Esky (Cooler) conversion

Second post of the day! I was busy on the weekend after my parts from bargainfittings.com arrived :)

This was a pain in the ass build I don't mind saying. My esky has a HUGE wall and bulkhead kit was not long enough to make it through with enough threads. So out came the drill! Punching through with enough to absorb that nut shown below but not enough to go over the soldered washer.

Why did I do this? The solder is under the gasket show below and I wanted that outside not inside and it gave a little more room inside.

3x 1/2" NPT Washer 304 stainless

1x Stainless steel mash braid

1x flat silicon gasket

1x silicon o ring

1x 1/2" SS Camlock Dust Cap Style Quick Disconnect

1x 1/2" SS Camlock F style fitting Quick Disconnect

1x 1/2" SS Camlock B Style Quick Disconnect

1x 3 - piece SS ball valve 

1x 1/2" NPT FEMALE x 1/2" hose barb

This might seem excessive, but I want to continue to use my esky for beer and ice! So I added a quick release and cap so I can disconnect my ball valve and barb while not brewing.

Internal is the braid, 2x SS Washers (Needed to chew up some thread) and a flat silicon gasket. The hex nut show in the soldered keg bulkhead at the top is in the esky wall, hence the drilling.

The outside is a silicon o ring with a third washer and the SS Camlock F style fitting Quick Disconnect. I put one on the floor on the left. The threads are on the concretion floor. The SS Camlock Dust Cap Style Quick Disconnect is shown attached to the esky keeping the water in and acting like a normal bung. On brew day I'll remove the dust cap and attach the ball valve show here in the picture with a SS Camlock B Style Quick Disconnect attached to the ball valve.

It will attach as so

Woot :D

When I get my next big kettle I'll be moving away from the esky to an insulated pot and all of this SS gear will transfer perfectly to the new mash tun.

No more (Or less) burned hands from wort transfer now! :)

Hop Back Build

Bit of a long time since I have posted but here goes!

Today I got my parts from bargainfittings.com (Shame on your Australia for boosting prices. I kick you in the nads!)

Now on with the build!

304 Grade Stainless Steel
http://www.ashnjuls.com.au/Stainless-Steel-Food-Storage-Airtight-Canister-p/taihsinjuniorcanister1800.htm

Its a bit expensive but I believe in quality so well worth the price.

Next was the fittings.

2 x 1/2" NPT Female x 1/2" Barb
2 x 1/2" NPT flat silicone gasket
1 x 1/2" Silicon O Ring
2 x 1/2" NPS locknut
1 x 1/2" NPT nipple 2" long
1 x Keg Bulk Head Kit


Now if you have never worked with a curve surface and SS, I suggest extreme caution. Also, get as much SS 316 as possible, 304 is the next best thing but I wouldn't go any lower then that. Go for quality! Okay enough of the public service announcements on to the construction

I started a pilot hole with a smaller drill on the upper side of the canister. From there I got my step bit for drilling SS, should be able to find these at any big hardware store or the fittings place listed above.

After burning yourself a few times on red hot SS metal you should have a hole about 1/2" around. Keep checking as you drill. Then get a grinder for removing any nasty SS edges. Its hard I know, I spent good part of 2 hours drilling, grinding and polishing. The second hole is at the bottom. Here is a photo to help you on your mental imaging.

Now time to attach the plumbing!

To the top section I used the 2" nipple and put the barb naked on the outside without a gasket, I don't think it will need one but time will tell. Inside I put a silicon o ring because I couldn't get the gasket to fit and a locknut to tighten it all down. It was a hard fit but I got it on :)

I did this so the hot wort would spill out into the middle of the canister instead of close to the side of the canister and might not take advantage of all of the hops.

The bottom is a locknut and gasket inside and the outside is another gasket with a barb on the end. The connecting piece is part of the keg bulk head kit

As this is linked image I'll drop them a line 

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=167

I have done water tests with it and it seems to hold just fine! Perfect.