My Sankey Fermenter Build

I thought I would make my first contribution to this site as I am new member... So here goes... I liked the Idea of Sabco's fermenter with the 4" tri clamp on the top. I thought this was a great idea because one could reach their whole arm in to clean properly but, I wasn't ready to drop the $$$ they were asking... SO, I purchased the 4" sanitary fitting though St. Pats of Texas. ( I read some not so good things about them but, they were great to me), and got to welding. The hose you see sticking out of the sankey is an argon purging hose to remove all the O2 while welding. For now I will be using my standard racking cane for getting the goods out and into my kegs. I thought I would post some photos of how it all went down...

More Photos...

Nice! Did that back purge setup work ok for you? If you cut the hole with a grinder, it worked great! If you didn't, what method did you use?

That's really nice!! great post.

The Back purge worked fantastic! It was my first time back purging so I practiced a bit on a scrap tube I had kicking around. I was quite surprised myself at how clean it was inside the keg after welding. It still needed some elbow grease and polishing but I got it.. I used a 4.5" grinder with a .045 cut off wheel. Slow and steady was key.

Kewl - cheers!

Great idea, and great looking weld !

Very well done! How much time did this project take, and how quickly would it be a second time now that you have a technique?

You could start selling these and undercut sabco

How much was the 4" tri clamp set?

Thanks, the process of making took about 3 hours. BUT, prior to that I spent a lot of time thinking about execution. The tri clamp set was $45.50 through St. pats. I thought it was super cheap considering some of of my sources wanted as much as $125.

Very nice work there, bt. That weld is sexy! Did you think about keeping the original fitting on the top, and making your new hole on the bottom of the keg? That way you could mount a 2" tri-clamp on it to make a convenient dump valve. Of course, then you got to put legs on you fermenter. Still, its great to have a big enough opening for access to the inside. I want one!

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that, but the "dish" shape at the bottom or top of the keg isn't a steep enough angle to get the trub and yeast out. I think I will eventuality put a rotating racking arm in on the side. Where can one purchase a rotating racking arm?

Exactly what I was thinking of doing.

If you get around to building one I would love to see it. I noticed that Better Bottle makes a small plastic racking arm that requires a 1/2" hole or so, and is removable for cleaning. It might be a great option. Does any body use these small racking arms?

btgold29 said:

I think I will eventuality put a rotating racking arm in on the side. Where can one purchase a rotating racking arm?

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First off, very sexy weld! I just bought a tig welder myself and still having a tough time on the thin wall stuff. Very nice job! If you need any more sanitary fittings or a custom racking arm made, shoot me an email through the site. Looking forward to see how this turn out.

Thanks!, We spoke on the phone the other day about that rotating racking arm... any luck on finding the fittings needed?

I did watch the video you sent me and see what you're talking about now. If you don't want to use a racking cane from the top of the cap, send me some dimensions on the cane and I'll bend one up. I noticed on the video they loosen a nut or clamp as well. You can try using a compression fitting with the stainless ferrule and if it drips I'm sure orings would work. I aslo have the sani ferrules (AKA tri-clamp) clamps and gasket if you want to weld that on and go that route. Just and FYI, I could have saved you about $12.00 on your 4" setup plus I'm local.

That's great news. Do you have the 4" products on your web site? I will take another set up because I want to weld up a second one. I think the o-ring idea will work for a rotating racking arm. I'll have to give you a call to discuss. Thanks for the info.

btgold29 said:

That's great news. Do you have the 4" products on your web site? I will take another set up because I want to weld up a second one. I think the o-ring idea will work for a rotating racking arm. I'll have to give you a call to discuss. Thanks for the info.

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They are not up yet but will be in the future. 6" and 8" are available too.

You can buy one here:

http://www.glaciertanks.com/Racking...king_Arm_1_60_Degree_with_1_1_2_TriClamp.html

I was also thinking of fabbing one up myself. since I don't have TIG capabilities, I was planning on cutting a hole in a blank tri clover cap and then brazing the bend pick up tube into it (with the grooved ends of the cap facing outwards) and then brazing the back side of that to a standard ferrule. It would end up looking like the one I posted, but the parts would probably cost less than $10 since 1.5" and 2" ferrules and caps can be had for cheap, and the only additional material you need is a short length of ss tubing.

Considering you can obviously TIG quite well, it seems like this would be a pretty easy project and save you a fair bit of coin.

Here are some sketches I did that may explain it better:

Here is what the unit would look like assembled:



And exploded:



The parts list is pretty simple:

1 - 3/4 ss tubing with a 90 bend
1 - 1/1.5" (same size) end cap, drilled to fit the tubing
1- 1" ferrule

If you have any questions or improvements on the design, please let me know

Here is what the unit would look like assembled:



And exploded:




This looks like a great Idea. And simple enough too. Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry if you mentioned it already but would you solder a ferrul to the fermenter as the other mounting part?

This is exactly what I need for my conical tank!!! Booyah!

btgold29 said:

This looks like a great Idea. And simple enough too. Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry if you mentioned it already but would you solder a ferrul to the fermenter as the other mounting part?

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Yep, using the methods outlined in the soldering-stainless thread. I originally drew up this design for a kettle, but it would work equally well with a fermenter. To make it rotating, you use a teflon gasket and just loosen the clamp a bit to turn, then tighten it back down once it is in place. Since the solder fills most, if not all, of the gap from the dimple, there shouldn't be much room for infections to hide.

Soldering in some cases seems like the easiest way to go. After a little practice, and based on some photos I have seen, the soldered joints look awesome! Nicely done and thanks for the info.. I've been working with Stainless brewing on gathering the parts needed to make it happen. I currently have a German Pilsner chugging along nicely in the the fermenter I built. As soon as its done I will be adding this racking cane idea. Unless of course, I immediately need more beer storage . When Its all complete I will post more photos.