Leaking weldless site-glass, ideas?

Hey all, just got my site-glass and bulkhead installed on my keg and was going to fire up some water to see how long a boil was going to take me on my 30k burner. While I was waiting for the water to heat I noticed that the site-glass thermometer combo was leaking. So, I drained the water and re-tightened the nut on the back only to find it still leaking. The placement of my hole is a bit low and I worry that it may be too close to the weld to get a good seal. I was pretty careful not to over-drill my holes and they are a pretty tight fit for the fitting so I don't think it's a problem with them being too large. Any advice or input??

Is there a gasket on the outside? That fixed mine.

No, there isn't. throwing one between the kettle wall and the washer fixed it, eh? I'll give it a whirl and see if that's the ticket. Fingers crossed.

From the top picture it looks like the nut overlaps that weld below. There might be enough deflection from that to cause the o-ring to not seal well. The hole should have been drilled just a tad higher. Cadillac's idea about an o-ring on the outside might do the trick.

I use an inside/outside gasket combo for my weldless ball valve. I believe this will fix your problem

edit: You could take MaxStout's advice and try shearing off the bottom part of that washer to clear the weld. It is likely that there's some overlap issue causing the seal to not be tight. Then again, the curvature of the kettle could also be causing the washer not to seat properly, making a leak. I still suggest something like an extra silicone O-ring on the outside

I see the problem. You didn't buy it from me

You can either swap the inner oring for a larger flat gasket or you can put a larger flat gasket on the outside between the keg and the tee (remove the SS washer).

Well, I'm sorry to report that the outside gasket idea was a bust. Still leaking. But further inspection and a well-placed cellphone picture shows that the nut is indeed getting hung up on the weld which is keeping it from sitting flush against the kettle wall. Have I ruined a good keg or is there some way to salvage this mishap?

Bobby, will your idea still work with this mess?

MicahB said:

Well, I'm sorry to report that the outside gasket idea was a bust. Still leaking. But further inspection and a well-placed cellphone picture shows that the nut is indeed getting hung up on the weld which is keeping it from sitting flush against the kettle wall. Have I ruined a good keg or is there some way to salvage this mishap?

Bobby, will you idea still work with this mess?

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couple of washers to bring nut out to the level of the hump should work. oring against keg 2 or 3 silicon washers then nut. might have to trim washers off a little on the hump side

If you grind off the bottom part of the inside nut so it clears the weld, can you set the keg on the edge of a table or counter and swing the sight glass round and round to tighten the connection, instead of turning the nut?

MicahB said:

Well, I'm sorry to report that the outside gasket idea was a bust. Still leaking. But further inspection and a well-placed cellphone picture shows that the nut is indeed getting hung up on the weld which is keeping it from sitting flush against the kettle wall. Have I ruined a good keg or is there some way to salvage this mishap?

Bobby, will your idea still work with this mess?

Click to expand...

If you use a flat gasket on the outside, it will work. You can't leave the SS washer in place though.

Bobby_M said:

If you use a flat gasket on the outside, it will work. You can't leave the SS washer in place though.

Click to expand...

Got it. So, gasket on the outside minus the washer. I'll give it a go after work tomorrow and report back, thanks for the input fellas!

Bobby, your remedy worked. Had to make a custom gasket out of some gasket material from Lowe's, but it fit the bill. Today was a successful brew day thanks to you. Next time I'll know where to take my dollars in the first place and avoid the issue all together.

You may also try to use a coupler on the inside instead of the nut, gasket on outside, and tighten from outside. Now that I look again, you would probably need more washers on the outside too with my suggestion to be able to tighten down enough