Weldless Spigot for Kettle

[amrmedic]

Ok, I ordered the 1/2" weldless bulkhead and valve with dip tube from Bargainfittings. I have it and I got my step bit.

I looked at my 44 quart SS kettle, and thought I have one shot at this. So I did what any good homebrewer would do in this situation. I had a homebrew, picked up the drill ( I know, not safe to operate machinery while having a brew, but I had only 1-2 sips before drilling to remind me what I love to do) and slowly drilled the hole.

It is a perfect fit, but for some reason I can not get it tight enough. Is it ok for the whole assembly to be able to rotate. The entire assembly (inside and out) rotate together. I have not tried to see if it leaks yet.

Any thoughts?

 

[wyzazz]

If you can rotate the entire assembly then it's not tight enough. Did you get the set with the close nipple like the one below?

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=44_35_46&product_id=91

If you did and it still doesn't fit then shoot Wayne a PM via this link and he will get you all taken care of.

 

[BargainFittings]

Apply some telfon tape on the male threads if you have not already. It will allow the fitting to tighten all the way down.

 

[amrmedic]

Ok

Well, I have finished 2 homebrews while I let about 4 gallons of water sit in the kettle. I only have a small leak, just a drip. Not a continuous flow. I think I see a problem, I put an O ring on the inside and out side. The directions says this will cause more of a leak?

I am going to try to take the fitting apart, clean everything including the drill hole, reapply teflon tape and only use an o-ring on the inside. I think the more home brew I drink, the problem gets solved.

If this works I will write a paper on how home brew can solve many problems, maybe even create world peace?

Thanks

 

[BargainFittings]

It is a theory many have thought of.

It is the cause and solution to all our problems.

 

[amrmedic]

Ok, I have tried everything but still persist with a small drip from my weldless valve. It is coming from behind the spacer washer. I have rechecked my hole size and it is spot on 13/16", the silicone o-ring is properly seated, teflon tape on all threads, the valve is tight. What else can I do? Is there any silicone food grade caulk, that can withstand high temps that I can use to seal around the outside spacer washer to prevent the leak?

Thanks

 

[samc]

Maybe you got it too tight. Sometimes it is a matter of playing around with it until it works. You should not need any silicone caulk.

 

[BrewDog760]

+1 on goofing around with it. I've been monkeying around with mine for days and the best I can do is a very slow drip. I am talking about the weldless bulkhead setup on a brew kettle by the way...

 

[BargainFittings]

How many wraps of teflon? The white stuff is pretty thin. I usually do 6-7 wraps of it or 3-4 wraps of the yellow type because it is thick.

Sounds like you are getting some travel on the threads.

 

[Thirstyone]

Weldless bulk head fittings suck! I tried and tried to no avail. Great having a leak start with a full 14 gallon boil going. Plus they trap all kinds of stuff, and cleaning is a royal pain. Why add to the work?

Best bet, find a good welder who can do stainless, and get couplers welded on. You will never look back

 

[wyzazz]

Weldless bulk head fittings suck! I tried and tried to no avail. Great having a leak start with a full 14 gallon boil going. Plus they trap all kinds of stuff, and cleaning is a royal pain. Why add to the work?

Best bet, find a good welder who can do stainless, and get couplers welded on. You will never look back

If you're springing a leak while boiling then you didn't install the fitting correctly, and the "stuff" that's trapped is going through at least a 60 minute boil so no worries there. There are plenty of us that use weldless fittings with no issues...

 

[BrewDog760]

+1 on goofing around with it. I've been monkeying around with mine for days and the best I can do is a very slow drip. I am talking about the weldless bulkhead setup on a brew kettle by the way...

FYI: A better fitting washer was the ticket. I got the weldless fitting to seal and just wrapped up a brew session with no leaks. They do work if you can find right combination of parts!

 

[jakecpunut]

I love my weldless fitting from Bargain Fittings. Install went smooth and no leaks... I can actually grab the valve on the outside and turn it a little and no leaks..

here's the vid if you haven't seen it already.. it's the 2nd vid..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/sq14-burner-keggle-ball-valve-install-bargain-fittings-187962/

 

[Bensiff]

Clean out your cut hole with sand paper to make sure no little pieces of metal are pushing on the O-ring. NPT threads have about 2.5 - 3.5 turns before the threads make contact to be in spec, so if you have a couple parts on the lower end of that spec you could have the parts tighten on you while still have play in the weldless fitting allowing it to turn. If you are close to tight you can use some channellocks to snug them down. If there is too much space then add another washer to make up the difference. NPT also REQUIRES tape to form a liquid tight seal, thread contact is not enough, so make sure your threads are well wrapped. Hope something in that helps.