Hole is too big. What now?

[Loetz]

So I went against good advice and I used my 22mm hole maker to drill the hole for the tap on my BK. :wha:

In my defense, I tried it on an old cooking pot in advance and the hole wasn't too big. The tap fit and there was a water tight seal.

For some reason that wasn't the case with the hole I made on the BK. It's about one or two mm too large, and I don't know what to do now. Is there some kind of an epoxy or something that I could use? :pray:

What do I do now???
:shock:

 

[Mark1964]

you could fill the gap with ptfe tape or use that plumbers mate stuff it goes hard like silicone sealer

 

[pittsy]

or use a washer , thats what i would do , from your local plumber store it should have a large flange on em

 

[Muddydisco]

Or keep making it bigger until a 22mm pipe Tank connector fits :lol:

 

[Mark1964]

good idea :thumb:

 

[artyb]

cut washers from a silicone sheet... :thumb:

 

[Dieseljockey]

cut washers from a silicone sheet..

+ 1 a friend of mine did the same and used a silicon baking sheet.

 

[storm in a teacup]

+1 for a silicon sheet, it works a treat and you can have any size you want.

 

[evanvine]

I think MD has the right idea!
You can then use a 22-15mm reducer and use your existing tap.

 

[Loetz]

It would be a great idea, but I need to be able to thread the hop stopper to the inside connection and I don't think I could do that if I had a tank connector.

Maybe I can find some large washers someplace. I'm just really anxious about this because the big, mega hardware store near me has a surprisingly terrible selection of washers. I'm not sure that they are going to have one with a large enough flange. Maybe I can find a plumbing supply store someplace.

What really sucks is that this is literally the last thing I need to prepare to have a functioning brewery. A washer is holding me back. :shock:

 

[evanvine]

It would be a great idea, but I need to be able to thread the hop stopper to the inside connection and I don't think I could do that if I had a tank connector.

Not knowing your hop filter set up, I only tell you what I've done.
The end of my hop stopper is 15mm copper, this is a "rattle" fit in the 22mm tank connector.
If you put a piece silicon tube over the end, it fits very snugly and firmly.

 

[Loetz]

I think the crisis has been averted.

I went to another store across town and I found a rubber washer with a huge, mother-of-god flange on it, so that should work in the end. I'll put it together tomorrow and see if it holds water.

 

[Dieseljockey]

Ah..the beer gods are being good to you, keep the faith brother.. :pray:

 

[Loetz]

It didn't work. It was leaking a lot.
Maybe I can solder it with silver solder or some epoxy.
I don't think I'll find JB Weld here. What characteristics should I look for in an epoxy?

 

[pittsy]

was your washer 1 like this , it should of worked http://www.plumbcenter.co.uk/en/plumbin ... -1-5-19868

 

[Loetz]

It looks like this:

I'm really surprised that it would leak like this. I used plumbers tape and everything.

 

[Loetz]

I tried a different set up, and it's still leaking. It seems to come from the same place no matter how I put it all together. The problem is where the tap connects to the washer.
I think the inner diameter of the washers might be too large, but I can't go any smaller.


Like here...

Do you think I could solder it?

 

[Loetz]

This is the connection from the inside.

The probe hole doesn't leak at all.

 

[Dieseljockey]

Now that photo tell a story...the rubber washer look's like it's deformed by the connector. If you look at the rubber it's outer part of it is turning up, so the water will get between the washer and he body of the pot. Now I'll bet you a pint if you can find a metal washer the same size as the rubber one that will go under the flange that you show there, as you tighten the nut it will pull down even and seal ok. It's like the old cork washer with a steel washer either side in the old days when you mended an old pan.

 

[Loetz]

You might be right, but I won't be able to find a washer that large. There was only one metal washer that had an inner diameter close enough to the diameter of the tap.

I'm really thinking this is an epoxy or solder solution.