If you're looking to go stainless check out the Flex. It's about the same price as the NB but with welded fittings has an upgrade option to pressurize up to 15psi!
https://spikebrewing.com/products/flex
You would get the racking arm and drain out of the port on the kettle wall. The bottom drain is only used for cleaning on the boil kettle. Below is a video showing the process.
We weld these parts with a fusion weld as stated. Been doing it for probably 5 years like that and this is the first broken weld we’ve seen. Who knows what caused the break but we replaced it for the customers.
FYI in case you were not on the presale announcement list we just kicked off the presale for our new bottom drain Tank kettle. The presale is today (9/29) only and orders placed today will be the first ones being shipped out in mid-October.
https://spikebrewing.com/products/bottom-drain-tank...
The legs are about 8” tall and the racking port is about 2” above that and the whirlpool port is 4” above that. Do you have a specific need for where the ports are or just curious?
The presale for the NEW Solo System with the bottom drain Tank kettle is now live! Today only and limited quantities available. As a bonus the NEW Spike Flow pump can also be added on to the Solo! Be one of the first brewing on the new bottom drain Tank kettles...
Today was a preorder only so they won't be shipping for another 4+ weeks. Our full launch will be in about 5 weeks I believe. That also has limited stock and we expect to sell out. Demand for our new products has been far higher than projected which means it takes a little bit of time for us to...
Typically what happens is a connection loosens up. This can be from heat, arching, etc. The looseness causes the resistance to go up which causes more current/more heat. This is what can cause the wire to melt as shown in the OPs first post.