Nate's new mash tun

Here's a few pics of my new mash tun I put together this week. Bought the cooler on Amazon for under $40 shipped. Had a few parts laying around the garage. Bought a few from Bobby M to complete the build (sight glass and sparger).

How did you get the arm through the wall of the cooler? I have one of those and the threads aren't long enough. Did you use an adapter or something?

2" nipple and union from bobby m.

i was filling the mashtun to calibrate my sightglass. as i got over 6 gallons i started to see some weeping at the bottom two bulk heads fittings. Is there any way around this? i dont want to tighten the nuts on the back any more than i have already. I was thinking of maybe using some high temp caulk around the nipple before i made all the connections - thoughts?

I wouldn't throw any caulking anywhere that it would actually touch your beer. I don't know, maybe it wouldn't really be an issue but it sounds kinda sketchy to me.

I converted an Ice Cube cooler recently with parts that I scrapped together from hardware stores. On my first test fill with cold water everything held fine. Then I did a test run with hot water and it was leaking like crazy. I used some SS Fender washers that fit around the bulkhead and found a couple of O-rings to shove in there for good measure too and it sealed right up. The Fender washers helped shore up the gap that I had without over tightening the nut on the inside.

Bear with me here... I hope this will make sense but heres a word diagram of how mine ended up being set up (more or less).

Ball Valve - Fender Washer - O-Ring - Cooler Wall - O-Ring - Fender Washers - Nut

Hope that helps...

What kind of setup do you have? Will this be used in a three teir system or just a Stock pot?

Most of the new good setups you can buy have silicone flat washers on the outside as well as the inside. Put some on the outside and give that a try.

maybe i should go with a silicon flat washer instead of the o-ring. maybe it would be a better seal.

umm caulking is made of silicon. most washers and o rings are made of silicon. What's the difference?

Do you have a link on amazon on the cooler? I am currently looking for a 10Gallon one.

Thanks

homebrewfinds.com last time i ordered it

kegtoe said:

umm caulking is made of silicon. most washers and o rings are made of silicon. What's the difference?

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Hell if I know but I figure at the very least most washers and o rings that are made of silicon are produced for plumbing of some sort so I figure they're expecting someone to potentially drink water that touched it. Silicon caulking is made for sealing windows on houses and things like that.... I don't know man.... I'm just saying I wouldn't make my own spatula out of silicon caulking just because kitchen stores sell silicon spatulas.

Fid said:

I don't know man.... I'm just saying I wouldn't make my own spatula out of silicon caulking just because kitchen stores sell silicon spatulas.

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I like that analogy :mug

I found the original o-rings and retainers from the original spigot and used those. They seemed to work pretty well.