Not welding, but stainless related

[dodgeramsst2003]

Well, this isn't welding related, but I do have a stainless question. I purchased two commercial deep fryers a couple of weeks ago. They are rusted inside and out, and I need to clean them up. They are some sort of stainless, but a cheap grade, since they rusted. I know a wire wheel on a grinder will mess them up. Does anyone have any good tips on how best to clean them? I would like to get them cleaned up and be able to use them.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

[Rocky D]

I didn't think Stainless would rust, but to clean them up you could scrape or wire brush , and then go over it with a Scotch Brite wheel/pad to polish them back up.

[boykjo]

To clean stainless you can use a stainless wire wheel on a grinder or a ss brush or what rocky suggested. Do not use any carbon wire wheels on stainless or you will embed carbon into the stainless which will cause surface rust.

[Old Sporty]

I'm going to suggest that you don't have stainless fryers. If they were food grade stainless (300 series) they wouldn't rust. What you see that looks like rust wouldn't be cooked on grease would it? I make these statements based on many years in kitchens, both commercial and private.

The other possibility is you have cheap imported fryers made of some mystery stainless with a low content of chromium and/ or nickel). Possibly 400 series which will rust given enough lack of care.

To polish, use bar keepers friend (like comet but more gentle) with a green scotch brite pad and water to clean most of the contaminate. Follow up with fine stainless steel wool. Polish with a good stainless steel polish. If they are in fact stainless, this should do the trick.

You might want to post some pics if possible and also the manufacturer's name. Might help.

[Roger]

If 300 series stainless steel is rusting because someone scrubbed it with steel wool, the only way to stop the rust is passivation. This process removes surface iron with strong acids or citric acid with electrolysis. Stay away from using strong acid methods. But Old Sporty cleaning methods as needed is probably good enough.

Do not use chlorine containing cleaners or disinfectants on stainless steel.

Stainless steel sink and fryers often have hidden painted steel frames that will bleed rust onto the SS. Scrub it off if it's a problem and paint the steel.

http://www.mcnallyinstitute.com/04-html/4-1.html

[metarinka]

good link roger,

most assuredly stainless steel will rust. Chlorines and salts, as well as acid and caustic at high temperature will rust stianless steel on a time from just minutes to hours. I believe food grade only requires 304 and up.

Back in the day I used to work as at an industrial oven manufacturer, some ovens sprayed in water or steam for various purposes. Some one left about table spoon worth of bleach in several gallons of water. The oven was used once and the inside made from 304 stainless looked like it was completely rusted out.

In terms of cleaning, you really need to passivate it at the end, wire wheel brushes, and sand paper will just smear the rust dust into the surfaces of the clean metal. Once the rust starts it spreads at an alarming rate as well. Or replaces it. I would knock the rust off with a wire wheel brush. polish it back up, then acid etch the surface

[dodgeramsst2003]

Wow!!! Thanks for all the quick responses. The fryers in question are Fryolator brand, and were used in a municipal recreation center kitchen. They are about 20 yrs old, and from the looks of things were cleaned with some sort of steel wool material when taken out of service. They don't have any residual gunk on them that I would expect from a fryer. The side panels are painted steel as mentioned above. I've attached a couple of pictures, the one is just really dirty, the other appears to be rusted. I'll try some of the suggestions above, and see how they turn out.

[Old Sporty]

Good Score! Fryolator made some very good commercial quality fryers. The one in the second pic looks to be in pretty good shape.

I don't think passivation will be necessary on either. While the one in the first pic looks pretty corroded, start cleaning with the least aggressive method and see where it gets you. I think with the proper approach and some elbow grease (no pun intended) you can have a couple of very usable appliances. Once you start using them or whoever does, the heat and constant contact with oil wil help.

Let us know how it works out.