Can I JB weld a coupling to my keggle for a bulkhead?

I'm going to be building my first keggle next week and I am trying to figure out if it would make sense to JB weld the stainless coupling to the keggle instead of doing the weldless fitting. My though is that it might save a few bucks and be a simpler setup. But i'm concerned because I haven't seen any pics of anybody else doing this. Will it work? Is there any reason I shouldn't try this? Please help! Thanks.

JB weld is brittle. It might work for a while, but the joint will likely crack over time. It really doesn't cost that much for a bulkhead fitting. Try www.bargainfittings.com.

wont hold up. If you don't tig weld a ss coupling into the keg, you are better off using a 1/2" nipple, and tap the threads into a 3/4 inch hole. "Skotrats po mans keg conversion" or you can use Zymies weldless bulkhead fittings that are sold on all the homebrew supply sites.

http://www.skotrat.com/go/default/brewing-info/keg-conversion-101/

Thanks yuri, I most likely will just end up ordering the parts from that site, but i would sure like something welded.

Oldbrew, if I find a welder to do a stainless weld, any idea how much dinero do you think they would want per fitting?

Prices for welding vary widely, anywhere from around $100 an hour shop time to a free six pack, sorry for the vague answer, but its true.

FYI, you can always use the keggle w/out a bulkhead valve, just chill and syphon out of the keg, some actually prefer this method???

I would not trust JB Weld, imagine losing the valve mid boil...oh my!

I do not know the going rate in Lubbock Tx. but most of the time spent will be in the prep of meassuring drilling/fitting the coupling.

If you are handy, buy and fit the coupling into the keg. I'd say no more then $20. to weld it in if fitted. 15 minutes at most.

You want a welder that does dairy tank welding, or sanitary SS welding. They know how to back flood the area that they are welding with gas.

What happens to a weld if it isn't back-flooded with gas or isn't 'sanitary'? i've read that 'sanitary' is more for the clean, polished look. i mean, we just need the weld to hold the pieces together, right? it all gets cleaned and sanitized before each use, so is sanitary welding necessary?

nbspindel said:

.... so is sanitary welding necessary?

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No for a Mash tun, and not really for a boil kettle. A fermenter is a different game and should have sanitary welds.

yeah, my bk certainly isnt sanitary when I sparge into it! Filled with lacto!

nbspindel said:

What happens to a weld if it isn't back-flooded with gas or isn't 'sanitary'? i've read that 'sanitary' is more for the clean, polished look. i mean, we just need the weld to hold the pieces together, right? it all gets cleaned and sanitized before each use, so is sanitary welding necessary?

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For hot side equipment, any leak-proof weld will likely be fine. However, in the case of fermenters, chillers, and the like, the porosity of a non-back-purged weld will provide a place for unfriendly organisms to hide. A simple soak with a wet sanitizer will not be effective in that case.

Sanitary welding has nothing to do with aesthetics and everything to do with function.

Welders use to doing dairy and sanitary welds, work with SS all the time and usually have an assortment of fittings to seal the back of the area they are working on. They flood the backside area with a gas so there is no slag from oxygen, then the weld is all done from the outside. They get the proper penetration and the weld flows smooth so there is no need to use a grinder to clean up the area afterwards. If you are going to pay you might as well get the job done right.

I just completed my keggle! Lessons learned: 1st I cut my keg top completely off at the chime (top rim handle) weld using an abrasive wheel (4) this also cuts through the top. After removing the top I tig-welded the rim back on from the inside. I drilled a 1/2" hole and then used a Uni-bit to drill the hole to size near the bottom leaving enough room to weld also from the inside. I used a SS 3/4" OD pipelet (no threads) using a SS compression fitting to a ball valve. I thought I could weld this from the inside, maybe if I were 20rys younger I could have seen what I was welding but I aborted and welded from the outside.
Steve

you could always try harris stay brite silver solder too

-this seems like a lot of extra work. i havent used my keggle yet, but assume that having the rounded lip at the top, which remains from only having cut a 12" diameter opening, would benefit regarding boilover, fitting a lid on, having a lip to attach a return tube to, and not having to cut/grind/weld the entire top back on.
-having read some stuff about recirculating the wort as it cools, especially with larger batches, i decided to run my wort through my pump, then CFC, and back up to the top of the keggle. I attached (impermanently) a bent copper tube to the top at an angle so as to create a weak whirlpool via the returning wort. The wort gets sucked out through my valve at the bottom which has a similar pipe to help further that whirlpool and to suck the wort to the very bottom while getting as close to the cone as possible. This helps to cool the wort evenly and stop the upper echelons of wort from continuing at hot temps. when it reaches temp, i simply close the output on the pump, move the hose to primary, and let it rip with this little do-dad on the end http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/siphon-sprayer.html to help aeration, then shake a bit.

My thought was cutting around the keg rim would be a straight line cut, as a abrasive wheel is designed to cut. Rather than trying to cut a curve with a blade that is meant to cut straight. The welding is good practice if you have the equipment and the patience.

makes sense. i dont have access to all those tools and had to use my dremel and some cut-off wheels, which are a lot easier to use to cut angles due to their smaller diameter (about 1")

I just used an angle grinder with a jig to cut a hole in the top of my keggle. It was much easier than i thought it was going to be. The angle grinder worked fine with the large diameter of the cut. I wouldn't say it was a completely perfect circle when i finished, but was really close and just required a little work with the grinding wheel to clean it up.