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**Brew-boy** · 12-10-2008, 12:50 AM

I use weldless for all my equipment and had no problems at all. I also like the fact I can take apart and clean them.

caspio · 12-10-2008, 01:40 AM

I started with weldless, had one that was 100% rock solid through every brew, had another that would leak if you so much as looked at it wrong.

Ended up getting the LHBS to weld my kettle and HLT up for me, can't be happier with the results. Between the cost per weld and the cost of the 1/2" couplers I provided, I paid almost exactly the same I would have for weldless bulkheads.

WorryWort · 12-10-2008, 08:04 PM

hijack alert...

Someone told me that valves (weldless or not) can be hard to keep sanitized. Does anyone find this to be true?

I think it's a bit of BS, or at minimum a moot point, because any wort that touches valves on an MLT will be boiled immediately afterwards, and a kettle valve will be boiled too - I'm pretty confident nothing could live in there after 60-90 minutes of vigorous boiling, and in my case a little fire.

Unless they meant hard to "keep clean", not sanitized, which I'm not so concerned with. A old piece of grain or two stuck in the valve won't hurt me as long as its not bacteria laden (which it won't be)!!

Thoughts?

menschmaschine · 12-10-2008, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noeldundas

Someone told me that valves (weldless or not) can be hard to keep sanitized. Does anyone find this to be true?

Nothing that could infect your wort on a weldless fitting that comes into contact with the wort will survive a 60 minute boil. Heck, not much will survive the temps getting to boil, much less the boil itself. As long as you keep them clean, you won't have a problem.

neckbone · 12-12-2008, 05:13 PM

I'm sure the fittings do get sanitized during the boil, but according to the new More Beer catalog, the bal valves will not be sanitized during the boil, and should be removed and boiled separately.

TwoHeadsBrewing · 12-12-2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neckbone

I'm sure the fittings do get sanitized during the boil, but according to the new More Beer catalog, the bal valves will not be sanitized during the boil, and should be removed and boiled separately.

Not sure why they would say that...the valve itself it as hot as the liquid inside the kettle. If you touch the metal part of the ball valve during or even leading up to the boil...you WILL get a nice fat burn. So, if you keep the ball valve clean and free of gunk, anything on the surface of the metal will be killed by the heat of the boil. Now if you're REALLY paranoid about it you can always pick up a 3-piece SS ball valve and soak it in sanitizer beforehand. But that is a little overboard...212+ degrees for 60 minutes will do the trick.

**Bobby_M** · 12-12-2008, 06:09 PM

If you're paranoid, open the valve at flameout and drain about a quart of wort into a pitcher, then close the valve and dump it back into the kettle. Chill.

billtzk · 12-12-2008, 06:53 PM

Or if you have a pump, you can recirculate the wort through the valve, the pump, and back to the kettle during the last ten minutes of the boil. That is what I do.

TwoHeadsBrewing · 12-12-2008, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billtzk

Or if you have a pump, you can recirculate the wort through the valve, the pump, and back to the kettle during the last ten minutes of the boil. That is what I do.

I've got a friend that sanitizes his counterflow chiller in this manner...pretty easy method, and makes me jealous every time I see it. Gotta get a pump...when will the obsession end?

Stinkonamonkey · 12-12-2008, 08:17 PM

I have weldless on my keggle and MLT cooler. I had to get some silicone to seal them as nothing I could do otherwise was doing the trick. It leaked at the ball valve threads on both of them. Getting them to seal was such a pain in the butt that I wont take them apart again for anything.

If I knew a welder, or where to look (or if I wasnt lazy), I would get mine welded. Much cleaner install in my opinion.