Weldless at Home Depot or Lowes?

Just a Weldless fittings questions that I hope someone can answer for me! We have a 15.5 gallon stainless brewpot which we want to add a weldless bulkhead and ball valve to. Is there a parts list out there which I have missed to buy the parts needed at Home Depot or Lowes, or is it better to order the weldless fitting kits online? Which one do you prefer? If there is a list for the parts we can buy at the store and could you be kind enough to share? Thank you!

I could never find the stainless steel washers at HD or lowes all the washers they have that are big enough are galvanized/zinc plated. I also dont think they carry silicone o rings either but I could be wrong on that. Probably be a lot easier to order the kit but shipping can be expensive

Bargainfittings.com would be the easiest. Running around town trying to find the parts will waste more time and gas than the few bucks you might save on shipping. If you have an industrial fluid control products company nearby you might find everything but it would most likely cost more.

Lowes carries the 3/4" stainless washers, they are in the speciality hardware section (those cabinets with the big flat drawers). You won't be able to find the silicone orings. The Buna-n ones will work, but they aren't rated for the higher temps of a boil kettle, so it would be best to get those at a lhbs or online.

Aside from that, (assuming you aren't looking for all stainless fittings) you should easily be able to find everything else at Lowes. For my BK, I have a copper pickup tube with a 1/2" pipe x 1/2" NPT fitting that goes through the washer / oring and then the kettle wall. On the outside it's another washer and then a 1/2" ball valve.

I did the same thing your looking to try to do. Believe me just order them online and save yourself the headache. That is unless you like wandering around home depot for a couple hours.

xxdcmast said:

That is unless you like wandering around home depot for a couple hours.

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ya say that like it's a bad thing! I'm not sure I could trust a guy that doesn't love man-land!

Sounds good, thanks guys!

Go with Bargin fittings if you just need one or find all of the Mc-Master parts if you plan on doing a bunch.

The easiest weldless bulkhead for a drain in a kettle would be a 1/2" MNPT to 1/2" sweat fitting in copper or brass inserted through the hole from the inside (with the 1/2" threads facing out), silicone oring or washer, then the ball valve. If you can't get the assembly tight enough for the Oring to seal, you can make up the slack on the inside of the kettle with 3/4" stainless washers or a 1/2" locknut. Having the Oring directly between the ball valve and kettle wall is a very reliable leakproof setup.

The reason I suggest a 1/2" sweat fitting on the inside is that I assume you'd want to add some coppper tubing as a siphon tube to the bottom of the kettle.