails year round (have to move them into the basement in winter to avoid freeze issues).

 

[gabee]

It did hold water once, so i will try these tips. Thanks fellas.