Bottom Drain Keg Tri-Clamp Hole Size question

I am wanting to know what size hole to use to pass a tri-clamp through for my bottom drain Sanke Keggles I am building. I plan to go through the top of my wooden electric brew stand. See thread here.

I plan to have it all hooked up and feed the fitting through the hole and set the keggle down on the bench top so I don't have to contort myself to hook up the tri-clamps from the bottom side. Make sense?

I use the exact same system and it works great! I don't have the kegs here with me as they are at my brewing buddy's house, but all you need is someone who has a 2" triclover clamp to measure it at its widest point. My guess is that a 4" hole would work and give you a little leeway

ZWood15 said:

I use the exact same system and it works great! I don't have the kegs here with me as they are at my brewing buddy's house, but all you need is someone who has a 2" triclover clamp to measure it at its widest point. My guess is that a 4" hole would work and give you a little leeway

Click to expand...

I will probably just go with 4" holes and have the holes nearly tangent to the cross beam under the table top. PLENTY of support and I can run half of my hoses under the table to my pumps.

ok... I looked at 4" hole saws today and they are HUGE! I am not sure I that I need 4". Could someone with a triclamp please measure the widest part of the clamp and let me know what they come out to?

The widest part of the triclamp is at the nut (5"). The whole clamp sits almost flush with the top of the keg when it is attached, but the nut (depending on how you tighten it) and pin protrude a little.

Have you decided where you are going to place your valve? You might consider removing a board or two and cutting a channel in the cross 2x6 so that you can come off the tri clamp with an elbow. I thought about going through or under the cross piece, but in practice, its much easier to remove the whole keg and assembly if there is nothing in the way of the valve. If you dont have the hardware already, it's probably worth purchasing before you design your stand.

Thanks man... By looking at your pix, I realize now that the clamp will be tucked up nicely inside the rim of the keg... duh... I have already built my stand based on Kal's design however, I offset my middle beam in the top with 14" clearance from the front of the bench. I will place my holes in front of the beam almost tangent to the beam. It looks like I could get away with a 2" or 3" hole because the clamp will "live" up above bench level and all that will need to project through the bench is the street elbow and pipe.

It sounds like you are planning something similar to my assembly with the elbow and pipe attached to the TC. Something to consider if you haven't already... when placing the keg into the stand, do you plan on having the TC attached to the keg then "threading" the valve/pipe/elbow through the hole, or do you plan on attaching the TC from the bottom of the stand through the hole? I think you are going to run into problems if you go either one of those routes. (I did.) I drool over the Electric Brewery as much as the next brewer, but he didn't use bottom draining kegs. Good luck!

bikesnbeers said:

It sounds like you are planning something similar to my assembly with the elbow and pipe attached to the TC. Something to consider if you haven't already... when placing the keg into the stand, do you plan on having the TC attached to the keg then "threading" the valve/pipe/elbow through the hole, or do you plan on attaching the TC from the bottom of the stand through the hole? I think you are going to run into problems if you go either one of those routes. (I did.) I drool over the Electric Brewery as much as the next brewer, but he didn't use bottom draining kegs. Good luck!

Click to expand...

I'm still in planning phase... what type problems did you have? I am very interested to know...

If I extend from the TC fitting with a longer nipple down to the street elbow the geometry should work out for me to thread it through the hole once the TC is attached.

Hmmm... Kal tends not to do ANYTHING half-way... I am using kegs because they are MUCH cheaper than kettles and all the same hardware will work on them as the kettles he made.

I was unable to thread the assembly through the hole in stand when it was attached to the keg. It just wouldn't go. I'm not saying that the way I solved the problem is the only way, but it worked for me. Here it is: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/bottom-port-front-port-315722/index3.html#post3947382 (#28). It's completely open in the front.