Seal Troubles

[Imburr]

I have 2 keggles and a cooler mash tun. I have spent a lot of money on fittings to make sure I am good, and stainless steel. Originally I was brass, and it was not great.

With that said, I have several fittings that leak. What is my foolproof method to fix this? Its not always my normal fittings for the ball valve, sometimes it is my sight glass, or a ball valve, or a plug. Its all 1/2 stainless NPT which is roughly 13/16" or 7/8" holes.

My method which I use which works "sometimes" from the outside in:

Ball Valve:

Quick Release/Barb --> Stainless Ball Valve --> Washer --> Outside of Keg/Cooler. I use a 1" or 2" all-thread nipple to get through the wall. There is Teflon tape on all joints. On the inside, there is s silicone gasket, then a washer, then my bulkhead fitting, screen, dip tube, or false bottom tube. This works well on the keggles, but not good on the cooler.

Plug: The plug is to cover up holes that the previous brewer drilled that I have moved.

Hex Plug --> Washer --> Outside. Inside its a gasket --> Washer --> NPT bolt

Sight Glass:

https://www.brewhardware.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TP with T on the outside then gasket --> Outside. Inside I have Gasket --> Washer --> NPT bolt

I extend Teflon tape full length of all threads. to include the NPT bolts. I hand tighten as hard as I can go. On the cooler, I find that if I tighter a little bit more than hand tight, it leaks only after a long time with hot liquid in it.

How can I adjust this to not leak?

 

[Imburr]

Anyone throw me a reference on how to make this stuff not leak?

 

[ancientmariner52]

Is everything hand tight? That may be the problem right there. I have to wrench pretty hard to stop leaks, as a general rule. If you've put everything together as the manufacturer intended it should work. Oversize holes? Damaged / wrong size
o-rings or gaskets?

 

[Imburr]

Nope all new gaskets and all the holes are perfect... 13/16 with a step bit for 1/2" NPT if I remember correctly. When I wrench down hard it seems to work less, or can sometimes distort the gaskets.

 

[Imburr]

Oh and it's all home grown stuff, keggles and bulkheads and close nipples all purchased separately. It was originally brass and didn't leak... When I changed to stainless they leak

 

[ancientmariner52]

I think you should take a stroll through Brewhardware.com or one of the other hardware sites. I think the addition of purpose-built weldless fittings will solve your problems.

 

[Imburr]

That's where all my fittings are from

 

[ancientmariner52]

Then you should contact Bobby M, because I can't think of anything else, and he's the guy who designs all that stuff. Good luck!

 

[wilserbrewer]

My guess would be the interior washer as there is no seal between the washer and lock nut / or fitting.

Teflon tape seals the threads, and the gasket seals to the fitting / lock nut.

The inside washer is not needed and may be the source of your leaks.

A ghetto hack / approach is you use a schmear of 100% silicone sealant during assembly...purists will be upset but it works to some extent.

 

[Bobby_M]

The model TP sightglass is for 9/16" holes so i hope you didn't try that on a 13/16" hole. Maybe you meant the LTSP sight which is based on 1/2" NPT. Both need the gasket outside between the tee and keg with nothing else. No Teflon tape needed. Hand tight only.

Bulkhead. I can't recommend anything but the "true bulkheads". I know it's harder to swallow at the $16 or so but I went through the trouble because the combo of threaded parts is almost always an issue. What I can say is that the interior is what matters. Wall, gasket, locknut and teflon tape under that. With fixed length nipples it's now a matter of the right number of exterior washers to make the bulkhead squeeze just as the ball valve threads are sealing.

 

[Imburr]

Thanks Bobby_M, you are correct about the sight glass. The bulkheads and nipples are all spec from your site, the parts I did not get there were the ball valves (eBay, China), and the couplers leaving the ball valves, which are stainless quick release.

My inside 1/2" NPT nuts are the ones that have an indent in them which fits a small silicone gasket. However, I use the flat silicone gaskets because they are bigger and seal better. Any thoughts on that? Can send a pic if needed.

 

[augiedoggy]

I used the nuts with the recessed channel to keep the round orange orings in place... over 4 years now with the 12 or so I have in use in all my kettles and never an issue.. Maybe those flat bigger gaskets arent really better than what most of the rest of us use and thats part of the source for your woes?

with the round oring and the recessed nut the oring is pushed against the threaded bulkhead/teflon tape and seals everything... I have tried just using a washer and had mixed results like you.

 

[Imburr]

I used the nuts with the recessed channel to keep the round orange orings in place... over 4 years now with the 12 or so I have in use in all my kettles and never an issue.. Maybe those flat bigger gaskets arent really better than what most of the rest of us use and thats part of the source for your woes?

These are the ones I am using: https://www.brewhardware.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Gasket12NPT
These are the nuts: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/locknut_12.htm

Brew Hardware sells them together: https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/mwl12lock.htm

Thoughts?

 

[augiedoggy]

see the added info above I added while you were typing. Those nuts are designed to be used with Orings not flat gaskets. I really thing this is the source of your leaks. your are using telfon tape on the bulkhead right?

Edit nevermind I see you are from the comment above.