What and where to buy ball valve fittings

[ECLIPSE]

I'm having trouble finding out exactly what I need to buy so that I can fit a ball valve to my 50 litre Bergland stock pot. I have found a weldless tap kit on angelhomebrew

http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/taps- ... p-kit.html

I'd like something reliable yet easy to fit.

I can't for the life of my figure out which is the best option to go for! Any advice would be great.

Thanks guys

 

[Fil]

Lots of ways,
if u want a SS solution the one linked to should work well,

I used home made silicone baking sheet washers in conjunction with m20 SS washers (ebay) and bes hex nipple thru a 20mm hole with ss and silicone washers both sides tightening into a SS eblow, u could use a socket or locknut, the hex nipples are tapered so an extra packing washer or 2 may be needed.

others have used parallel nipples with dowty washer seals very effectively.

Get lots n lots of ptfe tape too....


what if any hop filter do u want to attach on the inside
and what fitting does it have?

 

[ECLIPSE]

Sounds complicated! I've got no idea what all these fittings are lol.

In terms of the hop filter I haven't thought too much about that yet. I certainly need one. There is a similar looking 3 piece ball valve tap kit in the malt miller site which comes with kevlar washers. Bit this is 33 quid rather than 27. If there was some easy list of parts to buy so I could have the tap, connectors and some sort of hop filter that would all fit together when assembled that would be great! I've no idea about plumbing connectors/ sizes and what is best for this setup.

 

[Fil]

The kits from the malt miller and the like dont carry a heavy premium, and cost a few quid if that more than quality parts sourced thru uk suppliers. u can get slightly cheaper via ebay china, but the wait and perhaps quality and redress options are not quite as good, any probs from the malt miller stuff and a email/phone call will likely get it sorted..

u might also want to send an email for a quote to mrlard aka the homebrewbuilder.co.uk?? great quality good prices and a lot of custom kit not available elsewhere, for prices a deal, and advice from a fellow brewer just email/phone, no ecommerce on the site.


for the bits and a diy job if you want to..

asap-supplies.com?.co.uk? and search for "stainless steel pipe fittings)
http://www.asap-supplies.com/search/sta ... e+fittings

or bes.co.uk
http://www.bes.co.uk/products/165a.asp

the threads are both parallel and tapered, mating the two can involve a lot of ptfe tape and diy washers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Pipe

ss washers, M20 are a good fit for 1/2" bsp threads and ebay sells them..

and with a diy solution be prepared to do a few fits to line up AND seal

 

[danb]

The weldless tap setup is easy to fit and there's no flex at all using the tap.

I got all my fittings from angel homebrew as its local. Really nice and helpful guy. Chucked me £10 worth of 1/2 inch nipples in with my order too.
He does it from home as a sideline to help others out. Last time I went he was sorting a deal with custom false bottoms, so maybe worth asking about.

No connection at all apart from a returning customer.

 

[Vossy1]

THBF have been supplying custom made stainless steel bulkheads for quite some time. They're actually cheap for a custom manufactured parts but if you prefer 'codging' something together with ptfe it's a lot cheaper
ps, that's no slur on ptfe parts, I used them myself before the ssbh's became available, it's more a comment on what we take for granted...if we paid for decent stainless pots instead of cheap Chinese imports the cost of a ssbh would become negligible...see Blichman gear for eg.

 

[ECLIPSE]

Cheers guys. Some great advice there. I've messaged angelhomebrew to see of he can do me a deal on the tap kit.

Next think to find out about is a hop filter...

 

[rpt]

Have a look at my how to on fitting a ball valve and hop filter to a Buffalo boiler (see my sig below). You can apply the same principles but just do everything with 1/2" BSP fittings.

 

[ECLIPSE]

I've found this tank coupler on screwfix

http://www.screwfix.com/p/yorkshire-tec ... stid=80628

Would this be suitable for connecting a tap to my Bergland boiling pot? I was thinking of using silicone baking sheet to make a washer for the inside sealing face? Then would a 1/2 inch 2 piece ball valve tap screw onto the outside threads?

As far as I can see the inside is a 15mm push fit so I was thinking of using a short piece of 15mm copper with holes drilled in for the copper manifold?

Would this set up work and is there any other bits I would need to make a water tight seal?

 

[morethanworts]

+1 for Angel Homebrew. I got a 2 piece tap kit and hop filter from them recently. No problems and prompt response to a follow up query.

I looked at various options for a long time and racked my brains about all the different part numbers etc if I went the BES-order/ebay etc route and did it myself. I may have saved £10-20 pounds, which would have been good if it went perfectly, but I concluded that the difference wasn't worth the risk that I'd misunderstood any of the parts, for me. It would only have taken one error, a second delivery charge or something, and I may as well have ordered a ready made kit with specialist consumer backup anyway. If I was planning to fit many of them, then further investment in my time may have been worth it. I've saved plenty of money elsewhere in my set up, but this was one small luxury I decided to pay for.

 

[Fil]

DUH!! totally forgot about the forum bulkheads.. check them out b4 u decide..

 

[DethApostle]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but are the forum Bulkhead fittings still available from somewhere?

Cheers.
DA

 

[ManseMasher]

Not from here, as far as I'm aware.

 

[DethApostle]

Shame. What's the new 'standard' method for fully SS tank connectors now then?

DA

 

[Fil]

Shame. What's the new 'standard' method for fully SS tank connectors now then?

DA

hot or cond side?? for hot i now use 1/2" bsp hex nipples (bes) M20 SS washers (ebay), ss locknut (bes) and a lot of ptfe tape.

the seal is made by wrapping a load of ptfe through and round a M20 washer a good few wrap rounds threading through the eye builds up a cushion of ptfe on tha washer face and closes the eye too.

the washer needs screwing up to the hexnipple hilt, the ptfe seals this and then when pushed into a pot hole (20mm) and met on the inside with a 2nd ss m20 washer and a locknut can be tightened up so the pot wall seals on the ptfe padded washer face too..

transfer ptfe tape to a drinking straw bobbin using a drill driver to drive it and your thumb on the roll to maintain the tension for a neat job. then its easy to thread thruogh a washers eye while wrapping it.

you can also use alternative fittings instead of a locknut, i use an elbow in my kettle to form the internal side of a siphon to drain the kettle dry..