Nipples or Couplings?

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left field brewer

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I am about to take some gear to a welder for fittings for a couple of 30qt pots which I use as HLT and BK. I am also currently working on converting a 50l tall keg to a MLT and was wondering what the pros and cons of using nipples vs. couplings for each. With the BK I was planning on building some sort of hop strainer a la Bobby M(maybe w/Bazooka inside) but near the edge of pot since it has a flat bottom and want to leave as little as possible in the tun. Anyways, I want an easy way to install/remove it(two pieces w/compression?). Would it be better to use a nipple in BK to keep crap from getting in threads inside coupling? Thanks and cheers.
 
I would think that the biggest advantage of using a couplers is that the threads are protected. If you weld the nipples in and you damage them, you will have to pay to have the old one taken out and a new one put in. The problem with the coupler is that your fitting is going stick out further if you have to add a nipple to your coupler. I just had couplers put on my kegs.
 
Use couplings. So what if crap gets in the threads, you boil for at least an hour anyway so no chance of infection there. If getting the threads inside a coupler clean is a major concern then take a nipple and cut through the threads perpendicular, then use this nipple as a thread chaser. It will scrape out anything inside the coupler. I don't really think going that far is necessary though. Exterior threads are easier to damage and harder to fix once you have them welded to the inside of your kettle(tap vs die, taps take less room to use). I hope this helps.
 
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