keggle conversion - fitting preferences?

[BucksPA]

I'm in the process of building a brutus clone. I just ordered my stainless steel tubing available for pickup on thursday. I also have 3 retired kegs i picked up from my beer wholesaler friend.

I polished one up real nice and have two left. I may as well wait until everything is welded. I want to do as much welding as possible in one day, with my welding buddy.

My question is, is there are a standard fitting size that most are using for their keggles? I plan on installing 3 fittings on each. Sightglass, thermometer, and drain valves. Is there a common size such or do i randomly choose between 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2"?

Also, are there any advantages, disadvantages to a bigger or smaller fitting?

thanks.

jeff

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I would say 1/2 couplings. You can always use reducers to get to 3/8" or 1/4".

 

[Dog House Brew]

I would use 1/2" couplings for all, but I would use 1/4" for sight tube. I would eliminate any fittings if you can keep from it. Not a reducer fan if you can put the correct fitting in to start with. I would turn down half the coupling to 1" and just use a 1" hole saw. It makes a nice shoulder to rest on the keg for the welding. Is your weldse set up for back gassing? If not read Ohio Ed's welding question thread. Wish I made my rig out of stainless. Post pics of your build.

 

[BucksPA]

i defintaley will. I also built a tiki bar in my backyard last year but was not aware of this site at the time, nor did i take pictures. I can provide specs for the tiki bar if anybody is interested. I will post pics of it. I am yet to install a sink, and taps with lines, but will get to that for the spring/summer.

I'm not the welder, but i did talk to my friend who is a welder by profession. he said it won't be a problem. I trust him. I'll probably shop around tonight and tomorrow for the fittings and order them by end of week.

i'll take pics along the way and start a thread for my build. Unfortunately, i am not like the others here on the forums. this build will problem take me 3 months all said and done.

cheers

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I would use 1/2" couplings for all, but I would use 1/4" for sight tube. I would eliminate any fittings if you can keep from it. Not a reducer fan if you can put the correct fitting in to start with. I would turn down half the coupling to 1" and just use a 1" hole saw. It makes a nice shoulder to rest on the keg for the welding. Is your weldse set up for back gassing? If not read Ohio Ed's welding question thread. Wish I made my rig out of stainless. Post pics of your build.

I'm not a fan of reducers either. My preference is 1/2". I'm using 1/2" valves, fittings and site glass. My point is that if you put in a 1/4 coupling for a site glass you are kind of limited. I think that 1/2 gives you a lot of flexibility.

Not knocking your friend, he may know exactly how and what needs to be done. But... I talked to several weldors in my area and many said, no problem. Then based on what I learned here and asking a few questions even they started being less confident.

Ed

 

[BucksPA]

Not knocking your friend, he may know exactly how and what needs to be done. But... I talked to several weldors in my area and many said, no problem. Then based on what I learned here and asking a few questions even they started being less confident.

Ed

Ed,

He says he can do it, and we'll find out when I bring the material to him. I have access to retired kegs at no cost, just like the 3 i received from my beer wholesaler friend. So, being that my friend will only cost me homebrew and maybe $50 or so plus welding materials, it may be in my best interest to take my chances with him.

Do you have any advice or tips I could bring with me to the table. Even if i don't understand the lingo, I'm sure he would.

thanks

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Ed,

He says he can do it, and we'll find out when I bring the material to him. I have access to retired kegs at no cost, just like the 3 i received from my beer wholesaler friend. So, being that my friend will only cost me homebrew and maybe $50 or so plus welding materials, it may be in my best interest to take my chances with him.

Do you have any advice or tips I could bring with me to the table. Even if i don't understand the lingo, I'm sure he would.

thanks

I don't blame you... I'd trust a friend that told me he could do it also.

If he hesitates when you mention "back gassing" or "purging" it might be a clue of problems to come. It really needs to be TIG welded with constant gas applied to both sides of the weld.

If they don't apply gas to the inside of the keg, it may turn out very rough and is really hard to clean up.

I had a friend weld one for me about a year ago... it turned out looking horrible. It holds water and truth be known it works fine.

You don't have to worry too much about any welds in equipment that is used before or during the boil.

GreenMonti is a member here and has absolutely phenomenal skills. He, Swagman and many others really helped me understand what it takes to make a weld turn out nice inside and out.

Here is a link to the thread of my experience so far...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/welding-questions-148798/

Good luck.
Ed

 

[Dog House Brew]

I'm not a fan of reducers either. My preference is 1/2". I'm using 1/2" valves, fittings and site glass. My point is that if you put in a 1/4 coupling for a site glass you are kind of limited. I think that 1/2 gives you a lot of flexibility.

Not knocking your friend, he may know exactly how and what needs to be done. But... I talked to several weldors in my area and many said, no problem. Then based on what I learned here and asking a few questions even they started being less confident.

Ed

I agree, I like the 1/4" just because its small. Everyone on has their own way. I agree with the welders saying no problem and not giving you what you want. Happened to me, and the sugar from no purge is nasty. Hate it. I've found there are many people that say they are welders, but few can actually weld. I'm glad I learned to tig them myself thanks to your thread and help from Swagman. $30 Y on my Argon tank, 20' of cheap hose, and some foil tape and away ya go. Your thread has helped many I'm sure.

 

[Bobby_M]

The benefit of a 1/4" sight port is that it can be put lower than a 1/2" coupling and the 1/4" compression elbow fittings are generally a lot smaller in height. What this buys you is that the level starts reading at like 2 gallons instead of 3.5.

Of course, the risk is that it might take an extra week or two to find 1/4" fittings than if you were selecting from a pool of 1/4, 3/8, AND 1/2".

 

[BucksPA]

i appreciate your feedback Ed. I'll mention these points to my buddy to see if he is familiar with these concepts. If he has the slightest hesitation when i speak with him, i wont move forward with him.

And DogHouseBrew, i thank you for your feedback as well. Are you a welder by trade? I must be missing something. If you can pick up a tig welder along with materials, and pull some information from others on this thread in order to successfully do it yourself, how is it that welders by profession can't get the job done?

Bobby, any sources for 1/4" couplings. I wouldnt want to be searching for 1/4" coupling if they are rare and hard to find, especially if you can speed up the process for me.

Thanks and Cheers.

 

[Dog House Brew]

i appreciate your feedback Ed. I'll mention these points to my buddy to see if he is familiar with these concepts. If he has the slightest hesitation when i speak with him, i wont move forward with him.

And DogHouseBrew, i thank you for your feedback as well. Are you a welder by trade? I must be missing something. If you can pick up a tig welder along with materials, and pull some information from others on this thread in order to successfully do it yourself, how is it that welders by profession can't get the job done?

Bobby, any sources for 1/4" couplings. I wouldnt want to be searching for 1/4" coupling if they are rare and hard to find, especially if you can speed up the process for me.

Thanks and Cheers.

I sell and do small fabrication on ready mix concrete plants. I bought an older Miller 300 amp welder years ago and have only used it for shop stick. That was before the MIG and the old stick was collecting dust. Tig really isn't all that difficult. Practiced while making my pump stands on carbon before I did my kettles. Not like Greenmonti, but they look OK. Asked too many questions with Swagman and some others I know. Sometimes you just have to say WTF and go for it.

 

[Dog House Brew]

www.buyfittingsonline.com
is were I would get your couplings. Cheap and fast service

 

[Ohio-Ed]

i appreciate your feedback Ed. I'll mention these points to my buddy to see if he is familiar with these concepts. If he has the slightest hesitation when i speak with him, i wont move forward with him.

And DogHouseBrew, i thank you for your feedback as well. Are you a welder by trade? I must be missing something. If you can pick up a tig welder along with materials, and pull some information from others on this thread in order to successfully do it yourself, how is it that welders by profession can't get the job done?

Bobby, any sources for 1/4" couplings. I wouldnt want to be searching for 1/4" coupling if they are rare and hard to find, especially if you can speed up the process for me.

Thanks and Cheers.

You are welcome and I hope you have good luck.

I am not a welder. What I learned is that most welders only worry about the side of the weld you can see. Welders with exprience in the food industry or some special areas have to be able to make both sides of a weld "sanitary". While a sanitary weld is not required for what we do (unless you have a fermentor welded), a smooth weld makes cleaning eaiser and just looks nicer.

Ed

 

[Dog House Brew]

You are welcome and I hope you have good luck.

I am not a welder. What I learned is that most welders only worry about the side of the weld you can see. Welders with exprience in the food industry or some special areas have to be able to make both sides of a weld "sanitary". While a sanitary weld is not required for what we do (unless you have a fermentor welded), a smooth weld makes cleaning eaiser and just looks nicer.

Ed

Couldn't agree with you more. This is why they all say yes I can TIG. It's the knowing about the sanitary part that protects you from getting that ugly job

 

[bendavanza]

Solar flux has been mentioned in the past as an alternative to back gassing. Many welders think it's not needed, or a waste of gas, or a waste of time, but without it you will have sugaring which is crusty and hard to clean. My kegs were welded by a brilliant fabricator but he too thought the back gas was overkill and so my welds are sugared inside.