Mash Tun Drip

[dustinthompson85]

Is it possible to have zero drips when making your own mash tun? I feel like if I tighten everything anymore I'm going to damage the plastic cooler. I'm using washers on both sides and a silicone gasket on the inside. Right now I have a leak that would result in losing about 1 ounce of watcher per hour. Is that unexpectable? Should I just keep cranking?

 

[brew_ny]

if your valve what have you has a gasket or an o-ring it is those that do the sealing

not how hard you tighten it, which sometime will make them leak

all the best

S_M

 

[dustinthompson85]

This is the leak point.

View attachment 1436641585162.jpg

 

[IslandLizard]

Leaks come from the INside. That's where the seal should be. A little silicone caulk can help fill small leftover voids, and seal the bulkhead threads.

Some designs put a small piece of PVC pipe inside the hole to be able to put tighten the nut a lot more without the wall of the cooler collapsing. Inside diameter of the piece of pipe should be just enough for the bulkhead to fit.

 

[MindenMan]

You don't want the inside to leak into the insulation, even with water. I always use silicone for zero to low pressure liquid seals. Silicone II is food grade.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Did you wrap the threads liberally with Teflon tape?

The wort can follow the threads and leak. It likely takes a bit of tape...more wraps.

 

[dcrog]

Silicone II is food grade.

I believe it is GE Silicone I without the mold inhibitors that is food safe. The II has always had the inhibitors, hence II.

One is what all the aquarium builders use.

YMMV

 

[Wolfbayte]

This is the leak point.

Dang, that's a lot of hardware. I just shoved a hose through the existing drain assembly, slapped on a 3/8 nylon valve from Midwest and called it a day. No runs, no drips, no errors.

:rockin:

 

[dustinthompson85]

I didn't use Teflon tape. I'm assuming that is a big mistake on my end

 

[d_boosh]

My weldless bulkhead fitting uses a silicone o-ring on the inside. That with some teflon tape and a big S/S washer and Ive never had a leak. The setup is barely more than hand tight, never had a leak at all.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=251

 

[ImNoExpert]

I didn't use Teflon tape. I'm assuming that is a big mistake on my end

Yes. always use Teflon tape on NPT fittings regardless of application.

 

[WaltG]

I've built 2 different mash tuns, one rectangular then a round one. All I did with both is remove the fitting, put in a grommet and slid through 1/2" cpvc.

One thing I learned while putting a spigot on a kettle is it's not about how tight, it's how things line up. if you tighten too much you'll force washers out of the way.

 

[martyjhuebs]

I had a leak on mine as well, and no matter how I placed the washer and how hard I tightened, it wouldnt stop. I took it all apart and put teflon tape on the threads, put it back together and had no leaks. The space between the threads is large enough to cause leaks. I would definitely get a roll of teflon, its not like its expensive...

 

[FlyBoyKnight]

I had two or three iterations of my mash tun that all leaked. I had no drain hole in the $3 cooler I got from Goodwill so I had to drill / dremmel my own. After a few annoying iterations, I ended up dremmeling out the outer hole and insulation big enough to fit a piece of PVC into the hole and tightened my fittings up against that. I accidentally made my inner hole too large for a normal o ring to seal well (leaking AGAIN) so I got some rubber washers from lowes and cut them with an xacto knife to the same shape / diameters as the SS washers I was using. THAT, with a rather large amount of teflon tape, did the trick! Finally no leaks!

As others have said, the leak is coming from the inside so that is where the repair work is needed. An o ring / rubber washer on the OUTSIDE is not the right way to fix the problem.

 

[HumulusHead]

Seal her up on the inside with some aquarium silicone. Can be found at petco or the likes. People also mention silicone I, I think it's the same. So you can get that at hardware store.

Cheap easy solution to stop drips!

 

[KeninMN]

So I guess a shot of penicillin isn't going to fix that drip...

I'd try Teflon tape on the threads first, making sure everything lines up properly, with your grommet/O-ring/Seal on the inside of the tun. If that doesn't work I'd use silicone RTV. Give it a good 24 hours of cure time before using it.

 

[Derek1985]

My 2 gal. Coleman small batch tun had a larger opening on the outside than the inside and I used a small amount of plumber's putty to both fill the void so I could have a tighter fit for my nipple in the opening, as well as prevent any leaks.

Worked like a charm.

 

[TheMadKing]

I didn't use Teflon tape. I'm assuming that is a big mistake on my end

Not a big deal at all, just unscrew the threads, wrap some tape around them clockwise 2-3 wraps, and put it back together, easy peasy!

Also make sure your gasket is in the right place it should be on the inside in direct contact with the hole in the cooler if that makes sense

 

[benzesp]

I used to have leaks on almost every bulk head until I started going heavy on the Teflon tape application. I do 4 or 5 turns of tape, no leaks. And yea just snug the rubber rings down, too tight, they leak.