Not that long ago I had a chance to purchase a 1/2 bbl keg from a local person (Craigslist score)... When thinking about what to do with it, mash tun came to mind. Knowing that I had options, but also hearing about Jaybird's false bottoms, I reached out to Jaybird to find out what I would need to do the job. I got the parts listing, placed the order, and waited (with baited breath for it to arrive).
In the mean time I lined up with a person from where I'm working who has an air powered right angle grinder. I also picked up a cobalt step bit to drill the holes. Thankfully, USPS delivered before the scheduled keg cutting/drilling (and then brewing) day. So the conversion went forward.
My only hiccup with this was it was my first keg conversion, and the person helping me also had not done one before. Being smart people, we were able to figure most of it out. Using logic, I placed the diptube in the bottom, to set the valve height. Unfortunately, for me, I had some issues with the tube not staying in the compression fitting during the brew session that evening. I see now that it was installer error that caused this.
Not knowing that, at the time, I reached out to NorCal/Jaybird for help. On Sunday, I had an email reply from them with promise of a call from Jay the following day (he was on vacation).
Jay called me on Monday (morning PST) and explained to me how the dip tube should be assembled, which gave me face-palm. Due to my experiences Jay, and his business partner, have put together an instruction sheet to go with their kits (false bottoms and dip tubes). Seeing it explained and with the pictures put it all together for me. Thankfully, the holes I drilled are still in the correct [enough] places, and I've completed the correct assembly of the dip tube configuration. Looking at the completed mash tun keg, it's a thing of beauty. Once I've cleaned up the outside some, it's going into my gallery (HBT). Shots are planned both before and after wrapping it with Reflectix. :rockin:
I'm looking forward to using the mash tun for my next batch (in a few weeks, I hope) and already plan on ordering the parts to convert my next keg into either a HLT or boil keggle. Knowing that they take feedback seriously, and go those few extra steps to help out their customers speaks volumes to me. It makes it so that I'll do business with them again. They've also made it onto the "favored vendor" list.
So, if you're thinking about doing a conversion, talk with the folks at NorCal or Jaybird on HBT. Not only will he/they help you to get the correct hardware, but they'll make SURE you're satisfied with the purchase and results you get from their products. These days, it seems to be very rare that you find a company that is willing to take any steps, post purchase, to make sure things are correct. Especially if they're installer error based.