Can I put a ball valve on this pot?

[yukonhijack]

I am looking into getting a pot at a reasonable price to do 10 gallon batches. I found this one locally that I can get but not sure if I can put a ball valve on it. Any thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PZ7K7A/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

Yes you can. You'll either need to have it welded, or get a weldless bulkhead and drill your own hole.

 

[kev211]

ya, you would just need a weldless ball valve. And a chassis punch or step bit to bore out a hole for the ball valve to go through. Or hell, since that kettle is aluminum you could probably even use a fly bit

 

[edroberts]

I just put a weldless ball valve on my AL stock pot, very similar to this. Drilling through the aluminum was much easier than I had expected. I used a step bit after drilling a pilot hole with my regular bits. Even with with regular wood bit, it cut through like butter.

 

[theck]

Snag the Harbor Freight step drill bit, like $15 and works fine. No need to shell out $40 or something at Home Depot.

 

[kev211]

I just put a weldless ball valve on my AL stock pot, very similar to this. Drilling through the aluminum was much easier than I had expected. I used a step bit after drilling a pilot hole with my regular bits. Even with with regular wood bit, it cut through like butter.

Ya, aluminum cuts easy. I drilled out an AL stock pot and couldnt find my step bit OR chassis punch (turns out they were in the wrong drawer in my tool chest haha) by using a fly bit. Didnt damage the fly bit and everything turned out peachy

 

[yukonhijack]

Cool, thanks fellas!

 

[day_trippr]

Make sure not to drill the hole too low!

Cheers! (no - I didn't - but I've seen way too many that did :smack

 

[clint404]

What all do I need to go weldless?

 

[theck]

What all do I need to go weldless?

Search weldless valve look at maybe adventures in homebrewing... They vary but all should consist of high temp o rings.

 

[cjgenever]

What all do I need to go weldless?

You can add a valve to anything. For a weldless you just need to drill a hole and lightly file to remove burrs.

 

[ktblunden]

Brewhardware.com and bargainfittings.com are both excellent vendors for that kind of stuff. I've done business with both and have no complaints.

 

[litl-76]

+1 on bargainfittings.com