StillSmart

Hi Guys

I'm building my own boka column and I'm converting my home brew boiler so the column can be attached with tri clamp fittings, one of the advantages of using 2 inch tri clamps is the column can be fitted direct to beer kegs or anything else with the same size tri clamp, I would like to find a way of fitting my column to a t500 boiler and I've found these fittings




It's a 2inch tri clamp that has a 1 1/2 inch bsp thread inside the ferrule, I don't know the outer measurement of the ferrule but I'm guessing its 51mm, the larger end that clamps is 64mm, I believe this is the same thread type and size used to secure the t500 column to its boiler, can anyone confirm this?

If possible could anyone tell me the size of the hole in the lid of the t500 boiler

Just for info the width of 1 1/2 inch bsp thread according to wiki is 47.803mm

I've just made a column using a 1.5" BSP backnut to fit my 500 lid. Look up V T's post of the build it's on here somewhere.
I can find the size of the hole in the lid later tonight if you want.

Yes the original T500 column nut is 1.5" BSP.
The screw ferule you show has no flange at the base where you would attach it to the boiler lid, so how do you propose to seal it.

If you are buying a T500 Boiler you will need to establish if the Nut that connects the Boiler to the Column is supplied with the Boiler or the Column.

I believe that the nut comes with the column, in which case you will need to buy a Nut, or use another connector.

I have never found a direct replacement in the UK, they are readily available in Australia http://homebrewershaven.com.au/shop/thr ... 500-still/

You could always use a 1.1/2" BSPP stainless nipple with a stainless back nut, both of which are readily available in the UK.

I don't have a t500 boiler at the moment, I'm planning on modifying my boiler I use for my home brew, I'm gonna get a tri clamp welded to the bottom of my column so I'm trying to find out if there's an easy solution to fit a tri clamp to the t500 to make it compatible.

One thing I considered originally was to use a 54mm tank connector compression fitting but I don't have a pair of 3 foot long spanners to compress it.

But I have noticed I can make use of the fitting if I turn it upside down and put it on the end of the column

Here's the fitting


And if I throw away the olive and compression nut it fits nicely on the bottom of the column and could be braised on, will look like this



I would need quiet a big hole in my boiler lid of 64mm but it could be a winner, although I've got it in my mind that brass is not a good material to use, does anyone know why? Does it contain lead?

There are lots of ways of skinning a cat.

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Yes - brass does contain a small amount of lead, it makes machining the brass easier.

It is a very small amount of lead, some brass is classed as "lead free" this does not mean what it says, it still has the small amount of lead added for machining. "Lead Free" means that it is free of any lead over and above the allowable amount of lead which varies from country to country.

I researched this topic until my eyes bled and I eventually convinced myself that the amounts of lead we are talking about are insignificant, and that "pickling" the brass with acid to get rid of the lead only makes things worse.

I have minimal brass fittings on my still but do not give them a thought.

If you are still concerned then "tin" the brass with a coating of solder.

To answer your original post, yes that fitting will work with the T500. I bought 4 of those from a chinese Ebay seller, but the quality varies. Some of the threads are not machined very well making them unusable.

I've had 6 of them (3 pairs), 2 were unusable, and one set came with the wrong clamp, they are very cheap though, so if you are prepared for a bit of fallout, then they work very well.

Thanks for the info about the quality, I was looking at the Chinese ones on ebay

I was thinking maybe this one will be better




It's got a 1.5 inch bsp thread on the outside so it could be clamped onto the lid with two nuts and a silicone washer so long as the treads long enough