Success..Soldering fittings to keggle!

[whitehause]

I watched a video on youtube about dimpling a vessel, and soldering stainless to stainless.

Well I got the materials to do this and can say for sure it works great!
I made the dimple tool, and bought the Harris stay bright solder and flux and went to work. I had the weldless bulkheads from bargian fittings, and they worked fine, but really wanted a welded fitting. I don't have a dedicated area for my gear, so I have to set up and tear down. I'm pretty careful, but I worried that the moving and bumping would eventually cause a leak in the fittings. After watching the video, I figured I'd give it a shot. Now granted, I'm pretty good with all things mechanical and had many of the things needed in my garage already, but it is not beyond the average home tinkerer.

If you have been thinking about this, watch this vid and give it a try...you won't be disapointed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OpMFQFi6Hh4

 

[RICHARJM]

How well have the fittings held up so far

 

[whitehause]

I haven't done a ton of brewing on them yet, but so far so good. I've pulled, yanked, and banged on them with the camlocks and valves in place and no problems. Nothing super hard, but average bumping and banging they get on brew day. I try to be careful in general, but just wanted something more durable than weldless fittings.

 

[H22W]

Love this idea!

I wonder if it is much more challenging to do this on the rounded side of a kettle where the ball valve normally is located?

What is the special solder made of, can it handle Star San and PBW?

 

[whitehause]

Love this idea!

I wonder if it is much more challenging to do this on the rounded side of a kettle where the ball valve normally is located?

What is the special solder made of, can it handle Star San and PBW?

It rounded side of a keggle was no problem. The solder is a 4% silver and should hold up just fine.