Need to silver solder or TIG weld a 2" tc port - which one? Questions...

[maierhof]

Thanks again for all the great ideas and diy workarounds everyone - I wouldn't be drinking the beer I have today if it wasnt for you!

So I am in the home strech on my upgrade to 11g from 5g and I am about to put in two heating elements.
I have ordered the tc ports but I have never seen them silver soldered before. I could bring them in to be TIG welded but that may be more than I want to spend right now so I think I might just solder them right now. If that is the case, I have a few questions:

Q1 - what method did you use to cut the hole punch tool or a saw? I am thinking punch

Q2 - does someone live nearby (san mateo ca) and have a hole punch I could swing by to use? =;> hey - if ya dont ask right?

Q3 - how far off the bottom are these elements supposed to be (8g pot with 25ft of 1/2" herms coil too) and how far away from the element should my copper coil be?

Q4 - has someone dimpled their own? Can you tell me what you used, parts wise, if you did? Did it work well or was it tough to assemble & move?

Q5 - can someone post a link to a video of one that has been or is being soldered - it seems straight forward to me - just want to see if there are any other tricks besides the basics.

Basically if I take it down to the welder I am out about $120 I think - for holes drilled and welded.
If I do it myself I still have to buy the correct punch though....

I look forward to any ideas you can share...Cheers!

 

[ccbadd]

2" TC's are kind of big for silver solder I think. Why not use the 1.5" TC's instead? The ones from brewhardware.com do work well for even 5500W ripple elements.

 

[maierhof]

2" TC's are kind of big for silver solder I think. Why not use the 1.5" TC's instead? The ones from brewhardware.com do work well for even 5500W ripple elements.

StillDragon uses 2" tc - this is the element cable protector I already have...

 

[ccbadd]

StillDragon uses 2" tc - this is the element cable protector I already have...

That is the same one I have and it is very nice. I paid a welder to weld a 2" TC ferrule on my pot, a 44Qt Bayou Classic stainless. It cost me $75 plus the ferrule which I picked up on ebay. I didn't feel there was enough surface area to silver solder but I could be wrong.

 

[cank]

I've silver soldered my StillDragon furrels on and works fine. Just dimple it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/4-87-keg-tool-402677/#post5073674

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/

 

[maierhof]

I've silver soldered my StillDragon furrels on and works fine. Just dimple it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/4-87-keg-tool-402677/#post5073674

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/

What did you use to keep the ferrule locked on the hole? I am thinking pvc - just unsure due to the size of the hole...

 

[cank]

Are you talking about when I made the dimple or in the hole as I was soldering?

As far as making the dimple, I used a piece of SS coupling and a SS reducer that I bought off Amazon. I'll have to look when I get home.

And as for the furrule staying in the hole to solder, it should stay by itself, if not take a hammer to the dimple and persuade it.

 

[maierhof]

Are you talking about when I made the dimple or in the hole as I was soldering?

?
The dimple tool...

As far as making the dimple, I used a piece of SS coupling and a SS reducer that I bought off Amazon. I'll have to look when I get home.

And as for the furrule staying in the hole to solder, it should stay by itself, if not take a hammer to the dimple and persuade it.

Can you show me your 2" tri-clamp ferrule that you have installed please?

 

[maierhof]

Well - I guess I wasn't patient enough to wade through all 140+ pages of posts...so I decided to go backwards instead this time.
And there it is... on page 138
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/12374612075_3aa5685656_c.jpg

So that is the trick!!
You need to have downward pressure on the tc piece to remove any gaps and provide a good connection.

Edit: here is the link to BobbyM video where he goes over the tc flange install.

This is really the best way I can describe it.. skip to the 12 minute mark:
http://youtu.be/_NkHlDql8EU

Apparently you also will need to dimple it using a stainless 2" butt weld concentric reducer.
I looked at McMaster and they are $12 before shipping...no.
Amazon has it for $12 shipped on prime from merit brass: http://amzn.com/B003RWTYT6
I looked at ssbrewing, brewershardware, bargainfittings,... nada...

Then I went down to home depo and found an abs plastic 3" TomKap.
The 2" ferrule fits directly into the threading inside the piece and so viola it fits perfectly but not too snug.
Then I went over the stainless isle and got four 2" washers with 1/2" holes in them. That should be enough strength this time... last time I used two on these washers and they both bent. Now I have a 2" tc dimple tool for a total of $18 in additional parts.
Thank you HBT!

Take a look:

 

[maierhof]

Ok - so I bought the 2" bimetal hole saw and chose the spot for the hole then I drilled it...

Folks - I would not try this at home unless you have a real way to lock those parts down (thinking vise and drill press is best) otherwise it might make the hole too large if you use your own hands... trust me.

I ended up having a situation where the tc ferrule and the pot didnt have an exact matching fit. There goes silver soldering... So we had problems with the weld too as a direct result of my bad drilling job. Apparently the filler just ran through the gaps and so he had to stop and start a few times and just let it build up. He said it took him an hour... I made the right choice by going to someone for help on this one.

Boy I learned a few things on this one...

The last time I used him it was for a tc cap drilled out to match the four way 1/2" npt fitting I used and then he fusion welded the outside then had it drilled down again on the inside to mirror the inside walls. Very pro work indeed. Worth the money.

This time in order to save a few bucks I used a bimetal hole saw @ 2" and drilled the hole myself thinking no problem the weld will clean it right up... wrong... I got some cleaning up to do I guess but it doesnt look that bad does it?
Opinions?

I paid $45 in total for the weld this time.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Weld looks great and serviceable, giving the hole he had to work with.

We ALL live and learn from our mistakes!