Water heater element coupler, which one?

[HarvInSTL]

From what I can tell, my water heater elements are 1" NPS and not NPT. The limited responses I've found say that a 1" SS NPT coupler should work.

Anyone that has welded in a coupler for their heater element what have you used?

Here is what they said on the distiller forums to use.

Stainless Half Coupler 1" | MoreBeer

 

[Jaybird]

I just took a 1" 11 1/2 and cut it in half welded it in and ran a tap through it. I did this for both of the elements on my HLT, worked killer. Just make sure the person welding it in is good about taking 4 sides before a finish weld so it dosen't go all egg shape on ya.
Cheers
JJ

 

[HarvInSTL]

Hmm, any other options?

The guy welding these for me is willing to work for beer, wine or mead. Added maching most likely would cost me extra.

 

[tannnick]

what you need is a SS 1" coupler. like what you connect to the nipple with a ball valve, but bigger! And I'm almost positive it is NPT, and thats what a coupler is. Nuts don't work, but anything that is NPT. I use a copper 1" NPT x 1" copper female for my inline water heater.

It is more the gasket that will seal the element, not the coupler. and hand tighten, don't over tighten.

 

[tannnick]

I also must say that if you don't see yourself removing the element for any reason, you could always JB Waterweld it and never have to worry. That is the ****. and yes, it is NSF certified and can withstand direct temps up to 300F.

 

[slimer]

Stainless Steel 1" Locknut. Fits Electric water heater element thread. FPT Thread will thread either way and has a inset groove that fits the stock water heater element thread gasket. Purchase a food grade silicone o-ring below.

http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop2.html

 

[Bobby_M]

what you need is a SS 1" coupler. like what you connect to the nipple with a ball valve, but bigger! And I'm almost positive it is NPT, and thats what a coupler is. Nuts don't work, but anything that is NPT. I use a copper 1" NPT x 1" copper female for my inline water heater.

It is more the gasket that will seal the element, not the coupler. and hand tighten, don't over tighten.

Any threaded system that uses a gasket for sealing has to be NPS or the threads might engage before the seal makes contact. In that case you can either drill the hole so the thread slips through and use the 1" locknut on the inside. If welding is desirable, just weld the locknut to the exterior.

Now, you CAN usually get an NPS male thread to seal into a female NPT coupling but you definitely need a lot of telfon tape because they don't really mesh all that well.

 

[Gussymo]

$8.25 for the stainless lock nut.

Bargain Fittings

 

[conpewter]

Also you will probably want to look into some way to keep the element base from rusting when in contact with the wort If I didn't want replaceable elements I'd just have put JB weld over the face.

Edit: I used the stainless nut from Bargain Fittings as well.