$125 for 2 welds!?

This is the quote I got to weld (non-sanitary) 2 stainless steel couplings into pre drilled cleaned and prepped holes for my keggle. Am I missing something or is that way too much. For $125 more I can buy a keggle with the fittings pre-installed.

lots of places will over bid jobs like this cause they aren't worth their time. I'd try and find a friend who knows a guy.
That being said, this could be a perfectly find quote. You figure it'll take maybe an hour for setup and welding and everything. I think I was quoted $75 for 1 or 2 welds when I first looked.

The little amount of work may not be worth this welders time in his mind.

I experienced this with tattoo work as well the bigger the piece the cheaper it was in comparison.

It's a small shop around the block and the guy didn't exactly look like he had much business. He said something about stainless being difficult to weld. Anyone know a weld shop in NJ that would do this kind of job for a reasonable amount? By reasonable I mean $75 for 2 couplings.

stainless is more difficult to weld. When searching for a welder, ask them if they'll be backflushing the welds. if not, walk away.

I can get stainless welds in Albuquerque for $15 each, and I do not "know" the guy.

or just get the weldless fittings fro $20.......they work great!

I'm originally from Westfield.
I'll ask around facebook...

PanuccisPizza said:

I'm originally from Westfield.
I'll ask around facebook...

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I appreciate it. Thanks.

redalert said:

This is the quote I got to weld (non-sanitary) 2 stainless steel couplings into pre drilled cleaned and prepped holes for my keggle. Am I missing something or is that way too much. For $125 more I can buy a keggle with the fittings pre-installed.

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Sounds high by a factor of 2 to 3. Check around for a place that regularly does stainless sanitary welding and go over there with some homebrew in hand near the end of the day or around lunch time (i.e. not taking up their working time) and ask for a side job for cash and or homebrew in trade. If you find one make sure they get a decent amount of homebrew at the end of the day. If you like the job go back with some more homebrew a week or two later too. Then the next job will be pleasant surprise for them.

The whole "will you give me a break if I give you some beer?" thing... I'm with Bobby. If you've got a guy that will do that, great. If I'm asking a professional to do his job, I'm expecting to pay the going rate, in cash. I don't want to spend $75 or $100 or $125 to get my keg welded, so I live with weldless (which works perfectly fine, in my experience). I don't try to barter with my plumber or my electrician, even the guys that are moonlighting from their regular jobs.

Search "soldering stainless steel". This is the way I will be going. The right materials will make this easy and repeatable. Long post but very informative.

or do soldered fittings after making a swaged hole

Holy crap! Who is so busy these days they can charge those prices?

I just cut and prepped all the 1.5 inch steel tubing for a single tier brew stand build. Got a guy to weld it all together for 100 bucks.

I agree that you shouldn't haggle with a professional. I will say, however, that I pay $30 per weld from a very high end shop when the owner is busy and is squeezing me in. He gets between $200-$300 per HOUR plus materials for his regular work. Once I told him what I'm doing, he got really into helping me out, and started having me drop keggles off for welding and leaving them for a month or more. If I leave them for him to "get around to them" he will do $20 per keg since the setup is the biggest issue for him, not the number of welds.

Exactly! Read here.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/index8.html

Even if I wanted to do weldless it's too late in the day. The holes I made don't fit as snugly as you would need for leakproof weldless fittings. This is the first and only shop I've been to. I'm sure I'll find someone who will do it for half the price. I love brewing and make less than $25k a year and I'll be damned if I'll pay $125 for 2 prepped fittings.

Redalert, clear your PM's so I can send you some info...

PanuccisPizza said:

Redalert, clear your PM's so I can send you some info...

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Done

PM'd.
Hope it works out.

Let me know if that works out for you. I'm located pretty close to you in Union, and would love to get rid of all my weld-less couplings. Unfortunately I can't weld SS, and wasn't able to find anyone who would do it for a reasonable cost.

I contacted a welder that user "PanuccisPizza" recommended. His cousin-in-law, Bruce. Bruce was awesome. He only charged me $50 for 2 welds (sure beats $125) and even picked up the keg last night. I had 2 fittings by 11 a.m. this morning. Here they are. He gave me permission to give out his number if anyone is interested in having some welding done in NJ. 908-358-8733.






The insides were a little rough. Out of my excitement I failed to mention to Bruce that I would need the inside fairly clean in order to access the threads for pickup tubes or any other fittings etc. 1 of the fittings on the inside is okay though and I quickly built a pickup tube with spare parts. The other one I'm not too concerned about since in the future I'll put a sight gauge in it. No more siphoning HOOAAAHH

redalert said:

I contacted a welder that user "PanuccisPizza" recommended. His cousin-in-law, Bruce. Bruce was awesome. He only charged me $50 for 2 welds (sure beats $125) and even picked up the keg last night. I had 2 fittings by 11 a.m. this morning. Here they are. He gave me permission to give out his number if anyone is interested in having some welding done in NJ. 908-358-8733.

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Any pictures of the inside by chance?