Water fount issues!

[sara1226]

We purchased a heated base and metal water fount made by "Little Giant" and before I used it I cleaned it with dawn dish soap. I noticed the water had grease bubbles floating on top of the water, so I cleaned it again and tried using it for a couple of weeks to see if whatever it was would wash away. It was still there. I cleaned it 4 more times and soaked it in bleach today, and STILL when I run my hand along the inside of the fount it feels like it is coated in a thick grease (Vaseline type of consistency). I'm dumbfounded! This product is made for animal use so it must be safe! Yet it doesn't seem right to let the flock drink water that looks greasy and I had 2 hens develop sour crop..: coincidence I don't know. I am very frustrated. It can get -20 where I live (unfortunately), so I need to find a successful way to keep the water from freezing. I think it's possible the manufacturer coated the fount pieces with grease so that the 2 parts slide together easier, but that can't be safe!?! Has anyone else had an experience with metal founts like this? I am thinking of taking an s.o.s pad to it later but that's probably not good to scratch the metal all up.



:/

Advice appreciated, thanks everyone!

 

[sara1226]

Anybody ?

 

[pfields]

Do you have a water well or city water?

 

[member 373180]

How weird and unsettling. I wouldn't want to use it either.

Have you tried something like goo-gone or even vegetable oil to clean it off and then washing again? It definitely sounds like some sort of oil-based substance and the soap might not cut it.

 

[sara1226]

Do you have a water well or city water?

We have well water, but we have a water filter system too. I've never noticed this greasy film on anything else though. Wouldn't u know I forgot to buy some sos pads at the store tonight. I tried to find a phone number for the manufacturer and I can't find it online. Maybe I should try the feed mill where I bought it from, they must have someone I can contact and ask. Might try the vegetable oil suggestion too.

 

[aart]

If there's grease on it, vegetable oil won't dissolve it....will it?

They may have some some kind of lubricant to manufacture it.

Are you sure the 'grease bubbles' weren't dawn dish soap bubbles?
I'd contact Little Giant and ask them...pocs of 'thick grease' would help.

 

[sara1226]

If there's grease on it, vegetable oil won't dissolve it....will it?

They may have some some kind of lubricant to manufacture it.

Are you sure the 'grease bubbles' weren't dawn dish soap bubbles?
I'd contact Little Giant and ask them...pocs of 'thick grease' would help.

I don't know about the veg oil, but I'm willing to try anything. The oil bubbles are not from left over soap, I'm actually quite a "neat freak" and I rinsed the thing over and over again before I put it back out with my chickens, only to discover it looked greasy again. Today I tried scrubbing with baking soda because I thought a slight abrasive would help remove the grease. I agree it must be a lubricant from the factory, and honestly it makes me a bit angry that this is happening, and that they would use something like that on something made for animals to drink out of. Anyway.. After I scrubbed it and thoroughly rinsed it today I put it back outside and it was getting dark out. We'll see how it looks in the morning. Sure hope it looks better, this is the 3rd waterer we've been through lately, another metal one didn't seal tight and leaked, and a heated plastic one we tried didn't work at all... water froze! I sure have some bad luck with these things.

 

[aart]

The only way to remove grease or oil is to use something that 'solves' it IE:dissolve, solvent.
An abrasive alone will not remove it.

Dawn dish soap will solve most animal and vegetable fats/oils used in the kitchen, but may not solve an industrial and/or petroleum based grease/oil....may in fact make it more of a mess.

Try something like Go-Jo, what auto mechanics use to wash their hands.