Spike Brewing Kettles

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Chaostar said:
Mine came in recently. Had a few dings and about a three inch gouge in the wall. The welding is smooth on the outside but the inside not so much. Chunks of solder coming through from the outside weld. Havent had a chance to use it yet to check for leaks but I'll try to do so and post some pics this weekend. For a cheap kettle, it should work fine.
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I got my 13.5 gallon kettle earlier this week. Very happy with the size and weight. I haven't had a chance to brew with it yet, but I too was hoping for a cleaner looking weld on the inside of the kettle. Looking to see what I can do to clean it up, if I need to.
weld_003.JPG

weld_004.JPG


weld_002.JPG

weld_001.JPG
 
That one looks unfinished to me. I don't know much about welding but I looks like it was done from the outside and did not fill the gap all the way through to the inside. I too would expect it to look a lot cleaner. It also looks like a small streak of rust along the top of the fitting in the last pic.

I would sent the pictures and ask if this is normal.
 
That's amateurish at best, I haven't welded in 20 years and I could have done better. What's the point of grinding away above the weld?
 
kh54s10 said:
That one looks unfinished to me. I don't know much about welding but I looks like it was done from the outside and did not fill the gap all the way through to the inside. I too would expect it to look a lot cleaner. It also looks like a small streak of rust along the top of the fitting in the last pic.

I would sent the pictures and ask if this is normal.
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This is normal. It's called sugaring. It's a phenomenon that happens when welding stainless steel. Unlike carbon steel or aluminum you don't get that pretty back side weld UNLESS you back purge it with argon. Not to get too in depth but when you back purge with argon you can classify the weld as 'sanitary'. We are taking steps and investing in tooling to produce sanitary welds. They should be sanitary going forward later this year.
 
Hi all,
Just thought I'd chime in on Spikebrewing.
I ordered a 25 gallon kettle a few weeks ago. It came in, and I found that the welds were cracked and leaking.

Ben at Spikebrewing promply sent me out a new kettle. (he even covered the return shipping on the leaking one.) The welds on the new kettle look much better. I set it up and was able to brew last weekend. :ban:

I will echo others thoughts that I wish the fittings inside the pot looked better. But, the kettle is functional, and the price is right.

Most importantly, Ben is a stand-up guy who stands behind his products. Here are a few shots of the new kettle (including my BIAB insulation).

25 gallon kettle 1.jpg


25 gallon kettle 2 welds.jpg


25 gallon kettle 3 insulation.jpg
 
I'm sure it all comes down to personal opinion regarding what to expect out of a welding job. I don't think the welds in the pictures are amateurish because I know an amateur would blow right through the pot. The beads look pretty good and that's not easy. However, it wouldn't be that much more money or labor to smear some solar flux on the back before welding. You'd end up with much less sugaring and you wouldn't have to constantly educate the customer how what looks bad isn't as bad as it looks. Another way to spend 5 minutes to make a huge difference is to put a buffing wheel to those heat discoloration areas. That's just my humble opinion.
 
SpikeBrewing said:
This is normal. It's called sugaring. It's a phenomenon that happens when welding stainless steel. Unlike carbon steel or aluminum you don't get that pretty back side weld UNLESS you back purge it with argon. Not to get too in depth but when you back purge with argon you can classify the weld as 'sanitary'. For a brew kettle there is no need for a sanitary weld as you'll be cleaning the weld and then boiling in it, killing anything that may have been missed by your sanitizer. We could sanitary weld the fittings on but it would cost roughly $30 more per coupler as it's a much longer process.

We have taken steps to reduce the sugaring. We have an interference fit between the couplers and kettle and then pull them through. The interference fit eliminates the gap between the hole in the kettle and coupler greatly reducing the sugaring.

Cosmetically it's not the prettiest thing but we're brewing not trying to win a beauty contest. As for the rust... The welding process melts the metal obviously and a few iron oxides can form on the surface. Just rub a little bar keepers friend on there and it'll go away for good. We've sold many many kettles and have never once had a customer come back and tell us a batch was ruined because of any welds.



I'll respectfully disagree. I explained why in the above post
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I'm not sure how much trouble it would be, but couldn't you just offer sanitary welds as an upgrade cost? I'm sure some people won't care, but some people would pay the extra $.
 
Bobby_M said:
I'm sure it all comes down to personal opinion regarding what to expect out of a welding job. I don't think the welds in the pictures are amateurish because I know an amateur would blow right through the pot. The beads look pretty good and that's not easy. However, it wouldn't be that much more money or labor to smear some solar flux on the back before welding. You'd end up with much less sugaring and you wouldn't have to constantly educate the customer how what looks bad isn't as bad as it looks. Another way to spend 5 minutes to make a huge difference is to put a buffing wheel to those heat discoloration areas. That's just my humble opinion.
Click to expand...

Solar Flux can't be used with food applications (that's coming directly from the company). It was my decision to leave the discoloration. I think the orangish/yellowish/blueish hue looks cool. We're always open to suggestions so if the customers want them buffed out we can do that (we used to buff them out actually).

As for the sugaring... It's an ongoing process to reduce as much as possible. We've invested in tooling and our results are awesome. We've almost completly eliminated the sugaring on the inside :rockin:

CIMG2576.jpg


uberg33k said:
I'm not sure how much trouble it would be, but couldn't you just offer sanitary welds as an upgrade cost? I'm sure some people won't care, but some people would pay the extra $.
Click to expand...

The sanitary welding consists of filling the kettle with argon and then welding. The tricky part is there are two holes in the kettle so one hole gets welded (quickly before the argon runs out) then refill and weld the other coupler on. This obviously adds a lot of time per kettle which equals more $$. We can sanitary weld the couplers on as a custom job but we haven't had one person ask for this. The question comes up now and then but after explaining that you don't need a sanitary weld during the brewing process (fermenting is a different story) they decided to stick their money into other necessary items. Plus our welding process has almost eliminated all sugaring (see pic above).


-Ben
 
That one looks a LOT better.

I don't know where I saw it but you can create metal cup with a few spaced pinholes that you prop against the opening on the inside and then put a hose barb in the coupling you're welding in with the argon just barely flowing in. It's a gas conservation method that also doesn't care how many other holes may be in the vessel.
 
I've had my Spike 9 gallon kettle a few months now. I don't have time to brew alot but I have had a number of successful BIAB batches.
Actually, my only complaint is so minor and not the fault of Spike. The thermometer post is long and I have to be careful not to tear my bag. Now, if that's the worst thing, I have it made.
I'd buy another one. Maybe I will when I grow up.;)
 
What about using the same technique you have been using, but welding just the inside, and not the outside? It's more important that the inside weld be easy to clean.

Here's the same welded fitting, shown from the inside and from the outside. I'm suggesting that the weld be swapped.

The kettle I have is working for me, just making a suggestion for improvements in the future. :D

weld-inside.jpg


weld-outside.jpg
 
frisbee91 said:
What about using the same technique you have been using, but welding just the inside, and not the outside? It's more important that the inside weld be easy to clean.

Here's the same welded fitting, shown from the inside and from the outside. I'm suggesting that the weld be swapped.

The kettle I have is working for me, just making a suggestion for improvements in the future. :D
Click to expand...

Welding that far down inside the kettle might be a little challenging or impossible when it comes time to weld between the coupling and bottom of the kettle.
 
StainlessBrewing said:
Welding that far down inside the kettle might be a little challenging or impossible when it comes time to weld between the coupling and bottom of the kettle.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. It all really comes down to aesthetics and what is more important to you; aesthetics or leak free welded fittings.
 
I am also taking a serious look at the Spike kettle. Just from the reading I have done I assumed sugaring on the inside was to be avoided for sanitary reasons. Welding of any kind is conducted under a sheild gas. The presents of oxygen causes porosity. If your welder knows what he/she is doing 100 percent penetration is achieved. Sugaring is caused when the molten metal comes into contact with oxygen on the other side. Now would this porosity provide a place for infections to hide? Or does the boil take care of that? Honestly I haven't run a tig machine in 30 years, but I remember stainless being an absolute dream to weld. I have to hand it to your welder. Running a bead around such a small circumference is a royal pain in the backside.
 
Goose5 said:
I am also taking a serious look at the Spike kettle. Just from the reading I have done I assumed sugaring on the inside was to be avoided for sanitary reasons. Welding of any kind is conducted under a sheild gas. The presents of oxygen causes porosity. If your welder knows what he/she is doing 100 percent penetration is achieved. Sugaring is caused when the molten metal comes into contact with oxygen on the other side. Now would this porosity provide a place for infections to hide? Or does the boil take care of that? Honestly I haven't run a tig machine in 30 years, but I remember stainless being an absolute dream to weld. I have to hand it to your welder. Running a bead around such a small circumference is a royal pain in the backside.
Click to expand...

I'll be the first to admit that we have come a long way from where our welding started. We used to have a lot of sugaring on the backside. We sold all of our keggles with a lot of sugaring and many kettles as well. It really turns out to be just a cosmetic issue. I have never once had someone come back saying they can't clean the kettle or the sugaring ruined a batch.

With that said our backside welds look really really good (could almost be considered sanitary) and we'll keep finding ways to improve without raising the prices.
 
just ordered 15g. anyone recommend a burner for this particular kettle? I've been looking at Bayou SQ14 but would love to hear what you guys are using
 
I just bought a 10 gallon with the SQ14 burner. Check out photo on the thread Kettle first test run. Very happy all the equipment purchased.
 
so in the comments section of my order I put "da bears" being a fan and all. the guy had the nerve to put a $@##@ packers towel in my shipment.

don't worry, next time my dog takes a big runny one i'll use it. :D
 
Spike, check your PM. You sent me the wrong ball valve I believe :confused:


eta Ben is really fast about replying and extremely helpful. Great stuff !
 
gigantor said:
so in the comments section of my order I put "da bears" being a fan and all. the guy had the nerve to put a $@##@ packers towel in my shipment.

don't worry, next time my dog takes a big runny one i'll use it. :D
Click to expand...

Go Pack Go :rockin:

gigantor said:
Spike, check your PM. You sent me the wrong ball valve I believe :confused:

eta Ben is really fast about replying and extremely helpful. Great stuff !
Click to expand...

Glad we got it worked out :mug:
 
Formito said:
I just got one last week and I couldn't be happier. There was a bit of a mixup at first, but Ben was quick to send a replacement and a return shipping sheet right away. Brewing with this is a huge improvement over my older smaller kettle especially because the larger size lets me get a larger preboil volume with no boil over worries and higher efficiency overall. The different options for bulkhead placement are great too. Lovin my sightglass.
51dadc57.jpg
Click to expand...

This makes me happy. Mine came cracked but looked great non the less...but im glad he made you whole. I was worried, I got mine late PST so havent heard back from them yet. Once whole I will def repost how the kettle worked for my first full boil.

Edit. Got a nice email this morning and they took full responsibility and are shipping another out Monday...so I should get it for next week (hope fed ex is early its my day off friday.) Great fast customer service...
 
I was looking at these, the 10 gal with sight glass - see that the thermometer and ball valve are extra.

Adding the ball valve, thermometer, and 1/2" barb connection to be the same as the $337 Bilchmann 10 gal kettle on northern brewer, the spike kettle come out only $34 cheaper.

Am I missing something? At this point I'm thinking about buying an $80 pot and install my own ball valve


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Well Ben has been nothing but helpfull. I got the 10 gal 2 coupling for $170 which as mentioned before arrived with a crack. He promptly sent another one out and told me to keep the cracked one. (Try to have it welded then all I need is one more to go all grain) great customer service and 170 for a welded 10 gal was the best price I could find...add the great CS I will be getting my 3rd pot from them.
 
Much nicer! I am researching and pricing kettles and for a portion of this thread was going to check Spike off my list. Glad things are turning around and maybe later this year I will be ready to pull the trigger. on a trio of 15-20 gallon units to replace my keggles
 
I know this thread is about Spike's Kettles, but... I recently bought 2 of Spike's SS Conical Fermenters, and couldn't be happier with their customer service. A+ Thanks!
 

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