Putting a spigot in an AL boil pot?

[Pabst Blue Robot]

Hi,

This is probably a novice question, but I'm in the market for something a little larger in order to do full 10g boils. I recently came across a 60qt aluminum nsf pot on the cheap, however I understand it would be difficult to weld steel to Al and I'm looking at drilling and using a couple of gaskets and a compression nut.

My question is this, would the expansion of the metal from the heat be significant enough to cause leaks under boil, or would the heat from the propane burner be sufficient to cause problems to the gasket? I realize stainless would be a better route, but for the time being it's out of my price range.

Failing this, I was also curious if there is any drawback to just using my lautering manifold for draining the boil pot once it's cool. I built it for my cube shaped 50 something qt cooler/mashtun and it's basically a square frame of copper pipe with a pipe bisecting the square, from which a short length of pipe attached to a hose fitting protrudes. Could I just use that to siphon the wort, or would I have to worry about hops clogging the dremel cuts in the pipe before the level got down to the bottom?

Metalurgy experts or all grain pros, please advise! :rockin:

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Actually, it's IMPOSSIBLE to weld steel to aluminum - the two metals are incompatible. There are some tricky ways of brazing the two together, but I doubt you'd want to try that.

Gaskets under compression are exactly how those weldless fittings that you see for sale at the HBS work. With the proper high temp gasket, one should work fine for your application.

Your backup plan with the manifold sounds solid as well.

 

[david_42]

Weldless spigots are cheap enough, you should just buy one. I've have one in my mash tun (former kettle) for years without a problem.

 

[Pabst Blue Robot]

Thanks, that answers my questions. I dig your setup by the way! SWMBO caught me looking at the pictures and coined it beer porn.


I haven't seen weldless fittings at the LHBS, can anyone recommend a good place to get them online, or is this something I can pick up in the plumbing section at the hardware store? Thanks!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

AHB and Northern Brewer both carry what you want for a reasonable price. The local hardware store might work, but Lowe's and Home Cheapo probably won't have high temp gaskets or stainless fittings.

Thanks for the compliment, by the way. If you ever get aroused by my "beer porn," just keep it to yourself...

 

[parasonic]

Actually, it's IMPOSSIBLE to weld steel to aluminum - the two metals are incompatible. There are some tricky ways of brazing the two together, but I doubt you'd want to try that.

Gaskets under compression are exactly how those weldless fittings that you see for sale at the HBS work. With the proper high temp gasket, one should work fine for your application.

Your backup plan with the manifold sounds solid as well.

IMPOSSIBLE? Try friction welding

 

[Yuri_Rage]

IMPOSSIBLE? Try friction welding

Ok, ok, IMPOSSIBLE with traditional welding equipment. If you wanna get all exotic, sure, it can be done. But I'm not about to spend 10's of thousands of dollars to get a fitting to stick to my brew kettle. Besides, everyone knows that aluminum brew kettles cause cancer, infertility, Alzheimer's disease, and something else I can't remember right now because I brewed in an aluminum kettle once.