Oh I don't doubt it. Weldless fittings work well when installed properly. It's
just that it was quite a bold statement to make then, and now he has to eat his hat ;-)
Interesting that most of the sight glasses you sell on your site are weldless.....
I still have plenty of reservations about the run of the mill weldless bulkheads being sold across the homebrewing market. When I posted that quote two years ago, I had not yet conceived of the current weldless design that I sell which doesn't have the same shortcomings that I'm concerned about. I've had no leaks reported in hundreds of units.
Interesting that most of the sight glasses you sell on your site are weldless.....
I still have plenty of reservations about the run of the mill weldless bulkheads being sold across the homebrewing market. When I posted that quote two years ago, I had not yet conceived of the current weldless design that I sell which doesn't have the same shortcomings that I'm concerned about. I've had no leaks reported in hundreds of units.
If you want to call it eating my hat, consider it eaten. I prefer "adapting to market demand".
I've gotten this question a few times and unfortunately I don't have any plans to offer this. It's only fair that I explain why.
On the weldless combo kit, the most popular item I sell, the tee basically sits touching the outside wall of your vessel except for the 1/8" gasket. This means the thermo probe only has to make it through about 2" of hardware before it gets inside. A 4" probe works nicely for this so that 2" sticks into the vessel.
When welders install a 1/2" NPT coupling, there is some inconsistency in whether it sits flush or proud of the vessel wall. If it's flush with the inside, it can stick out as far as 1.5". Even if it's welded flush, I'd have to supply a 1/2 to 1/4" bushing, a close nipple, then the tee fitting. The 4" probe would then only put the last 1/2" inside the vessel and it would be affected by latent heat from the burner. A 6" probe would solve this problem but it would take a very long time to sell these at the quantity I have to buy.
Lastly, it would put the sight tubing and thermometer out away from the vessel by at least an extra inch, maybe more subjecting it to more potential damage.
Ok thanks for the quick response! I'm probably better off with just the sight tube anyways, as I just waterproofed a digital thermometer and will just stick that in the keggle to gauge temps.
Another way to do it is just get the tee kit with no thermometer and you can put a compression fitting into the end to hold the digital probe. Your idea works also.
I have your welded sight glass with the 1/4" to 1/2" NPT adapter. Its a great product. Thanks for the easy online transaction and a great high quality sight glass. My only issue is that who ever welded the couplings welded them too high. My minimal reading is 4 gallons, but that is not the fault of the sight glass.
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