I need an idea.

Someone must have done this before, but I can't find it. My Rubbermaid HLT will have a vertical element in the middle and 1/2" OD SS 50 ft tubing coil around it for recirculating the wort from the MLT and also for cooling the wort from the BK. Most of this comes from The Pol, but his coil ends went thru the lid and I want mine to come out high and low through the side of the cooler. It seems like I'd be able to drain the coil that way - and freezing pipes are a real problem around here in the winter. So - how do I make a weldless connection that just pops thru the side and then seals securely? I'd like to be able to disassemble it a couple of times a year for cleaning. Maybe use the Bargain Fittings bulkhead with the tube soldered inside a nipple and a locknut with trapped silicon o-ring on both sides?

 

if you use a bargain fittings cooler bulkhead and just attach the stainless tubing to that with a compression fitting you should be fine.

 

You can use SS unions (on my parts page) and just cap the bulkhead after you remove the coil.

This would let you leave the bulkhead(s) in the cooler.

Another way is to use a compression fitting and get a compression cap to cover the hole inside for storage.

 

Thanks for answering. The place where I was going to get my SS tubing says that the 1/2" can't be rolled into a tight enough coil without crimping, so I guess that I'd rather have 1/2" copper than 3/8" SS. Didn't think that SS compression worked well enough to avoid leakage, and was also concerned about SS unions, but evidently I was wrong (again).

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