Weldless installation

[altenmuenster]

I got my weldless bulkhead from Bargain Fittings (nice piece of equipment) -- I got my hole cut just about perfectly witha 13/16 step bit and just a have a few questions.

1) I thought I was supposed to teflon tape the nipple fitting that goes into the ball valve -- that sucker is in there tight and I don't want to mess up the threads by clamping a wrench on it. Do I need to tape that part? I would imagine, yes.

2) The O-ring kind of squirted out the side of the internal nut - is this normal? it held water when I tested it, but I had to crank down the nut tight so that there was enough nipple to thread the coupler onto.

3) Why does plumbing always sound kind of kinky when I write about it?

 

[IrregularPulse]

1) I thought I was supposed to teflon tape the nipple fitting that goes into the ball valve -- that sucker is in there tight and I don't want to mess up the threads by clamping a wrench on it. Do I need to tape that part? I would imagine, yes.
Yes, the ball valve needs teflon taped onto the nipple or it will leak. Use a heavy rag between the nipple and your channel locks to protect the threads.

2) The O-ring kind of squirted out the side of the internal nut - is this normal? it held water when I tested it, but I had to crank down the nut tight so that there was enough nipple to thread the coupler onto.
If the oring squirted out the side, it was tightened too much and will likely leak eventually. Did you buy a weldless set from somewhere? What did you buy and what kind of vessel is this going on? There are different size nipples used in different applications for these reasons.

3) Why does plumbing always sound kind of kinky when I write about it?
Because you're a guy. Sex makes everything more interesting.

 

[Golddiggie]

I taped all the threads when I installed the ball valves into kettles. If your kettle is leak free, great, you have a tight enough fit that it shouldn't matter. I would still apply some of the high temp teflon tape to the threads, to be safe.

I found that the O-Rings that came with the ball valves I purchased were just too thin to work right. I ended up getting ones that were about double the thickness. Not sure which ones you got, so you might have the better ones already. I also used flat washers with my setup, to hold the O-Rings flat to the pot wall.

Test the kettle with a boil. I tested my 60qt converted kettle with just hot water and it seemed fine. I put water in it for a boil and it started to drip. I didn't have my tools with me, so I had to just let it go. Once wort was in there, the drip was stopped due to wort filling the gap. Before I use it again, I plan to take it apart and fix the issue. Thankfully, I'm doing mostly 5 gallon batches, so my 32qt kettle works perfectly.

Plumbing sounds kinky to you because of what you're doing to it... Taping nipples, tightening up nuts, champing things, etc...

 

[altenmuenster]

It's a weldless fitting from Bargain Fittings --

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=46&product_id=91

I'm putting it on a keg - I think that it just came with the nipple cranked in -- I"ll give it a shot -- i suspected that the o-ring was not right -- i just HAD to crank t down so that I had some thread available for the coupling. . .

 

[Bobby_M]

The locknuts all seems to be about twice as thick as they need to be. It's just how they make them.

 

[Grimm]

i purchased red rounded silicone o-rings to replace the translucent flat ones that came with my bulkhead. The red ones don't seem to squirt out when being tightened down.

 

[altenmuenster]

It came with fat round o-rings. I discovered my issue. My " 13/16" hole was just a touch too small. It felt like the hole I needed was actually about halfway between the 13/16" and 7/8" step. There was a slight raise in the middle of the nipple that was stopping everything from coming flush. It looks & feels right now. I'll do a test boil to find out for sure, but I'm much more confident now.

Bobby, When I get the scratch together I'm coming to you for a sight glass and thermometer.