Dump Run!

[EatenByLimestone]

I had to make a dump run a couple weeks ago. One of the things that fell into the truck before I left was a cast iron tea pot! Woo hoo! Treasure!

It looks like it's been full of water for a long time, like decades. How do I treat this thing? It's easy enough to scrub the rust out, but are the insides of these things seasoned like a pan? I wouldn't think so, but figured I'd ask.

 

[tarzan]

I prefer cast iron cookware but really can't find a use for a cast tea pot. The problem is that they rust quick when you put water in them. A good coating of cooking oil will make it look good but you wouldn't want to use it for tea after that.

 

[Jazzberry]

Its for steaming water on your wood stove for humidity not for drinking lol

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Yes, but will it always be? I wouldn't put it past anybody to make the fairly logical step of using that water in a cabin without running water in the winter. "I need hot water (looks around) oh, there's water in the tea pot on the stove!"

 

[edyit]

we bought one for on top of our stove, it looks cool, doesnt add a lot of moisture but it looks cool, box it came in said do not use for eating or drinking, but i know from looking online that some are for use and some are for decorative humidifiers

 

[StihlKicking]

Just remember that cast iron is very porous compared to other metals. If it's decade old and been in a dump I would be hesitant to use it for anything other than decoration.


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[tarzan]

Its for steaming water on your wood stove for humidity not for drinking lol

Yeah, I get that That's part of the reason I just don't see the use in them. They leave a rust ring on the stove. The inside of the pot just stays nasty and they really don't do anything for humidity levels anyway. Basically just a non functioning replica of a tea pot imo.

My wife drinks tea (she switched from coffee to tea and drinks it throughout the day) and we just keep a usable tea pot on the stove through the winter. In the summer she uses the Kurig.

 

[begreen]

Yes, but will it always be? I wouldn't put it past anybody to make the fairly logical step of using that water in a cabin without running water in the winter. "I need hot water (looks around) oh, there's water in the tea pot on the stove!"

That would be quite an iron-ic cup of tea.

 

[Ashful]

Electrolysis. Get a plastic 5 gal bucket of water, dump in 1/3 cup of Arm and Hammer washing soda, grab a scrap of iron (eg rebar) for sacrificial anode, set item and rebar in water, but not touching. Connect negative lead of 10A battery charger to item, and positive lead to rebar. Make all positive voltage connections above the water line, or it will eat your positive wire.

This process works line of sight between rebar and item being cleaned, so use multiple sacrificial anodes if you want process to go quicker, and your charger capacity is sufficient.

Figure 3 days to clean all old paint and rust from most items.


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[EatenByLimestone]

I forgot about electrolysis! Its been years since I've cleaned chisels, etc with it!

 

[tarzan]

I forgot about electrolysis! Its been years since I've cleaned chisels, etc with it!

Taley up the power and time potentially invested in this thing and then cut your losses and throw it back in the truck for the next trip to the dump!

 

[Ashful]

Taley up the power and time potentially invested in this thing and then cut your losses and throw it back in the truck for the next trip to the dump!

I was always using this process on much more expensive items, so never even thought of the cost, but it amounts to about 2 kWh per day. So, maybe 15 cents per day.

Time? It works while I'm eating and sleeping.


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[tarzan]

I was always using this process on much more expensive items, so never even thought of the cost, but it amounts to about 2 kWh per day. So, maybe 15 cents per day.

So be it. The item is question is worth more in scrap than it is to me.

 

[mass_burner]

Could they have been used to fill bed warmers, fill tubs in the olden days?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Since the word dump means so many things to do many people, I suppose I should explain the circumstances of my find. I was dropping a refrigerator off at a giant scrap pile. In the front was an old box stove. Near it was the tea pot. I'm sure it sat on the stove all its life.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Here is the offending pot.

 

[begreen]

Steel wool it down, spray paint it with high temp flat black. Sell at next yard sale.
(maybe make enough to pay for the paint )

 

[BrotherBart]

I have the exact same one. For thirty years on the stove making humidity. I wouldn't drink anything out of it no matter how much it was cleaned up on a bet. In fact it is now a door stop since I bought the humidifier. The humidifier is across the room so it doesn't boil over and rust the stove top.

Want another one?

 

[Jags]

Or two?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Lol, that popular, huh?

 

[Jags]

Lol, that popular, huh?

Yeah - something like that.

 

[Jazzberry]

Seems like mine was $9.99 at Tractor Supply on sale. Wife wont let me do it but every year around Christmas time I always have a desire to fill mine with pine-sol.