Emergency help please!

The help I need is in reference to the new pots I just bought. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28602
They are 25 gallon pots.

I talked to one of the welders at work, and for the price of a bottle of amber rum he will weld flat pieces of aluminum onto the body for me so I can attach various sundry faucet, hoses, etc.

I have yet to do my first AG but it's coming very soon. I need your experience.

I will get him to weld plates on the inside and out (watertight of course) to accomodate ball valves on each. The boil kettle will have just the ball valve, but the mash/lauter kettle I would put another two plates, one for a sight tube, and one for a thermometer. I'm having him put the plates on to provide more meat for the hardware to hold on to. Aluminum is fairly soft and I want these kettles to last.

I need to know if my plan is good, lacking, or could use some tweaking. I'd also like to know how high each plate should be welded. At present, I'm planning on putting everything as low as possible because a single gallon of water raises the level in the kettle less than an inch.

Please excuse my lack of research here. This is coming on me FAST! This is all going to happen tomorrow, so I need some input now. I know I should have posted earlier, but I was anxious to rack from secondary to kegs so I'd have something to drink this weekend. Now I'm panicking.

This guy is a pro and very good at what he does, but at the same time I don't want to push the limits of what a bottle of rum can do.

Thanks to all who can help.

I don't understand what you mean when you say plates? Those kettles are thick...you should just put in a bulkhead and have him weld it in. As far as placement, you need to think about how you are going to mash and which items you are going to use to strain. False bottom, Bazooka tube, hopstopper, SS braid? This will dictate where and what.


Dan

I've been chatting with Yuri and Sause and I think we've come up with a plan. I'll post some pics with the final results when I get the kettle back from the welder. I've got a whole new plan from those guys!

Fingers said:

I've been chatting with Yuri and Sause and I think we've come up with a plan. I'll post some pics with the final results when I get the kettle back from the welder. I've got a whole new plan from those guys!

Click to expand...

That is why I love this board...tons of experience, and people willing to share! Good luck!


Dan

those are some honkin kettles man...I'm curious to see what you do with them

good luck!

Are you going to have any electrolytic action, by running SS and aluminum in the same pot? Are you going to be using any copper/brass anywhere? I know that will cause some electricity to be produced, as well as corrosion and related stuff.

It isn't the corrosion that is the problem here, but it is the aluminum that will corrode. (And, that Al is going to end up in your beer!)

steve

yeah stay away from the copper/brass. Best would be to keep everything aluminum.

The plates that will be welded on will be aluminum so there won't be any oxidation/reduction happening there. I'll be drilling holes through the plates and attaching the valves using bulkhead fittings and nylon or rubber o-rings for sealing. Contact points should be fairly minimal, but I get your point. Maybe I should line the holes so that the bulkheads don't contact the metal at all. It would be fairly easy to do. I could fill any void space with silicone sealant. There shouldn't be any contact with the liquid provided my o-rings are intact.

So you are using weldless bulkheads?
Why do you need plates at all? The walls of that kettle are more than thick enough to support a bulkhead. If your having welding done why not weld bulkheads onto the kettle?
Craig