Cheap MLT Valve

The inner sleeve of our Igloo MLT Cooler just seperated from the outter shell so we're looking at making a new one and somehow my dad noticed that an extra Bottling Bucket spigot fit in the hole and that the copper manifold we use for sparging actually fits perfectly in the spigot as well.

he was using an Italian Bottling Spigot like this one;


It dissembles for easy cleaning and only costs $3.50

I was thinking of maybe trying to see if this one fit as well though as it seems it'd be easier to managed the flow rate and only costs $5.50;


I guess my question is, they're obviously food safe but does anyone have any possible idea how high of temps they can handle.

My dad has made one brew with it and it didn't appear to melt at all, but I work with a bunch of hippies who say it may be leaching chemicals without actually melting.

I can post pictures next week as I'm not going over there to do another batch until this weekend.

They are probably right when they say you could get off flavors without seeing it melt. I'm not sure about the temp ratings on that spigot though.

I'm sure it's fine. You'll have to drill the outer wall a little so that the assembly seals against the inner wall only. The first one you posted seems like it would be easier to open and close being so tight to the cooler.

My first MLT. Made a lot of beer with it and never noticed any issues, health or off-flavors. Still keep it around for small batches.



Cut a hole through the outside wall and insulation so that the seal is only on the inner wall.
(edit: what Bobby said)

What's the idea with having the seal only be with the inner wall? As long as you can tighten it so that it doesn't leak into the insulation wouldn't it work either way?

will you be able to see if it leaks into the insulation? better to put the sealing pressure on a layer of plastic that wont compress than the very compressible foam insulation between layers of plastic.