Keggle

What are you guys doing to them before you use it, cleaning with something really mean and nasty?
I am planning on taking it by the welding shop for a 1/2" nipple to be welded on.

I cant seem to find many pics of what people have done to theirs

I would go weldless; it affords you the ability to strip it down and clean it thoroughly as needed and ensures that in the unlikely event that you ruin your threads you are only out a new fitting…… but this is a ford/chevy argument at best

Why do people always pick 1/2 inch instead 3/8? I want to get the false bottom from midwest and the pipe is 3/8 so I figured I would do 3/8s and then get the 3/8s blichman valve. Is this not a good idea?

What the the chances of you stripping the nipple?

thedude123 said:

Why do people always pick 1/2 inch instead 3/8? I want to get the false bottom from midwest and the pipe is 3/8 so I figured I would do 3/8s and then get the 3/8s blichman valve. Is this not a good idea?

What the the chances of you stripping the nipple?

Click to expand...

Well I have been known to F@#$ up an anvil so who knows. I guess I need to hit the metal supermarket tomorrow see about making a false bottom

I'd say people go 1/2" because they plan on expanding their system at some point. If you plan to use a march pump they require 1/2" on the inlet side, and you restrict flow on the outlet. It's a one time purchase, and worth a few extra bucks to do it 1/2" the first time around.
For cleaning, Bar Keepers Friend and/or Oxyclean work great and are at your local supermarket. BKF is good for scrubbing crud away and leaving a nice finish, Oxy is good for dissolving the crud, use it with hot water and let it soak.
-Ben

+1 on the oxy.

I use a long handled pot scrubber from the kitchen to get residue off the sides.

Saves your back.

thedude123 said:

What the the chances of you stripping the nipple?

Click to expand...

Depends on how good of a smooth talker you are.

What would you use to connect the 3/8 pipe from the false bottom to the 1/2 nipple?

BKF and a green scrubby works great for stainless.

Avoid 3/8 at all cost - they clog way to fast. Looking back I would have used 1" or even 1.5" and stepped down to 1/2 using bushings.

That makes sense. But would it still clog with a false bottom?

Compression fittings come in all kinds of tube and NPT size combinations. You would want 3/8" tube to 1/2" NPT.

thedude123 said:

Why do people always pick 1/2 inch instead 3/8? I want to get the false bottom from midwest and the pipe is 3/8 so I figured I would do 3/8s and then get the 3/8s blichman valve. Is this not a good idea?

What the the chances of you stripping the nipple?

Click to expand...

the tube is 3/8in but they sell a 3/8 tube to 1/2in NPT compression fitting.