New shiny stainless 70L boiler project!

[fivetide]

"I'm so excited! I just can't hide it! I'm about to lose control and i think I like it!"

*Ahem*

Guess what? Today my new brewpot arrived and suddenly the boiler project is go!. I'm stupidly excited by the scale of the whole thing! Might take a while, but hell, it's a very cool thing.

 

[A T]

Best of luck with it mate, it is great fun cutting up those pots

 

[BrewStew]

enjoy!

 

[Wez]

Go Five! :thumb:

 

[damfoose]

Very shiney we do like it :clap: :party: happy brewing mate..

 

[Vossy1]

Magic ft
remember the pics...we want pics :lol:

 

[fivetide]

Pics. Right. Absolutely.

Does that mean I have to drill one-handed? Sounds a bit rash, but yeah, okay, I'll give it a go. :P

I've just bought a decent set of saws and a free evening for myself. Looks like I might be making/wrecking my new boiler later!

I need to cut holes for and fit a ball valve, a sight tube, plus two 11" immersion elements which will be mounted to one side of the pot to fit my brewery plans, although I'll only be able to use one element until I can get someone to instal a new 16A/32A mains ring.

I'm also putting a site tube on my old boiler, which will then become my HLT.

Could be an exciting or frustrating evening - I'll take pictures either way!

 

[aeddon]

looking forward to seeing it come alive

oh yer when your drilling one handed while filming dont suppose you could do it on a rockin chair could ya?, possibly in the dark?

 

[fivetide]

You might be waiting a little while to see it come alive! I failed miserably! Managed to cut the 20mm holes for the sight tube and ball valve allright, but the 64mm holes beat me and my sooper-dooper expensive Bosch holesaw. I have pilot holes, and scorched hardened semi-cut circles and a blunted holesaw that's good for nobody. Don't know the next step, but I guess I'll have to splash out a fortune on another holesaw. Bugger, bugger, bugger.

 

[jamesb]

See PM

 

[fivetide]

Some very kind advice from James, but in the end I've used my Dremel and a stack of cut-off disks to finish cutting out the element holes 'freehand'. It took a while and created a good noise, smell and smoke, but at least there are now a couple of jagged holes vaguely where I wanted them. The holes are untidy, but are 64mm. However they are too small for the elements , and need grinding out. I can't make any more noise like that now it's so late, but tomorrow I'll stick a grinding stone on the Dremel and see if I can salvage things.

On the plus side, I did manage to fit a sight tube to my Burco HLT without much drama! I conclude that 20mm holes in stainless are fine, but 64mm are a bitch.

Night, and thanks so much for the messages.

 

[arturobandini]

When you're brewing in it you'll look back and laugh at this pain in the **** cutting....or you'll weep as your wort comes peeing out from the immersion heater gasket!

Seriously though, stainless is indeed a mother but you're on the home straight now.

 

[Vossy1]

There's nothing worse than having to finish a part drilled hole in stainless
Sorry it didn't go smoothly ft
I reckon it might have been the curveture of the pot on a 64mm hole that did the holesaw in, the teeth are going to dig in where they go through on the proud edge of the steel. From there on in it's teeth grabbing territory, I've had it with 40mm holes...not good.

 

[fivetide]

I think that was exactly it Vossy. Fortunately I at least began cutting both before the teeth burnt flat, so I had a burnt circumference to follow in each case. It looks a real mess, but ones I clean it up and cover it with the flanges of the elements themselves it may be allright. i'll sort something out anyway - but not until I've got the day job out of the way sadly....

*I also think this is why the 64mm holes need 'tickling' out - they are irregular elipses produced by the curvurture. Still, it's all good fun even when it goes wrong and leaves me swearing. Much, MUCH better than swearing at a spreadsheet, or some suit on the phone...

 

[fivetide]

Having a go at sorting it all out over my lunch hour and it's all going well so far. I shall have a shiny boiler yet!

(Whether it holds water, let alone heats it up, is another thing altogether.)

With these immersion elements, do I simply pull out the immersion heater a throw it away, by the way?

I guess I need to think about wiring at some point too. I have some 16A blue cable waiting, at least.

 

[jamesb]

With these immersion elements, do I simply pull out the immersion heater a throw it away, by the way?

You meant the thermostat/cutout in the third prong?

Yes.

 

[fivetide]

Yeah, I'm typing before I think. The thermostat, yeah. They've both gone. *Fling!*

 

[jamesb]

Yeah, I'm typing before I think. The thermostat, yeah. They've both gone. *Fling!*

If you get four of them and some duct tape, you can turn your cat into a stilt walker. It's funny.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Yeah, I'm typing before I think. The thermostat, yeah. They've both gone. *Fling!*

If you get four of them and some duct tape, you can turn your cat into a stilt walker. It's funny.

:rofl:

 

[fivetide]

I was thinking cyberpunk chopsticks.

I should be writing and posting pictures about my boiler efforts, which look pretty handsome now...

...but instead I'm going for a pint or six. :drunk: