Jester4176
Well-Known Member
Ive looked at all kinds of ways for putting a sight glass on my kettle now that I have a weldless fitting. I decided to make my own, and was able to do it for under $10 without tax. If you have a few spare materials around, you can too. If you have to buy all the materials, you can certainly make it for less than $20, which is the cheapest route of all the ones Ive looked at. I decided to use a T fitting off the kettle valve rather than drill an additional hole for one.
Materials list:
½ Brass pipe nipple A-835 at Lowes - $2.34
½ Brass pipe T A-808 at Lowes - $4.46
3/8 compression to ½ MIP elbow A-130 at Lowes - $2.96
Broken clear racking tube Free
1 inch of 3/8 copper tube Free left over from the Chairmans CFC DIY
1 inch of tubing for racking tube Free you should have tons of this stuff.
Eye bolt and nuts Free, but can be bought for ~$2
3/8" hose clamp Free, as I took one off my old immersion chiller.
Pipe cutter
Flaring tool (optional)
Scissors
Pipe tape
Wrenches
Dremel or hacksaw to cut racking cane to length
Ok, heres how to make it. Coat all threads with a good amount of tape before beginning. Then, attach the pipe nipple to one end of the T fitting as seen here:
Next, screw the compression elbow into the bottom of the T as seen here:
Now take the 1 inch piece of copper and flare one end of it. This end will have the rubber tubing slipped over it. You dont have to flare it, but I do it for extra protection against the tubing slipping off the copper. Now, insert the unflared end of the tubing through the compression fitting, and screw the fitting into place nice and snug. Your fitting should now look like this:
Now, get the tubing and slip it on the end of the racking cane and submerge in hot water. The hot water will allow the tubing to slip over the copper easily. Slide the rubber tubing all the way onto the copper until it bottoms out on the compression fitting. Next, slide the racking cane down until it is butted up against the copper tubing. Now, take a hose clamp and slide it down the tubing until it overlaps the racking cane and the copper tubing. Tighten to give the joint a little added strength. Now your assembly will look like this:
Materials list:
½ Brass pipe nipple A-835 at Lowes - $2.34
½ Brass pipe T A-808 at Lowes - $4.46
3/8 compression to ½ MIP elbow A-130 at Lowes - $2.96
Broken clear racking tube Free
1 inch of 3/8 copper tube Free left over from the Chairmans CFC DIY
1 inch of tubing for racking tube Free you should have tons of this stuff.
Eye bolt and nuts Free, but can be bought for ~$2
3/8" hose clamp Free, as I took one off my old immersion chiller.
Pipe cutter
Flaring tool (optional)
Scissors
Pipe tape
Wrenches
Dremel or hacksaw to cut racking cane to length
Ok, heres how to make it. Coat all threads with a good amount of tape before beginning. Then, attach the pipe nipple to one end of the T fitting as seen here:
Next, screw the compression elbow into the bottom of the T as seen here:
Now take the 1 inch piece of copper and flare one end of it. This end will have the rubber tubing slipped over it. You dont have to flare it, but I do it for extra protection against the tubing slipping off the copper. Now, insert the unflared end of the tubing through the compression fitting, and screw the fitting into place nice and snug. Your fitting should now look like this:
Now, get the tubing and slip it on the end of the racking cane and submerge in hot water. The hot water will allow the tubing to slip over the copper easily. Slide the rubber tubing all the way onto the copper until it bottoms out on the compression fitting. Next, slide the racking cane down until it is butted up against the copper tubing. Now, take a hose clamp and slide it down the tubing until it overlaps the racking cane and the copper tubing. Tighten to give the joint a little added strength. Now your assembly will look like this: