Welded Keggles - In-es or out-es

This started here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/drilling-my-keggle-holes-130969/ The end of the post....page 3 as of today.

For those folks who own welded keggles, are your fittings flush or half in?

For the Half In's how does the inside of your weld/keggle look? I have a problem, even after purging, verifying that the inside of the weld is clean all the way around.

For the flush, I know it is clean all the way around and I verify my threads work inside and out. Have you had issues? If so please let me know what they are.

Here are some images of my flush welds:



and

No problem at all given the threads are accessible.

Bobby_M said:

No problem at all given the threads are accessible.

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just a question, do you have a preference?

i have couplers welded half-in-half-out on my keggles and prefer it that way so i have more room to wrench in the fitting on the inside. if it were a flush mount, i think i'd have a harder time getting good torque on it... but i'm sure it will work fine either way.

I do the flush inside method, always lots of fun welding the bottom fitting on the inside. After welding and cleanup I run a 1/2" pipe tap through the couplings to remove flux and restore threads to original depth.

Mine are a half in, and one half coupler flush mounted by dumb welder who did not drill a big enough hole to keep the crud from getting stuck inside it. Cleaned it as best I could with step drill from inside.

I don't weld, but can't you inspect the bottom inside weld with a mirror?

Mine don't leak and since everything is boiled not sure how sanitary the welds have to be.

kladue said:

I do the flush inside method, always lots of fun welding the bottom fitting on the inside. After welding and cleanup I run a 1/2" pipe tap through the couplings to remove flux and restore threads to original depth.

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Thats what I have been doing too. Yea that bottom weld is a pain, but I think the end product is worth it

Thanks for the input guys, please keep it coming.

Half coupling for the upper port and full coupling for the lower port, both welded flush to the inside. Upper port is for thermometer and only requires threads on the outside. The lower port requires threads on the inside for the pickup tube. I have no problem installing or removing the pickup tube, although I use a pipe union in the middle of the horizontal pickup tube pipe which makes it very easy to remove the false bottom for cleaning. I don't normally remove the pipe section attached to the drain port on the inside as it doesn't get in the way at all.

Catt22 said:

Half coupling for the upper port and full coupling for the lower port, both welded flush to the inside. Upper port is for thermometer and only requires threads on the outside. The lower port requires threads on the inside for the pickup tube. I have no problem installing or removing the pickup tube, although I use a pipe union in the middle of the horizontal pickup tube pipe which makes it very easy to remove the false bottom for cleaning. I don't normally remove the pipe section attached to the drain port on the inside as it doesn't get in the way at all.

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It sure looks like the tapered part of your screen is sealing off the flow leaving you 1/2 or less that the kegs ID for a filterng area in square inches.
I've always seen the union plumbers on the job sites with me always wipe their solder joints while the solder was still hot in a liquid state with a damp rag which makes for cleaner looking professional joints, just a tip in the future. It's that clean professional look i'vs always seen the past 30 years in the electrical trades as would watch and learn from other trades like the rotary fusion Tig welding in hospitals and research labs. Glass gas lines was very intresting besides being given cut and polished scraps for short O2 sight windows to see the bubbling stone in the wort to the fermenters.Many of stainless ball valves have come my way free for the asking on big jobs besides my first hands on Tig welding instruction in and animal research lab as well the Livermore Rad Lab. Just a heads up tip not to belittle you bro or any other member.

You are probably correct about the FB, but it works just fine regardless. Same for the sloppy sweating job. I wasn't concerned about the pickup tube being pretty. It was more important for me to be sure that it didn't leak and cause a break in the siphon. Both are doing the job as intended.