To weld (solder) or not to weld (weldless)?

[Old_E]

I am in the process of acquiring the bits and pieces for a new brew system and part of that is will consist of a new keggle and converted keg HLT. I have put in big order of parts some of which I already know will need to be returned due to changes I am making in my plans. Most of it was weldless and I was going to use a straight sided kettle. I then decided to use kegs.

...then I discovered the whole soldering stainless thread. Now I am at a crossroads. The spuds Bobby sells on Brewhardware.com look like an easy, strong, effective solution.

Anyone have any thoughts as the superiority of one over the other; that is soldering vs. weldless. I did several searches and was not finding much touting one over the other. Not sure I can make it through 100+ pages of the soldering thread.

Also, as to those spuds, how do you go about rigging a valve with them? Run a nipple all the way through like a cooler mlt?

Thanks.

 

[rekoob]

I think you are good with either way.
I went the soldering way with a dimple tool, nine total joints made and have been working great for about a year and a half now. No issues at all.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've been working to design a spud that is threaded from both sides but the manufactures I'm working with on custom stuff doesn't already have a spud product so it's taking a little longer than I wanted. So... keep in mind that spuds are like half couplings, only threaded on the outside. What this means is that you can't thread a dip tube in from the inside. Since the tapered thread does bust through the back, I've been able to catch like a half turn of thread on the inside and then solder that all together, but it's not something I'd recommend to customers.

 

[Old_E]

I've been working to design a spud that is threaded from both sides but the manufactures I'm working with on custom stuff doesn't already have a spud product so it's taking a little longer than I wanted. So... keep in mind that spuds are like half couplings, only threaded on the outside. What this means is that you can't thread a dip tube in from the inside. Since the tapered thread does bust through the back, I've been able to catch like a half turn of thread on the inside and then solder that all together, but it's not something I'd recommend to customers.

Thanks. That was really the info I was looking for. I read about them on your website, but was unsure what you meant. This makes it clear.

That may seal the deal for me, at least on the faucet fitting. I guess they would still work with Thermometer and sight glass fittings, since there is nothing to screw in from the inside.

 

[stpug]

I've been making headway into soldered full coupling in my BK and HLT (BK is done) for my ball valve / dip tube assembly. I love the functionality of my BK now and the security/solidity of the soldered fitting really gives me confidence. What I don't like about it is how far my setup protrudes from the side of the BK. I would guess it's 6-7 inches and would like to get down to about 4 inches MAX. The fitting that would address my issues I found after soldering in my coupling, and it's from brewers hardware (http://www.brewershardware.com/Spec...1-2-Male-out-side-and-1-2-Female-inside..html). The ball valve would attach directly to the male threaded fitting on the outside and then I'd use a male compression fitting on the inside for my diptube.

 

[Bobby_M]

Of course it's going to sound like vendor bias here, but if I were already planning on putting a diptube inside, but really wanted a soldered in fitting, I'd go with this:

Remove the silicone gasket and just tighten the exterior locknut metal to metal and solder both inside and out. Now you have your soldered fitting with tons of solder surface area with no dimpling and you already have your interior compression fitting and diptube.

 

[krazydave]

I'm all for solder at this point. The other day I caught my 2 year old daughter standing on my kettle valve like a perch and jumping. That's a pretty good indicator that the solder is plenty strong! And given the price vs welding, you can't go wrong!