Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion
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You'll lose you hair from chemicals leaching from zinc. Or grow a third leg.
Amazon has them these are the ones I bought but I rhink you can find smaller quantities but it might not be any cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K1FCHQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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Definitely not food safe. If you don't like the Amazon ones, you can also order from Fastenal (but check to see if you have a store near you - they have quite a few.) In the end I bought a pack of 25 so I could use the extra ones as weights in my hop bags (when I use whole hops.) Home Depot has them in a customer bolt kit too (but good luck finding a sales person who knows what you're talking about!
)
Contact
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=47&product_id=85
$5 flat rate shipping, likely he would mail you out a few for a fair price.
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=47&product_id=85
$5 flat rate shipping, likely he would mail you out a few for a fair price.
I ordered from them a few times with no issues and prices are good. Cooler conversion kit was good because i didn't have to search for parts.
Yes it would be interesting to price compare bargain fittings vs lowes or Home Depot. At HD lots of people are buying the "build a bolt" for several dollars just for a washer or two. When you figure ALL the expenses it could be pocket change difference, and time and aggravation saved could tip the scales heavily toward a specialty vendor.
I just bought a 10 pack from fastenal for $2 5/8 ss washers. They fit perfectly but I still needed the larger fender washers on the outside do the ball valve wouldn't spin. If there's a store by you just go there, lowes and HD don't carry much ss
us bargain fittings for the convenience of not having to search for parts. Laziness in a nutshell.
I definitely
Is there still a concern that the brass fittings are possibly lead coated, like there was at the beginning of this thread?
Should I even bother with this? http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html
My ball valve says it's lead free, but I'm not sure about my other fittings. Was this more of a concern in 2007 when this thread was started? I got my fittings at Ace.
Should I even bother with this? http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html
My ball valve says it's lead free, but I'm not sure about my other fittings. Was this more of a concern in 2007 when this thread was started? I got my fittings at Ace.
I'll chime in, even if I sound stupid.
I got a cheap Coleman cooler, when I took it apart, I noticed the threads looked familiar. It was the same as standard PVC 3/8 thread. I just put an o-ring on the PVC, ran it all the way in and put the old parts back on that came with the cooler. Used a plastic ball valve for your house. Works great, never leaked. It cost like $6 plus the cooler.
I'm cheap!
I got a cheap Coleman cooler, when I took it apart, I noticed the threads looked familiar. It was the same as standard PVC 3/8 thread. I just put an o-ring on the PVC, ran it all the way in and put the old parts back on that came with the cooler. Used a plastic ball valve for your house. Works great, never leaked. It cost like $6 plus the cooler.
I'm cheap!
Okay I returned all of my fittings to Loews which were brass and were 3/8 inch parts. My return was 29.00 dollars I ordered everything from bargainfittings.com in stainless in stead of brass upsizing to 1/2 inch parts including an extra bulkhead and washer (which probably added $6.00 to the bill). Including the $5.00 shipping charge my bill was $42.00 I received it via priority mail two days later. I would recommend this for price and ease. I went with the two piece ball valve a more expensive 3 piece valve was an option.
10 gallon Loews $47.00
Bought all all brass fittings but couldn't not find stainless washers anywhere. Returned all parts to loews 29.00 dollars Was pointed to site bargainfittings.com received all stainless parts priority mail for less than 40 dollars. I also found the 1/2 inch coupling fits better than than the one listed in this thread.
Bought all all brass fittings but couldn't not find stainless washers anywhere. Returned all parts to loews 29.00 dollars Was pointed to site bargainfittings.com received all stainless parts priority mail for less than 40 dollars. I also found the 1/2 inch coupling fits better than than the one listed in this thread.
Aluminum kegs are old and rare...most if not all kegs these days are stainless AFAIK.
laytoni said:
Hey just a FYI .... I had the same problem source in the SS washers..... I ended getting mine at a local ace hardware..... I know best sells then as well as true value hardware if you have any of those locally to you. It seems you already bought them online but just for your info it seems the hardware stores have more than the big boxes when you need " specialty" items.
You can buy a false bottom, make a manifold using copper or cpvc or you use a SS water hose and make a filter(forgot what that's called)
jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
laytoni said:
wilserbrewer said:
That's what I was thinking. Were Hoff-Stevens aluminum? Those are long gone.
To answer the question directly, stainless is easier to clean and aluminum transfers heat better. 6 of one and a half dozen of the other... I prefer stainless.
2ndsilverevo
Member
they put lead in brass for added machine-ability. also if the content is real low they dont have to post the lead percentage. like a lot of other alloys you dont have to add much for dramatic change of the characteristics of the base metal.
xtian116 said:I'll chime in, even if I sound stupid.
I got a cheap Coleman cooler, when I took it apart, I noticed the threads looked familiar. It was the same as standard PVC 3/8 thread. I just put an o-ring on the PVC, ran it all the way in and put the old parts back on that came with the cooler. Used a plastic ball valve for your house. Works great, never leaked. It cost like $6 plus the cooler.
I'm cheap!
Jus a FYI .... I'm in the hvac business and went through the whole union training gig etc etc.... One of the things we were always taught and I actually wrote into BYO magazine abut a year ago on this too when they told people to make hop spiders out of PVC. PVC when heated to over 130 degrees f, will also leach high amounts of toxins and is not food safe. What you want to use is a relative of PVC known as cpvc which is food safe for potability. I'm not saying pvc is worse for you than lead but definitely not food safe for higher temps. That's why most coolers say on then keeps cold for "x" amount of hours only coolers that say hot/cold are good to use and most fittings from hardware or big box stores are almost never heat potable. My point is use cpvc not PVC for heat potability.
hmmm
So I finally made a mash tun using Flyguys build and thought I would chime in.
In my 2 gallon test it never leaked but on my first brew day I lost about 1 cup of liquid. After messing around with the inside and outside parts I only made the leak worse. I finally figured it out, I could not find 5/8 fender washers so I bought a pack of 10 SS 5/8 standard washers which are slightly thicker. Once I took the nipple out I put 2 SS washers on the inside, this made it so the rubber gromet was not resting on the threads of the nipple which I think caused the leak. Because I increased the space on the inside I only needed 2 washers on the outside. So far no leaks once I made this change.
Also I missed the warnings about fake SS braid and bought one of the plastic ones instead. It seemed to work ok so I am going to stick with it for now, it floated in the mash but I used my spoon to sink it before lautering. Since I specifically asked for a SS braid at my local Home Depot and they gave me this crap instead Lowes will be getting more of my business in the future.
In my 2 gallon test it never leaked but on my first brew day I lost about 1 cup of liquid. After messing around with the inside and outside parts I only made the leak worse. I finally figured it out, I could not find 5/8 fender washers so I bought a pack of 10 SS 5/8 standard washers which are slightly thicker. Once I took the nipple out I put 2 SS washers on the inside, this made it so the rubber gromet was not resting on the threads of the nipple which I think caused the leak. Because I increased the space on the inside I only needed 2 washers on the outside. So far no leaks once I made this change.
Also I missed the warnings about fake SS braid and bought one of the plastic ones instead. It seemed to work ok so I am going to stick with it for now, it floated in the mash but I used my spoon to sink it before lautering. Since I specifically asked for a SS braid at my local Home Depot and they gave me this crap instead Lowes will be getting more of my business in the future.
Quick Question? How much grain can be mashed in this 10g cooler? I just got a sanke keg (just cut the top off!!) and moving up to 10gallon batches. I usually mash about 12lbs 5 gallons water. Can you do 24lb 10g? Anybody have any info? Thanks.
JonGrafto
Well-Known Member
nextgenxx said:
Go to http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
They say at 1.25 qt/lb you can do about 25 lbs of grain.
*This was post #666 for me*
I saw this link a few pages back http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=47&product_id=85
Wondering if anybody could help as to what else I would order from them for the complete parts to make the mash tun. I know the obvious with the ball valve, but is there anything else?
Also probably going to go with the braided stainless hose method as opposed to a false bottom if that makes a difference.
Wondering if anybody could help as to what else I would order from them for the complete parts to make the mash tun. I know the obvious with the ball valve, but is there anything else?
Also probably going to go with the braided stainless hose method as opposed to a false bottom if that makes a difference.
I went with a screen instead of a SS braid. $10 bucks, stiff enough you don't have to worry about crushing or deforming when stirring the mash. I took the nipple out of it and put it directly on the coupler so it fit in my HD cooler without having to crimp the end.
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=47&product_id=171
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=47&product_id=171
will_rouse
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When I cut my SS braid with a back saw It left the ends pretty frayed. Do I need to clip these off or not worry about them?
JonGrafto
Well-Known Member
will_rouse said:
I clipped mine with side cutters and still had some frayed ends. I just took needle nose pliers and folded them inward and it worked well.
GetSudz
Well-Known Member
Just finished a 5 gal Rubbermaid cooler and had to make a few mods...
I purchased the Create a Bolt at Home Depot. Used one SS washer inside and three outside.
I purchased 5/8 faucet O-ring for outside nipple but needed to add one rubber garden hose washer and added extra zinc washer to outside.
I also need to add additional rubber washer to inside to keep it all snug and water proof.
I used a 3 foot SS braid and just wrapped it around the bottom of the cooler instead of cutting it into small straight piece
Water tight with 170 F water !
I purchased the Create a Bolt at Home Depot. Used one SS washer inside and three outside.
I purchased 5/8 faucet O-ring for outside nipple but needed to add one rubber garden hose washer and added extra zinc washer to outside.
I also need to add additional rubber washer to inside to keep it all snug and water proof.
I used a 3 foot SS braid and just wrapped it around the bottom of the cooler instead of cutting it into small straight piece
Water tight with 170 F water !
great job
TheRooster
Member
Love the instructions!
I've searched a bit through this thread, but haven't found anything that addresses the fact that Home Depot 10 gallon coolers have a larger opening now, and the 3/8" size is no where close to what is needed.
Has anyone built one recently with this new cooler, and if so, did you just increase the size of all the parts?
Has anyone built one recently with this new cooler, and if so, did you just increase the size of all the parts?
I built my 10g Rubbermade MLT using a 1/2" bulkhead. Stripped all the plastic spigot parts from the cooler first and the bulkhead fit perfectly through the spigot port...
Cheers!
Cheers!
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