Soldering Keg Plumbing: Where is it appropriate?

[chs9]

Alright team, I have a soldering design question. I have 2 SS kegs and have soldered in 1/2" ID female SS couplings. Now, I have SS plumbing attached to each of these couplings, which is unsoldered and instead just pipe taped and screwed in.

My questions are:

Is there any reason not to solder all of these fittings together, such that they cannot be removed from the system?

How do I remove flux after soldering if it's between the threads, which will be soldered together?

outside -> inside

1: sightglass elbow -> coupling
2/3: ball valve -> 1" MPT nipple -> coupling -> male-to-female elbow -> 1" MPT nipple (for draining BK and HLT)
4: Ball valve -> 1" MPT nipple -> coupling -> 3" MPT nipple -> elbow (for pumping INTO BK, at top of keg)

 

[itsme6582]

Threading it together will allow you to take it apart and clean it. One of these days, you'll probably want to get in there and give it a good scrub.

 

[Covert]

IMHO, you just need to go through the wall of the vessel with a weld or soldered coupling. After that, just thread everything together. You want to be able to take it apart and clean it from time to time, and the idea of what you want now might change later on and you might want a new configuration. If it is just a coupling and you don't like where it is you can put in a plug, but if you have a labarynth of fittings soldered or welded in there it is a much bigger issue.

 

[chs9]

This is true, and it was the only drawback I could come up with. I think I could do pretty well with pipe cleaners and pumping cleaning fluid through, but I'm not sure. Not every one of these connections needs to be soldered anyway - perhaps only some of them?

 

[P-J]

If you solder the threaded portion of the fittings you will have 2 issues.

It will be a huge problem taking them apart and most likely will have to throw them away and start over if you change the setup.

Debris will eddy current into the open threaded areas and it will be impossible to thoroughly clean the interior once done this way.

 

[chs9]

I think you guys are right about not being able to reconfigure my kettles, that's probably something I'll want to do in the future.

Question answered, i'm not soldering this stuff together. For fittings where I need a certain orientation (in a diptube or elbow, for instance), what's the best way to get the proper orientation and a tight fit onto whatever it's threaded into? I've just been adjusting the amount of pipe thread tape - perhaps there is a more elegant solution? This is really why I was considering soldering these in the first place.