$4.87 keg tool

[caligula455]

Caligula, how hard was this to draw through the side wall of your pot? I tried this yesterday on my keggle and ended up crushing the end washers and bending the bolt before the copper fitting would draw through. The copper fitting actually started to crush on the 3/4" end I was wrenching on.

Mine drew through pretty easily, someone that drew it through a keg wall would have to comment, but it shouldn't be crushing anything.

Couple thoughts on potential problems:

• Is the copper fitting evenly sloped like the one in the picture or is it more of a steped shape. the more cone-like the better.
• Is the outer pipe too small of a diameter and preventing the fitting from drawing through?
• maybe try lubing the fitting to reduce the friction?
• are you using steel bolts, i can't imagine your bending a 1/2" steel bolt unless something is pretty off.

Maybe post a pic and that will help diagnose the problem.

 

[caligula455]

Nice going Caligula. Is that a tiny pinhole 3rd picture down? Might want to just heat that area up with a little bit of flux.

I saw that, but I think it was flux that didn't clean off. After more thorough cleaning I didn't see it anymore but i'll check it for a pinhole and reheat if it's still there. Don't want any crevices for gunk to hide in.

 

[purplehaze]

I knew I must have missed something when I got home and measured it. I just grabbed the first 1/2"X3/4" coupling I found and of course it was the wrong one.

Thanks for the clarification bigpapakielbasa and caligula455.

 

[purplehaze]

I either had a bad batch of PVC or the SS keggle is stronger than the cooking pot. The PVC would either shatter or deform before I could get the copper coupling to pull through.

I got this to work for me by inserting the 1" PVC into a 1 1/4" PVC. The added wall thickness and circumference worked perfectly with no failures. I would highly recommend eye protection.

Good info thanks

 

[Lambo3]

I wish I had seen this before I spent $50 on stainless fittings... (and another $25 on a cobalt drill bit to bore the reducer out to 5/8)

I actually ran into a problem with the butt weld stainless reducer. It seems to almost be slightly larger in diameter (we're talking a few thousandths) than the actual couplings, so they don't draw through real tight.

I did a test solder on the leftover cutout from the keg. The coupling was snug, but I could almost push it all the way in by hand. There were slight gaps so the solder wicked through a bit uneven.

So, with that said I may try using the copper reducer if it is a bit smaller than the coupling diameter - I might argue that it is BETTER than the but weld reducer for this because the fittings will draw through nice and tight.

 

[WileECoyote]

Great Idea caligula455, Im sure glad I saw this before I purchased the weld less fittings for my boil pot.

Cheers

 

[Midnigh7]

I tried this, and it looked like it was fine. I shattered the PVC, so I substituted with a deep well socket which helped. When it was through the dimple wouldn't hold the coupler. I'm not sure if it didn't pull through straight, but one side was definitely dimpled out more then the other. I think I'm going to take my hole saw and make this spot now for a heating element.

 

[caligula455]

Glad to hear people are experimenting with my method!

My dimple started to go a little crooked at first too, but I straightened it out before continuing. A larger bolt that holds the copper fitting more parallel might help keep things centered. I think even with the stainless parts you need to make sure everything stays straight an centered.

I think replacing the PVC piece with something more durable is a good idea. I didn't have any problems with mine, but I did wear safety glasses in case it broke and shattered.

I have all my fittings soldered on and the heating element installed now so I'll post some pics of how it all turned out.

I also have a nice looking but cheap hardware store way of grounding and covering the element wiring, stay tuned.

 

[jerdes]

I tried this method with a polarware economy kettle (fairly thin stainless) and it worked great. I used a 5/8" bolt instead of the 1/2", the fit was perfect on the copper fitting with no slop. I also sanded the pvc coupler to match the curve inside the kettle to help even the pressure on it. I plan to try this setup on one of my keggles soon and will report my results.

 

[cank]

I tried this, and it looked like it was fine. I shattered the PVC, so I substituted with a deep well socket which helped. When it was through the dimple wouldn't hold the coupler. I'm not sure if it didn't pull through straight, but one side was definitely dimpled out more then the other. I think I'm going to take my hole saw and make this spot now for a heating element.

Take a hammer and lightly tap the rim of the dimpled out part . It should close it enough to make it stay. I had to do something similar when I installed my 2" tri-clover ferrule for my heating element.

 

[Lambo3]

Take a hammer and lightly tap the rim of the dimpled out part . It should close it enough to make it stay. I had to do something similar when I installed my 2" tri-clover ferrule for my heating element.

+1,

This problem occurs with the "expensive" route too. You want the coupling to "finish" stretching the dimple out so it is nice and solid. I try not draw the reducer all the way through if the coupling diameter is slight smaller. If I do over do it, I take a hammer and tap dimpling back some (although, "light" didn't really work on the keggle, it took a bit more beating to shrink the hole). When the coupling draws through it'll round the hole back out

 

[caligula455]

It's been rather slow going because of a lot of competing priorities, but here is a quick update on how my e-kettle has turned out so far.



The sight glass is the 16" model from Adventures in Homebrewing here. Still need to calibrate and put markers on the glass.

Here is a detail shot of how the sight glass attaches to the 1/4" soldered on spud. It uses a MxFxF 1/4" NPT parker 316 stainless tee, got it on ebay for cheap, but you can get them on amazon too. The sight glass male threads are 1/8 NPT so I had to get a 1/4" to 1/8" NPT reducer from amazon here. The other end of the tee is for an RTD temperature sensor. Still saving some $$ for the control equipment but have the plug installed so the kettle water tight in the mean time.


The electrical cover is a 1 1/2" chrome plumbing compression union for $6 at lowes. The plug is a 30 amp twist lock 240v with 10-3 SOOW cable. Right now it is just stuck in for the photo, need to get a stainless washer that fits and a strain relief to make it perminent. Would like to solder in a ground lug, but not sure about that part yet.


I was inspired by the heat stick build instructions, but instead of having the gasket pinch between the inside of the cap and the outside of the element flange using a 1 1/4" reducer cap, I used the regular cap with the seal between the kettle and the flange like it should be, nowhere for leaks along the threads! This seems like a major downside to most heating element covers using electrical boxes. It isn't 100% water tight but because it isn't part of the seal it doesn't need to be, just keep out splashes over the side. A diagram should make everything clear.


One plus is that it's easy to disassemble and inspect. Here is the heating element with the union removed and just the nut captured on the heating element flange.



REAAAALLLY looking forward to powering it up and at least running some boil time tests.

 

[ryanhope]

Has anyone tried this tool/technique on HALF couplings instead of FULL couplings? I would assume it should work just fine but I want to check to see if anyone has had any issues.

 

[nickmv]

I gotta be honest -- I have absolutely NO idea what the heck OP did here.

He shows a "tool" of some sort, then the next picture shows a coupler as well as a copper piece sticking through the kettle. There's so much missing information and pictures IN BETWEEN.

Can someone please elaborate as to what the heck is going on in these pictures? There's just SO MUCH information missing here that's crucial to explaining what the heck is happening here.

 

[rappell]

If you don't get it, you probably don't need the tool......


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[nickmv]

If you don't get it, you probably don't need the tool......


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Wow, what an ass. Thanks for that worthless response, and wasting my time. I've consulted with a couple friends who are engineers by profession, and they all agree that the post is extremely uninformative, and confusing.


But thanks again. God forbid I ask for some clarification on a series of pictures that starts at Step A and then goes to Step Z. Seriously, you're an ass.

 

[ryanhope]

Wow, what an ass.

+1 Lots of people on this site love to make posts like that, its a shame. Anyway, to answer your question...

The tool the OP made is referred to as a "keg-tool" or "dimple-tool". It's used to simultaneously accomplish two goals: 1) pull a 1/2" NPT coupling though a hole in your kettle that is actually smaller than the OD of the coupling and 2) create a dimple (well/pit) around the coupling.

Not only do you get a very nice mechanical connection between the coupling and kettle you create a place for solder to pool up in making soldering very easy and secure. The dimple also creates more surface area for the solder to bind to.

 

[srice]

Nickmv - take a look at this sticky:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/index8.html

Post #73 starts the discussion of the dimpling tool. This thread is just a simpler/cheaper version of the tool.

 

[nickmv]

Thanks guys. I had a general idea of what it was doing obviously (getting a coupling into the kettle without welding), but it was the fact that the pictures go immediately from Step A to Z that threw me off.

A little bit of explanation was all that was needed, and the 2 of you helped greatly. I actually discussed it last night with some buddies, and we pretty much figured it out after awhile. I had been referred to this thread for installing a thermowell on my Stainless Steel Brew Bucket (SSBrewTech), and I wanted to check out the method.

After looking at it, it actually looks like my best bet is going to be to simply drill a new hole (step bit) and mount a small stopper with the thermowell in it. This will allow me to remove the thermowell (an option I'd really like to have for cleaning purposes).

 

[Stealthcruiser]

What kind of Engineers?..........

 

[srice]

Thanks guys. I had a general idea of what it was doing obviously (getting a coupling into the kettle without welding), but it was the fact that the pictures go immediately from Step A to Z that threw me off.

A little bit of explanation was all that was needed, and the 2 of you helped greatly. I actually discussed it last night with some buddies, and we pretty much figured it out after awhile. I had been referred to this thread for installing a thermowell on my Stainless Steel Brew Bucket (SSBrewTech), and I wanted to check out the method.

After looking at it, it actually looks like my best bet is going to be to simply drill a new hole (step bit) and mount a small stopper with the thermowell in it. This will allow me to remove the thermowell (an option I'd really like to have for cleaning purposes).

Brewhardware.com has a great solder on 1-1/2 tri clover fitting, but I am looking for something to get a 3/4" tric-clover on my kettle for things like a temp probe. I have been thinking about using a dimpling tool and one of these
https://www.brewershardware.com/1-2-Tri-Clover-Ferrule-Medium.html

 

[ryanhope]

Brewhardware.com has a great solder on 1-1/2 tri clover fitting, but I am looking for something to get a 3/4" tric-clover on my kettle for things like a temp probe. I have been thinking about using a dimpling tool and one of these
https://www.brewershardware.com/1-2-Tri-Clover-Ferrule-Medium.html

I've used the dimple tool on a sanitary flange like this. Works fine as long as you are ok with having the dimple on the outside of the tank.

 

[gandelf]

caligula455, I want to thank you for taking the time to post this. Contriving beauty from almost nothing. Jolly good!

 

[wvdad]

Thanks for the helpful info. I am proud to say that I was able to solder a half inch coupler to my boil kettle using the recommended tool. My first time soldering anything and it looks great and is leak free!

 

[wvdad]

Pic of dimple made with this inexpensive but strong tool.

 

[Doed]

Thanks for the helpful info. I am proud to say that I was able to solder a half inch coupler to my boil kettle using the recommended tool. My first time soldering anything and it looks great and is leak free!

Can you please post pictures of the completed weld?

 

[wvdad]

Here are some pics after soldering.

 

[Doed]

THAT is a nice soldering job. Well done.

 

[wvdad]

THAT is a nice soldering job. Well done.

Thanks.

 

[rodduley]

Is it better to "dimple in" vs "dimple out"? I was under the impression that applying heat to the coupler not the solder itself is proper. Seems somtimes it could be hard to apply heat from the inside of a vessel. Does this really matter?