Sightglass trouble?!

[mkringii]

anyone else have a slight bend in their installation of their sight glass?! In no way is this any problem with bobby_m's product more than likely and error on installation end here..

Wen above the suggest 5/8" center start for the hole and went with the a one inch.. still ended up with think bend.. its a half coupling thats surface welded to the keg (not a full coupling that is sagging) and even with the angle that the glass is installed to the reducing nut i have this 25-35 degree bend away from the keg that is held in buy eye bolt..

cause its welded i pretty much have to live with it and i was hoping that there were some other members that could give insight on a way to either reduce the curve or experience on how theirs works with the curve (assuming im not the ONLY person who has done this)

i have not calibrated it yet so i dont know how it is effected.. i wanted to see if any solutions would come of this post!

thanks in advance

 

[day_trippr]

If you have a heat gun I bet you could bend the tubing just above the bottom fitting and get it plumb...

Cheers!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Sort of looks to me like the 1/2 coupling was installed sloping downward. Options to improve it:

1. Resolder or reweld
2. bend / heat the sightglass
3. leave it alone

 

[amandabab]

you could thread the sightglass tube into the fitting at an angle like like some of the brewhardware weldless keg kits to make up some of the angle.

 

[mkringii]

Sort of looks to me like the 1/2 coupling was installed sloping downward. Options to improve it:

1. Resolder or reweld
2. bend / heat the sightglass
3. leave it alone

sorry about that... the keg is sitting on a blanket on top of my glass top coffee table.. according to my buddy (professional fabricator) its on the level...so i really cant tell by eye, nor do i have anything to test it.. if it is slanted i guess i could have him redo it.

i can get a heat gun, but what is this polycarbonate rated to? i mean it can hold boiling water/wort.. and heating/bending is making me curious if it will effect the accuracy that im hoping to achive with the sight glass

you could thread the sightglass tube into the fitting at an angle like like some of the brewhardware weldless keg kits to make up some of the angle.

as originally posted.. this is a brewhardware sight kit and the polycarbonate is threaded in on an angle already.

 

[day_trippr]

You haven't marked the tube yet, so whatever you do to it won't change it's "accuracy". As for bending, a quick Wikipedia check says polycarbonates soften around 300°F, easily achievable by a heat gun...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

The way to solve an angled welded coupling is to thread a 10" or longer piece of 1/2" pipe into the coupling and apply a little upward persuasion until the pipe sits parallel to the floor. Done and done.

 

[mkringii]

The way to solve an angled welded coupling is to thread a 10" or longer piece of 1/2" pipe into the coupling and apply a little upward persuasion. It tweaks the keg wall just enough and gets it parallel to the floor. Done and done.

You haven't marked the tube yet, so whatever you do to it won't change it's "accuracy". As for bending, a quick Wikipedia check says polycarbonates soften around 300°F, easily achievable by a heat gun...

Cheers!

Thanks bobby i didnt even think to try to bend the keg wall a little.. i will give that a shot

and worst comes to worst i will try the heat gun approach to slightly bend it.

 

[mkringii]

The way to solve an angled welded coupling is to thread a 10" or longer piece of 1/2" pipe into the coupling and apply a little upward persuasion until the pipe sits parallel to the floor. Done and done.

This is why BOBBY_M and brewhardware.com has THE BEST customer service.. it worked perfectly bobby! was a little worried i would over bend the steel but slow and steady made it pretty straight!

 

[luhrks]

sorry about that... the keg is sitting on a blanket on top of my glass top coffee table.. according to my buddy (professional fabricator) its on the level...so i really cant tell by eye, nor do i have anything to test it.. if it is slanted i guess i could have him redo it.

Your buddy is correct, but in the wrong way. It is perpendicular from the surface it's welded into, but since the wall of the barrel is curved it's effectively angled down the same degree as the keg wall.

The curve in the sight glass won't affect accuracy at all. When you pour a gallon of fluid into the pot, that's where it will always read. That's the whole point of calibrating the sight glass to the pot.

 

[mkringii]

yea.. its all nice and straight now and i will be calibrating it when i get home from work.. wanna thanks bobby again! for the idea.. i really didnt think that i would be able to jus bend it into place and have it hold without it moving back. looks alot better!!

 

[Bobby_M]

I had the same problem on my own rig years ago and took a chance tweaking the fittings. I was equally surprised that the keg wall will move without any problem.

 

[mkringii]

Thanks again bobby! Ur sight glass now looks perfect.. Calibrating it tonite