Adding additional bulkead/valve to cooler HLT/MLT

[javajoe1981]

I am trying to add some additional ball valves in order to upgrade my setup with pumps and a HERMS coil, etc.... I can't find anything online about the best way to add a bulkhead through the portion of the cooler with the thicker double wall.. see image, I was able to get the inside shell bored and works well but it feel flimsy ands moves a lot because the outer hole had to be wider in order to get the nuts and washers in.... any thoughts?

 

[Bobby_M]

You can hog out another 1/4" or so of the insulation all around the hole and pack in some of that epoxy putty that looks like a log. Pack it in and let it set up. That will couple the two walls together so that the interior wall has some extra support.

All that said, are you adding a heating element to the HLT? If not, the HERMs idea isn't going to do any good.

 

[javajoe1981]

You can hog out another 1/4" or so of the insulation all around the hole and pack in some of that epoxy putty that looks like a log. Pack it in and let it set up. That will couple the two walls together so that the interior wall has some extra support.

All that said, are you adding a heating element to the HLT? If not, the HERMs idea isn't going to do any good.

thanks for the reply, I will look into that, although on a side note I just came across a couple sankey kegs that I will probably end up using for a new HLT & MLT. I currently do have a submersible heating element that I was going to us to keep the HLT at temp for the HERMS to work properly.

that is a great idea with the putty to reinforce the inner wall, I hadn't thought about that. I did think about using bolts in similar fashion to reinforce but didn't want to be punching more holes in the inner wall