Mike McCrea wrote:
Corbeau, if you (or anyone else) tests the waterproofieness of your barrel I’d be interested in the results.
A couple guesses. Used barrels, especially rentals, may have suffered unknown ring abuse in the past. And gaskets do compress over time; in home storage it may be better to leave the ring unsnapped and the gasket uncompressed.
I got around to testing mine tonight, and it does leak, albeit not too badly. It is a used one I got, it has a red lid with the molded in side handles (not the black snap-on style). I filled it about a quarter full of water and inverted it. It took about 5 to 10 minutes for water to leak out, but I'm guessing a about a third of a cup leaked out. Looking at the gasket, it looks like it sits well, but I can see that there are places where the material looks old and it pretty smushed up.
I'm going to test the rim as was suggested to see if there is any variance in the lip.
Mike, any thoughts on where to source a gasket? Locally, Recreational Barrel Works sells replacement lids through MEC, which are $19...maybe the easiest, but I'm loathe to toss what is otherwise a solid lid. I'd have to check that it is a universal fit...