yet another bulkhead design (with pics)

inspired by the electric element in my HLT, here are pics of the bulkheads i made up for the water outlet and sight gauge.

i tried out silver soldering on a garbage nipple i had laying around (ignore the sealant on the other end). i used stay brite #8 and stay clean liquid flux. washers are all stainless steel from lowes. i made my own silicone gaskets from a sheet of it from mcmaster (part 86045K441).



side view:



inner cooler wall sits between the silicone gasket and the SS washer to its right.



HLT outlet:



inside:



sight gauge:



i admit to being a fan of tightening things to get them to stop leaking, and not a fan of involving the outer wall of the cooler for any kind of compression seal.

I like it! Looks like it would be very sturdy.

When soldering this together, witch seems like the only sure way to make it leak fire with a gasket or O-ring, do you need to use flux? Does it seal between the washer and the pipe?

I wouldn't want it to leak fire. ;-)

Anytime you solder anything, you need flux. When stainless is involved, you want a strong acid flux. Most welding shops will have a silver solder kit with flux and solder for about $10.

Digging up another old thread...

Has anyone soldered the inner washer to prevent water from traveling between the nipple and washer? That would seem to keep water on the inside, rather than trapping it between the gasket/nipple/outer washer.