Soldering Stainless steel

[Bobby_M]

Any progress on the 2"? I understand that the ripple 5500W elements won't fit through a 1.5".

I don't know where this understanding came from but both styles of ripple elements that I stock work in 1.5" TC medium and long weld ferrules.

 

[d3track]

Any progress on the 2"? I understand that the ripple 5500W elements won't fit through a 1.5".

Bobby's do, I used one just yesterday...

ditto, I use the ripple element in a 1.5" TC with no issues

 

[jimmayhugh]

I have one March and two Chugger Center Input Pumps that have long had tri-clamp connectors screwed on with PTFE tape. I finally got tired of unwinding, cleaning and re-winding the connectors, so I bit the bullet and tried silver soldering the connectors onto the pump head threads.

I carefully cleaned the threads on the heads and connectors. using a bronze bristle rotary brush on my Dremel tool. I then lightly sanded the threads, cleaned them with acetone, applied a copious amount of flux to the threads, then I assembled and soldered the heads one port at a time.

The result came out pretty well if I do say so myself:

I've hooked up and run all the pumps and leak tested them, and everything was copacetic.

If you're going to try this yourself, and don't already have the tri-clamp fittings, I recommend you use Bobby's Low Profile NPT adapters.

 

[noiz2]

I finally got tired of unwinding, cleaning and re-winding the connectors, so I bit the bullet and tried silver soldering the connectors onto the pump head threads.

If you were unthreading to clean why would you solder it together? Now you can't clean the threads. They didn't go away they are still on the inside collecting as much junk as they used to.

For me I don't disassemble the pump. I flush it with PBW then water and fill it with starsan. I made a short hose that lets me recirculate out to in and I just leave it full of starsan between uses. But if I was paranoid enough to open and clean everything regularly I wouldn't be soldering the threaded parts.

Just curious, I don't think it's an issue one way or the other.

 

[jimmayhugh]

I mostly got tired of the fittings loosening on the head and leaking. As the fittings heated up I was able to screw the fittings down tighter as well, there is very little thread exposed. I also clean with hot PBW and can clean the fittings with a bristle brush if necessary, although I've never found that to be necessary.

 

[noiz2]

OK that makes sense. I don't have the stainless heads and haven't had any loosening issues... yet.

 

[kgranger]

Apologies if anyone has covered this earlier in the thread, but being 41 pages deep, it's hard for me to find an example of this.

Has anyone soldered a 4" TC ferrule to a kettle lid? I am wondering about how to properly build the tool to dimple the opening, considering the large diameter. I am working on setting up a steam condenser for my boil kettle, so the lid will be shut. I want to add an access port for hop additions, so I was thinking a 4" TC port would be great for this.

I was thinking this might work:
https://www.stainlesssteelexpress.c...qC4wIVho-zCh1sYAfpEAkYAyABEgJYxPD_BwE#175=170

Any thoughts?

 

[Bobby_M]

Not worth the cost to use TC for this. Find an old lid for a small saucepan and make a hole that is compatible.

 

[Gravitysucks]

As BobbyM said, a small saucepan lid is the simplest way to go and it works fine.

 

[jimmayhugh]

I got tired of aligning and getting a 2" tri-clamp securely onto my keg boiler, so I added a tri-clamp ferrule with just a little sanding, cleaning, flux, and solder. I checked for leaks, it works perfectly...

 

[IanMC]

Hi all,

I'm about to do my first stainless steel solder, and am seeking some advice. I'm very familiar with soldering electrical connections, but this will be my first plumbing application.

I'm trying to seal up a corny keg liquid dip tube in order to use it as a thermowell for keg fermenting. I've got a straight 21" dip tube (https://www.homebrewing.org/21-Straight-5-gallon-Soda-Keg-Liquid-Dip-Tube-No-Ears-Used-_p_6477.html) that I plan to seal up with a 1/4" stainless steel barbed plug (https://growmasters.com/products/ss-plug-1-4-barb), and then solder in place to seal up any gaps.

My plan is to do the following:
1) Scuff up the barb and dip tube interior with some light sand paper
2) Clean both surfaces with Barkeepers Friend and isopropyl alcohol
3) Dip the barb in flux; coat the dip tube interior in flux. I will be using Harris Stay Clean.
4) Push the barb into the bottom of the tube. May need a hammer to get it in fully.
5) Heat it with a propane torch and apply solder once at temp. I will be using some kind of silver solder. Hoping to get Harris Stay Brite 8 if I can find it reasonably cheap.

I've considered cutting small pieces (like 1mm in length) of solder and dropping them into the dip tube to rest atop the barb, so they would melt and seal from the inside also. I know this may be overkill, but don't know if this may cause unexpected issues. Any thoughts or suggestions? Do I need to leave some kind of a lip at the bottom of the tube so that the solder can wick inside, or should I just pound the barb fully in such that the bottom is flush with the tube?

Thanks!

 

[crane]

Here are some of the more interesting things I have used this technique for.

Bottom drain and volume sensor ports for each kettle.

Trub Dam

TC spools

Hops-Boss TC mount

 

[IanMC]

Here are some of the more interesting things I have used this technique for.

Bottom drain and volume sensor ports for each kettle.
View attachment 670834
Trub Dam
View attachment 670835
TC spools
View attachment 670836
View attachment 670837
Hops-Boss TC mount
View attachment 670843
View attachment 670844

Nice! Very clean. I love how you've been able to add so much functionality without having to seek outside services.