Burgs
Well-Known Member
I have a 10 gal Rubbermaid cooler MLT with weldless fittings and so far I've been taking the whole thing apart to clean it, pretty much after each brew.
Since the bulkhead only has a coupling on the inside of the vessel to grab on to with vice grips, I'm damaging the coupling every time I have to loosen everything and I'm wondering if it's even necessary.
Last night I think I ruined the fitting itself because the coupling came off but the nipple remained threaded through the cooler wall and into the valve - so I had to grab it by the threads to loosen the valve. Now a few of the threads are marred and it doesn't seem to tighten correctly - I get leaks where I didn't before.
This whole process is a huge pain in the ass that I'd like to avoid. Would I be better off just leaving everything installed and tightening every few batches if/when I see it leak?
I rinse the MLT pretty quick after each batch and then let it soak in Oxyclean overnight. If I do that + take the false bottom out and make sure it doesn't have any grain bits - I should be good, right?
Since the bulkhead only has a coupling on the inside of the vessel to grab on to with vice grips, I'm damaging the coupling every time I have to loosen everything and I'm wondering if it's even necessary.
Last night I think I ruined the fitting itself because the coupling came off but the nipple remained threaded through the cooler wall and into the valve - so I had to grab it by the threads to loosen the valve. Now a few of the threads are marred and it doesn't seem to tighten correctly - I get leaks where I didn't before.
This whole process is a huge pain in the ass that I'd like to avoid. Would I be better off just leaving everything installed and tightening every few batches if/when I see it leak?
I rinse the MLT pretty quick after each batch and then let it soak in Oxyclean overnight. If I do that + take the false bottom out and make sure it doesn't have any grain bits - I should be good, right?