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06-12-2006, 05:34 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 8
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Keg/Tun Bulkhead Fittings
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Hey everyone. I'm gunna head to home depot tomorrow and try to assemble the pieces for a couple of bulkhead fittings. Ive done alot of looking at the bulkhead kits sold on some of the websites, and i think ive got it. Tell me if i've got it right, or if it'll work! 
Here's a deconstructed diagram i whipped up real quick:
Thanks in advance!!
Matt
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06-12-2006, 12:11 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Farmington
Posts: 2,041
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All I can say is that there is an easy way to do this and a hard way. Your about to find out which one of these ways is going to Home Depot. Come back and let us know how things go and if it did not go the way you plan there is an easier way to do it called the Kewler Kit.
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06-12-2006, 01:23 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Waveland, MS
Posts: 1,018
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I think your diagram is missing an O ring for the outside coupling. Also, you'll want to add a 1/2" to 3/8" barb for attaching tubing. You'll be glad you did.
__________________
Primary:
Bleach
Secondary:
American Red
Keg Conditioning:
Gruit
On Tap:
ESB
Bottled:
Nada...
On Deck:
Porter, Belgian Abbey Ale
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06-12-2006, 01:27 PM
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#4
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Cranky Old Guy
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Willamina & Oak Grove, Oregon, USA
Posts: 24,784
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Sometimes trying to save a few bucks isn't worth it. You are going to have a problem getting exactly the right nipple length to make a good seal. Nothing some JB Weld on the outside won't fix, but I really thing you'd be better off getting a kit.
__________________
Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"
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06-13-2006, 03:12 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Ankeny, IA
Posts: 170
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What your going to find is at Home Depot they're only going to carry brass fittings. The kewler kit that's been talked about is stainless steel.
You can order a stainless coupling, nipple, washers and o-rings from McMaster Carr ( www.mcmaster.com).
Their 1/2" coupling is part number 4464K214, and is $4.19. Match that with a close nipple part # 4830K171 for $2.01, stainless washers and o-rings (both 13/16") and you have it. The catch is that you have to pay shipping and will have to buy the washers and o-rings in bulk.
If you're making just one, the kewler kit will probably be the better deal. However, if you're making multiples for friends, or for weldless valves on a keggle, it may pay off to buy in bulk. |
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06-13-2006, 04:09 AM
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#6
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 8
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what length nipple do you think i would need for a 1.25 inch thick cooler wall?
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06-13-2006, 11:38 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Ankeny, IA
Posts: 170
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by MattieSy
what length nipple do you think i would need for a 1.25 inch thick cooler wall?
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Is it that thick where the cooler spout is? Have you removed that yet? If it is, you may have to get a nipple machined so it's threaded throughout. In general, a standard close nipple (1 1/8") will work well because the threads don't go that far into the coupling. |
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06-13-2006, 12:17 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Farmington
Posts: 2,041
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and the fun begins.
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06-13-2006, 09:34 PM
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#9
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 8
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Yeah, the cooler has a thick wall, and no drain spout. Nuttin' but solid wall all the way around. Thats why I was gunna try to rig it up myself, since it looks like those kewler kits dont seem like they would be long enough for that thick of a wall. So we'll see how it goes i guess! I'll prolly just buy the kit when I go to do my keg conversion, to save me from tearing out my hair.
Cheers!
Matt
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06-13-2006, 11:06 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Farmington
Posts: 2,041
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Well... my solution...
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Everyone seems to have a different solution to this challenge. Here is what I did.....
After I went back and forth to hardware stores and other stores I thought could help, I finally smartened up. I took everything.. everywhere I went. In this project first I found that you need to get your false bottom or whatever way you plan to use first. Then you take this to the place you are buying a cooler from to check if it will fit. I first bought a Phils false bottom and it did not fit in the igloo cooler I bought. I also had a ton of problems with fitting something in the spigot. Thinking it would solve my problems I drilled the hole just a tad bigger which was not a good thing to do. The real solution to this problem was when I went to a LHBS (not all that local, but a drive), they had a Kewler Kit. By then I had scraped the Igloo cooler and bought a rubber maid one that the Phil's bottom fit perfectly in, but when I tried to put everything together the space between the fittings inside the cooler was not wide enough. It just so happened that the stainless steel false bottom worked like a charm so I got the stainless steel false bottom. That is where I am now. It workes. Stainless steel false bottom, Kewler kit with a Rubber Maid 5 gal cooler. It leaked a little (not from the cooler, but from other fittings) so I followed Dude's advice and got Teflon tape. Wow... stuff is great and works like a charm!
The problem I had when I used it was I used regular vynle tubbing to connect the inside fittins with and it softened up and came loose. I now have high temp tubbing and stainless steel clamps to just be absolutly sure.
Like I said before. You will be brewing in 10 minutes!... if you have the right stuff....
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