HLT/Keggle Heat-Shield

H'okay. This only applies to gas users, and probably only the higher end BTU guys at that. Definitely the Banjo burners.

My Blichmann temperature gauge, valves, and hoses were getting singed, and since I couldn't find any solutions, I figured I'd post my answer with a quick write up. Maybe someone else can suggest improvements or shortcomings. I know eventual galvanic corrosion are a concern.

Anyways, here's the bill of materials:
1/4" Aluminum rivets
3/32" Aluminum rivet
1/4" Aluminum Washers
3' of right-angle aluminum flashing

Tools:
Rivet gun(Piston or spring should work)
Drill + 5/16 drill bit
Tin Snips

Here's a picture of the flashing, cut out and the back side painted with high-temp paint. With a layer of paint, I'm hoping corrosion will only be limited to the rivets.


This is one with additional material going to be riveted together. That's a 1/4" rivet in the upper left-hand corner. As you can also see, I've cut away enough material to put a bend into the aluminum.


I'm about to rivet said material with a 3/32" rivet


Final product, about to rivet to the keg.


Riveted to the the keg.


I've used the shields for 3 brews on each keg. I had to lengthen one shield to protect a hose more. So far, I can put my hand on a valve after the keg has been on high flames (enough to start to lick underneath the keg). If you're constantly having to turn your burner down to avoid burning your valves, this is a pretty good solution.

Just a quick note:

I actually managed to MELT an aluminum rivet the other day when trying to bring about 10 gallons of ground water to a boil. The inside of the keg apparently got way too hot and lead to the rivet melting.

A plus if I need to make some aluminum ingots, but my heat shield came off a little bit.

I've got some SS rivets on the way I'm going to try next. I'll update this post with the results.

So I guess soldering anything to the bottom skirt would be a bad idea.

Well, the new steel rivets worked fine.

After the brew day, I think that the aluminum ones will work fine as long as you don't put the keg under a large amount of intense heat, such as a banjo burner at it's highest pressures. Since I wasn't trying to bring water to a boil as fast as possible or anything else for that matter, I didn't replicate the pressure I had the burner on when the rivets melted.

I also took the time to drill and riveted some aluminum flashing to the stand around the burners as a windshield/heat shield.

I definitely think this improved the efficiency of the brewstand's burners.

I can take a picture of this if anyone wants, but it's pretty self explanatory and shouldn't take more than 20-30 minutes.

klyph said:

So I guess soldering anything to the bottom skirt would be a bad idea.

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Soldering anything to the skirt would be a bad idea in a direct fired kettle. It is largely disconnected from the thermal system within the kettle and will get inferno hot.

I cut two 6" wide vents in the skirts of my direct fired keggles. It really helped direct exhaust heat. I don't run my banjos at anywhere near their max output. I'm usually not in a huge hurry.

diatonic said:

I cut two 6" wide vents in the skirts of my direct fired keggles. It really helped direct exhaust heat. I don't run my banjos at anywhere near their max output. I'm usually not in a huge hurry.

Click to expand...

Wow, what a great idea. I'm gonna copy your idea and make some "exhaust ports". Thanks! I was wondering, what about using a hole saw or unibit and making holes surrounding the base instead of cutting slots?