Fitting a hose or barb fitting to an urn tap

[AMyd666]

Hi All. I have my eye on this for sparge water as I like that you can dial in the temperature and it's cheap.

https://www.mylek.co.uk/mylek-digital-stainless-steel-catering-urn-20l
I've seen the mods to burco boilers and the like, but because this has the integrated sight glass I'm wondering if a hose can simply be fitted to the tap, or even a threaded barb fitting screwed in. Has anyone modified this type before?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Well it looks like about the same as the one that came fitted to my Burco, and I'm afraid that I couldn't see any obvious way to adapt it so I just removed it and replaced with a ball valve.
The problem with those spouts is that they are smoothly tapered plastic all the way down to the tap so there is no obvious way to securely fit a hose... and lets face it, you don't want to risk being sprayed with scalding hot wort eh?

The digital temp setting could be handy, but I'm not sure about the merits of the sight glass. I suspect it would get gunked up with debris very fast and I'm not sure how you would clean it.
An alternate method of telling how much fluid there is in there is just to use one of those clean little 'hanging' luggage scales: Suspend from the handle, subtract the empty weight then just 1kg = 1 litre.

Final word on these: the stated '20L' capacity will almost certainly be the level up to the brim so by the time you've allowed for some head space for all the foam that builds up you are probably looking closer to 15L...

I wonder how it would work out versus, say, a 30L Burco Cygnet e.g. Burco Hot Water Boiler Cygnet MFCT1030 30L Counter Top Manual Fill for sale online | eBay (£87, free postage) ?

 

[AMyd666]

Cheers man, but it's sparge water only that I'm interested in and I don't want the faff of weighing etc. I'm thinking that somehow the tap end, either internally or externally, could be threaded to fit a hose barb connection or such like, or even a larger bore hose with a circlip

 

[Nicks90]

I have a similar urn and the site glass tube is basically screwed in top and bottom. I'm thinking of removing the nuts and drilling out a suitable hole and fitting a proper tap. Then just blanking off the top hole

 

[AMyd666]

Ah but I want the sight glass....

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Been thinking about ways to attach a hose. I wonder if this could work:
Get yourself some silicone hose that will push reasonably tightly over the tapered end of the tap, and three zip ties.
Fasten one of the ties fairly loosely over the hose, about 15mm from the end. Slip the ‘tail‘ of one of the others under it, so that it stick out past the end of the hose.
Cut the ‘head‘ off the final tie and retain it for use in the next step.
Push the hose over the end of the tap. Hold it in place while running the tail of the second tie over the top of the tap, then back down under the one round the hose. Slide the retained head onto the free end so as to stop it sliding back through.
Push the hose firmly up the tap as far as it will go, then tighten everything up...

Hope that makes sense?

 

[AMyd666]

Hi TETB
That sounds like a cunning plan! Thanks

 

[Bruce_S]

Some of the urn taps I've seen have smooth bores on the exit side, if this is the case, you might be able to find a rigid pipe of the right diameter to fit. Glue that in and you have a hose barb of sorts.

Other taps have vertical slits on the wall of the exit, you'd have to drill the bore bigger to get rid of them.

 

[Gerryjo]

Run a fine file around the tap 2 or 3 lines up, using a hairdryer heat the pipe pushing the end of a kitchen utensil to help keep form then slide it over gently continuing to use the heat. Once in place splash with some cold water to help shrink then secure with a cable tie or a piece of wire.
You could also Smear some epoxy resin over the tap before putting on the hose and is only £1 in B+M or a poundshop.

 

[Gerryjo]

Ah but I want the sight glass....

The sight glass on these are just for show that is about 12l of water.

But they do make a great heat exchanger and sparge water heart.