Heavy Wall Sight Glasses Available

Hey guys, I'm putting sight glasses in all three of my vessels (don't tell me why I'm crazy). Anyway, I had to buy more than I required to make it worth the shipping so I'm going to have some available (no, I'm not going into business).

I've got limited quanities of Pyrex 1/2" OD x 3/32" wall thickness (ok maybe that's "medium wall") cut down to 17" lengths. This is just about right so that it won't stick up past the height of your sankey keg based vessel. They should fit into a 1/2" compression fitting and I'm going to experiement with brass/stainless/nylon ferrules so I can't advise you on that yet. I plan to add additional smash protection by slotting the sanke dip tubes that I knew I was saving for a reason.

Any interest? I think the cost is going to be somewhere near $10 each + actual shipping with a little discount for more than one.

PM me.

I'd be interested, once you figure out all the connection hardware.

yeah, me too. let me know what's up when you figure out what it will take to mount.

For mounting, I was thinking about one of those Shark Bite connectors available at the Depot.

I'm in.
PM sent.

I love not knowing how much I have in there..

Cheesefood said:

For mounting, I was thinking about one of those Shark Bite connectors available at the Depot.

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I guess they'd be ok if you find one that's pipe thread on one end. When I was messing with putting my probe thermo into the keggle, I found that stacking some O-rings under the compression nut was a "gentle" way to close down on the probe. I think something like that would work well here too. I scored some 316 stainless compression fittings cheap on Ebay but I'm a little weary clamping down on GLASS with those stainless ferrules in there. I'd imagine brass to be a bit more forgiving. Lowes doesn't stock those plastic/nylon ferrules in anything bigger than 3/8", otherwise those might be best.

Mcmaster has PVDF Compression Tube Fittings that seem promising:

Max. Pressure: 50 psi @ 68° F
Temperature Range: -40° to +275°

If you use the elbow, you might even be able to pull off a weldless setup in one piece if you can source some locknuts.

Just a quick update. I didn't receive the glass yet and I'm on business until Thursday. For those that expressed interest, sorry for the delay. I'll get in touch on Friday and let you know how they work out in a compression fitting and then you can let me know if you're still interested. Sorry again.

Don't even think about brass or stainless or any other metal. They won't seal to glass. If you can't find plastic/nylon/PTFE ferrules, you can try to get your hands on some PTFE mechanical packing (Chesterton, etc) and use that as a sealing material behind a compression nut. even a heavy wrap of thread tape might do the job.

Bobby...
soup to nuts, how much do you think it'll cost to make one of these into a weldless sight gauge?

The Shark Bites look promising. Just use a 3/8" npt x 1/2" tube fitting out of the keggle, short 1/2 tubing to the Shark Bite elbow, and you're up and away. You could even think about using the tee and running in a temp probe or a valve.

Yeah, I was going to say that it depends on whether or not you have a bulkhead already installed or if you're starting fresh.

Complete weldless DIY you'd need:

3/8" close nipple, One 3/8" locknut, Two washers, two silicone Orings or gaskets, a 3/8" elbow and a 3/8" NPT to 1/2" compression fitting.

If you've already got a 1/2" bulkhead for drain you COULD get away with adding in a TEE then putting the compression fitting into that. Cheaper of course but you'll have to cap the top to maintain siphon to get the last 3 gallons out.
I don't know what it would come out to costing you though. Buyfittingsonline.com has a lot of the parts in stainless at really good prices. $1.40 for the SS elbow just as a price comparison. I think the cheapest, if it works, is a elbow that has compression on one end and 3/8" MPT on the other. If you can get two locknuts on with gaskets in between, it would be slick.

I do know that the keg post O-rings make perfect packing for a 1/2"OD tube. If you stack 2-3 of them inside there, it tightens enough to keep it from leaking or being pulled out. I might also use teflon faucet packing that I found in Lowes to better stand up to the heat.

O-rings sound like a very good idea if you can't find plastic. I tried metal on glass and it just didn't work. What did work was glass encased in a snug plastic type tubing. Allowed me to come down on the metal compression fitting into the plastic casing.

Here's a pic:

http://i8.tinypic.com/63vkcg4.jpg

On the left, you can see the plastic around the glass. It fit a 1/2" compression perfect. Just another option.

I may be interested as well

Ok, I'm back home and received the glass. They are awesome. I couldn't imagine using a racking cane now that I see the glass. Aside from smashing them with something, they seem tough enough. I replaced the ferrule in the 1/2" compression fitting with two #110 Orings (same as the ball lock post Orings) and tightened the nut down until the glass didn't spin and it doesn't leak. I didn't test it hot yet. Pics to follow. I'll be following up with those who expressed interest first to see if you're still interested.

Henryhill, Your PM box is full.


I'm shipping out my first batch of 3 tomorrow so I'll have a better idea of what shipping will be with the 17" length. If the shipping is crazy, I may offer the option of "media mail" which will be slower but more reasonable. I'll just say it's a roll of posters or something. I apologize to all that have sent PMs and have not received my response quickly. I was out of town last week and then hosted the big brew out on Saturday. I'm finally ready to start taking payment and shipping but I don't want to quote too many just yet until I know what crazy games USPS wants to play with the longer box/tube.

Anyway, as soon as I know what the actual shipping is going to be, I'll reply to every PM in my box.

Not sure if Bobbie has any of these left, but I picked up a set. They are very hardcore. More rigid than I was anticipating. If you can, I would reccomend getting in on these.

Yeah, I have a bunch. http://www.suebob.com/brew/equipment.htm

Now that I found a bunch of compression elbows I'm pissed that I had a NPT elbow welded into my vessels. Oh well. I finally got around to installing mine anyway. Here's a tip, two silicone O-rings work perfectly as a ferrule in the compression fitting.

Bobby_M said:

Yeah, I have a bunch. http://www.suebob.com/equipment.htm

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I just ordered one. It looks like you have the wrong url there, Bobby_M

http://suebob.com/brew/equipment.htm

-Steve

For anyone who's interested in these, I can vouch for the quality. I checked them out in person over the weekend...

Bobby_M,

Thank-you every much for the wonderful sight glass tubes I received today. They will make a great addition to my brewing equipment. I received them quickly and in excellent shape. They will come in handy in the very near future and I trust they will last me a long, long time.

Thanks again, friend,
HH