Beer keg to boiler

[Sunshine]

Time to order the 6" to 4" reducer next

And off it goes right away, with a little luck you have it by the weekend.

[Admiral Toad]

Thanks guys great service
And I see you're now doing 6" weld in ferrules so that should be a help for some of the other folks future projects

[Anavrin]

Hi AT

I popped into Morrow Brothers near Preston on my way home from work on Friday, they have 50lt reconditioned kegs for £50 +vat, I think I'm going to get one and follow you into the keg world, the guy I spoke to did mention something about any welding needing to acid etched to remove the black colour you sometimes see around welds, this makes it food safe, he said all welds should look shiney, like the keg when it's done properly.

I'm thinking of getting some of those Essex flanges but to keep the cost down I'm not going to have a big opening on the top, will I still be able to tighten them up through the element hole?

[Capt-Cudellez]

Morrow Bros is where I got my kegs from - sounds the price has come down a little from when I bought them, I think my 50L was nearer 90 quid, that might have been a delivered price though.

it says reconditioned, but they really are like new, you won't be disappointed - they really are rock solid to use as a boiler - the first person who figured that out is a bloody genius

[Anavrin]

Hi Capt. C

Good to know the kegs are tried and tested, the one the guy shown me looked pretty good, I've got two boat hull skin fittings that I'm going to use as a bottom drain in the keg, I think mine are half inch bsp and will hopefully fit through the top hole without the spear fitted.

Here's a link and pic of what I'm talking about
http://www.aquafax.co.uk/html/product_d ... p?ID=12281

[Capt-Cudellez]

deck drains, I use them on my beer set up You can buy short ones from "homebrewbuilder" that don't require to be cut down.

[Admiral Toad]

bollocks thought things were going too smoothly
a local firm managed to cut (with jigsaw not plasma) and weld on the 6" top ferrule heater element ferrule and female socket for drain
They did a fantastic tidy job
Got a ball valve from another local firm who it transpires can supply lots of goodies that we use
Highly recommend and I'll leave a link at the end
Anyway my nice shiny 6" to 4" triclamp reducer landed today from SDE and guess what it doesn't bloody fit
On measuring it transpires the Chinese ferrule is not 6" but nearer 7" ????
I would have ordered the ferrule from SDE but at the time they didn't have them in their range (unless I missed it)
So.....first option is to try my local mob who seem to stock this kit and it should weld on to the Chinese one without having to cut it out
If they don't have it I can get one fron SDE it just means waiting a bit longer
Biggest annoyance is the waste of money and time
still you live and learn

Here's the firm I mentioned earlier they can even get bespoke stuff made up

http://www.thomaspotter.com Paul Macdonald is very helpful

[Almanac]

I feel your pain AT. That's pretty serious shit.

Sorry for your troubles but I know you'll get it sorted.

AM

[Admiral Toad]

Proper size ferrule and triclamp obtained from Thomas Potter

It will tig weld straight onto the Chinese one

Sorted but wasted dosh

[SDeurope]

On measuring it transpires the Chinese ferrule is not 6" but nearer 7"

That's unfortunate, but not all that surprising. Chinese factories have no clue about the different standards an item they produce can be based on. There have been all kinds of problems all around tri-clamp connections in the past. Best way to avoid this is to purchase all items from one hand.

I would have ordered the ferrule from SDE but at the time they didn't have them in their range (unless I missed it)

You must have missed it, I don't recall our two types of 6" stainless steel ferrules ever been out of stock:

6" Tri-Clamp Ferrule
6" Tri-Clamp Ferrule Long

Nevertheless we are glad you got it sorted.

[Anavrin]

@SDEurope

Do you have any plans to stock elements with a 1" bsp thread that can be used with your element guard kit?

They're not easy to find here in the UK and it's its a route I'm thinking of taking for my keg build.

[SDeurope]

We are on to that matter, Anavrin, but I can't tell how quickly we will have something available. For now the Camco Ripple Ultra Low Wattage 240V types mentioned before are considered to be the best option for us Europeans.

[Anavrin]

Don't suppose anyone knows if there's a uk supplier of these camco elements?

[Admiral Toad]

SDE I am almost sure they weren't listed when I was looking for them

Ok I cocked up on this ONE occasion buying off EBay but now have found a local supplier near bye

Please realise this is a forum for enthusiastis not a site for free advertising

I now have a fully functioning boiler at a fraction of the cost of your milkcans with an element that fits

[Sunshine]

sorry, we did not want to sound this way. It is just the same problem, that we also had in the beginning, so that is why...