what should I weld onto my aluminum brewpot

I have a friend who is willing to do some TIG welding on my aluminum brew pot. So that part is taken care of. Now I realized I have no idea what I am supposed to be welding on there. I've hunted around the forums but it seems like everyone already knows exactly what they are supposed to be welding onto their brew pots so I haven't made much sense of it. Can anyone direct me to the pieces I would need?

My goal is to add a valve at the bottom so I don't have to try to pour from the top and maybe be able sparge in there too, also a nice thermometer. If there are other useful things I can add as long as he is willing to weld I would be interested to hear about them.

I guess I want something like this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/faq-aluminum-pots-boil-kettles-49449/index3.html#post499728
on the outside but I don't know where he got the actual part he welded on. Then do I really need to have a dip tube in there (I can tolerate tilting the pot if I need to). I usually do immersion cooling right in the boil pot which is why it would be nice to have a thermometer right in there. If you don't feel like explaining all this to me and actually know of a good thread to direct me too that would help also (I couldn't seem to find what I needed by searching).

i bought a double female coupling which was welded to my pot


a double male threaded coupling to join the ball valve and female coupling


ball valve

this is for an aluminum pot? you would need aluminum fittings, I have never seen that. I also would not try welding an aluminum pot, it might be possible but it would take an artist to get a good weld on something like that.

The "normal" things to add are a valve, a thermometer, and a sight glass. As far as the welding, if you just get two or three 1/2" NPT full couplers welded in you can do whatever you need, the rest is just plumbing.

k1v1116 said:

this is for an aluminum pot? you would need aluminum fittings, I have never seen that. I also would not try welding an aluminum pot, it might be possible but it would take an artist to get a good weld on something like that.

Click to expand...

Mcmaster-carr carries all kinds of aluminum fittings. One would imagine that if his friend is offering to TIG weld his brew kettle that he at least knows what he's doing... But that does leave the question of whether the pot in question is one of the restaurant-grade aluminum pots with thick walls, or a thin sheet metal aluminum turkey fryer pot (which probably couldn't handle fittings even if you could manage the welding)

true, I guess I just pictured a cheap turkey fryer type pot. didnt know about the aluminum fittings.

Thanks for the replies! Not too worried about the welding, he usually does welds for vacuum chambers so I think this should be relatively easy (and yes it is a thick restaurant-grade pot).

Those fittings look good but they all seem to be stainless or brass, I'm not sure how it is supposed to work for an AL pot because then my welded pieces need to be threaded aluminum (i.e. delicate). Also how high up do I need to drill the hole? Any word on how welding thermometers in place is supposed to work?
I'll probably still get a stainless ball valve though.

the only peice which needs to be aluminum is the double female coupling because thats whats actually being welded.

then the rest can be stainless- it wont matter

or theres always these:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/weldless.html