Help me save this kettle!

[WhiskeyRadar]

So a friend of mind had a few too many Burton Batons and decided to get into brewing one night. He ordered a kettle and a couple of 1500W heatsticks (from here: https://www.homebrewstuff.com/1500w-ss-heat-stick-with-weldless-gasket-kit.html).

A few days later he drilled the kettle for both heat sticks and assembled. No matter what he tried, he said the kettle would have a small leak. If he tightened the nut down just tight enough to get a good seal, the kettle would weep or leak when me moved it because the heatsticks would move from side to side. If he clamped the nut down to keep the sticks from moving, the washers would get mangled (he had to get some new ones from homebrewstuff.com). I think I see the reason, there's not enough contact on the outside edges of the heatsticks in relation to the outside of the kettle wall. So if you move it when the nut is tightened down properly (I assume, there's no torque specs or anything), the heat sticks wobble and can break the seal. This is obviously less than ideal. Anyway, he gave up and gave it to me. I want to save it as I think this would be a neat way to get into electric brewing (I know about needing a controller to moderate the two sticks or I can shut one off and supplement with a gas flame to get the temps dialed in based on boil volume). I uploaded a few pics (I don't have the washers on the stick on the interior pic, I just mounted them to show the gaps on the outside).


I have 4 new washers and a bunch of Teflon tape. I'm thinking:

(A) Try to see if I can find the right balance between pressure on the washer and keeping the sticks from moving.

(B) Hope the gaps on the outside are not too large for silver soldering and give that a go.

(C) Use JB Weld to fill in the gaps on the sides and perhaps build up a flat surface on the inside of the kettle wall where the heatsticks seat, effectively sealing the entire thing and using the nut and washer to keep everything nice and tight.

(D) Something I haven't thought of that you might?

Thoughts?

 

[Amadeo38]

This may be a dumb question but, the nuts on the inside and outside of the spigot in my kettle is recessed a bit and inside that recess is a high temp red silicone o-ring. Do you have one of those here? Might be the simplest solution, if not.

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

Not a dumb question at all. No red o-ring or recessed nut on this assembly, just a flat, white silicone washer. It's a 1/2" NPT threaded fitting so maybe that's a route. A locknut with the recess and red o-ring should in theory allow me to really crank it down.

Thanks for the response!

 

[mongoose33]

What about a bulkhead like this into which you can screw the heat stick?

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkheadfem.htm

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

That's a good idea too! I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to e-mail them and see if they believe the heat sticks will work in those threads. Thanks!

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

So far, I've found a 1/2" NPT locknut and nipple that should allow me to crank it down and get a good seal (about $4.60 for each locknut and o-ring) or the bulkhead to screw in the heat sticks for $16 each. I think I'll try the cheaper option. Seems lots of people have had good luck with those.

 

[MX1]

@Bobby_M has a solution I am sure.

 

[BredStik]

I had similar issues with mine. Finally made a custom gasket out of a silicone sheet and used a flat nut. I'll try to post a picture when I get home.

 

[BredStik]

Actually, I used a flat flanged lock nut with a flat gasket on the inside and a washer and custom gasket on the outside of the pot. Since the base of the element wasn't making proper contact with the pot anymore, I had to connect the ground wire to the pot using a wire.

 

[beermanpete]

I do not see any gaskets in your photos. Place gaskets on the outside between the heatsticks and the kettle. As long as the hole in the kettle is not too much larger than the thread it should seal. Make sure the edges of the holes are deburred well.

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

I do not see any gaskets in your photos. Place gaskets on the outside between the heatsticks and the kettle. As long as the hole in the kettle is not too much larger than the thread it should seal. Make sure the edges of the holes are deburred well.

I have gaskets (just took them off for the photos). The vendor insists that they go inside (and it looks like I'll have ground issues somehow if there's a gasket between the base and the kettle based on the post above but I'm not following that). Even going outside, again, cranking it down enough so it's solid crushes the snot out of the washer. The hole is barely large enough to get the threads through. I ordered the o-rings and recessed lock nuts today. I don't think I'll have the issue with that setup since it's similar to the better weldless setups.

 

[beermanpete]

Ok. A lot of these parts seems to have those instructions. I prefer to put the gasket on the outside so the threads are sealed along with rest of the system. The ground will connect as long as there is only one gasket. That said, the heating element will work regardless.

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

Ok. A lot of these parts seems to have those instructions. I prefer to put the gasket on the outside so the threads are sealed along with rest of the system. The ground will connect as long as there is only one gasket. That said, the heating element will work regardless.

Got it. I see what you meant now (gasket on the outside alone, no o-ring on the inside).

 

[augiedoggy]

So a friend of mind had a few too many Burton Batons and decided to get into brewing one night. He ordered a kettle and a couple of 1500W heatsticks (from here: https://www.homebrewstuff.com/1500w-ss-heat-stick-with-weldless-gasket-kit.html).

A few days later he drilled the kettle for both heat sticks and assembled. No matter what he tried, he said the kettle would have a small leak. If he tightened the nut down just tight enough to get a good seal, the kettle would weep or leak when me moved it because the heatsticks would move from side to side. If he clamped the nut down to keep the sticks from moving, the washers would get mangled (he had to get some new ones from homebrewstuff.com). I think I see the reason, there's not enough contact on the outside edges of the heatsticks in relation to the outside of the kettle wall. So if you move it when the nut is tightened down properly (I assume, there's no torque specs or anything), the heat sticks wobble and can break the seal. This is obviously less than ideal. Anyway, he gave up and gave it to me. I want to save it as I think this would be a neat way to get into electric brewing (I know about needing a controller to moderate the two sticks or I can shut one off and supplement with a gas flame to get the temps dialed in based on boil volume). I uploaded a few pics (I don't have the washers on the stick on the interior pic, I just mounted them to show the gaps on the outside).


I have 4 new washers and a bunch of Teflon tape. I'm thinking:

(A) Try to see if I can find the right balance between pressure on the washer and keeping the sticks from moving.

(B) Hope the gaps on the outside are not too large for silver soldering and give that a go.

(C) Use JB Weld to fill in the gaps on the sides and perhaps build up a flat surface on the inside of the kettle wall where the heatsticks seat, effectively sealing the entire thing and using the nut and washer to keep everything nice and tight.

(D) Something I haven't thought of that you might?

Thoughts?

Just from a quick look, im pretty sure its because he decided to drill the holes right where all the recessed stamped gallon marking were and the surface is all uneven... You need to fill those areas with silicone, let it cure then add the gasket or silver solder a ferrule on it.

 

[augiedoggy]

I have gaskets (just took them off for the photos). The vendor insists that they go inside (and it looks like I'll have ground issues somehow if there's a gasket between the base and the kettle based on the post above but I'm not following that). Even going outside, again, cranking it down enough so it's solid crushes the snot out of the washer. The hole is barely large enough to get the threads through. I ordered the o-rings and recessed lock nuts today. I don't think I'll have the issue with that setup since it's similar to the better weldless setups.

separate green wire in the above photos is the ground wire in his setup.

 

[WhiskeyRadar]

Amadeo38 wins. Kettle is fully functional and leak free. Thanks for saving me from over-engineering the solution to a very simple but common problem. The o-ring and recessed nut never even occurred to me (even though I use them on my mash tuns).

 

[beermanpete]

Cool. Glad you got worked out.