What would a reasonable charge for welding fittings to a keg

[brewtime]

I need a few fittings welded to some kegs I bought from Sabco. I was quoted $10 an inch for the service. I am having some full couplings welded on and some 1/2 welding spuds for a sight glass and temp probe.


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[Stealthcruiser]

How many inches of weld we talkin' about?

I've only ever seen an "hourly" rate, with a minimum charge or 1 hr. normally.

Holes all prepped and ready to weld?

 

[acidrain]

$25 or $30 per fitting is pretty normal.
At $10 each, I would question the method.
Ask the questions:
Do you back-purge?
Do you polish the weld zones (inside and out)?
Do you have experience at sanitary stainless welding?

 

[MindenMan]

I agree with acidrain, on both cost and procedures. If they are not a food rated kitchen equipment shop, you may want to look elsewhere.

 

[brewtime]

I agree with acidrain, on both cost and procedures. If they are not a food rated kitchen equipment shop, you may want to look elsewhere.

Thes is for a HLT and a Boil kettle so I do not see where a kitchen equiptment shop is nessary, if it was fermentation tank then yes

I asked about those things BTW

By my caclulations he is charging me 20-25 per fitting. I could silver solder eveything but dont have the time and I would have to by the tools to do it this seems a ok solution to have it tig welded. This guy does stainless steel welding

 

[Bobby_M]

If they are done with argon back gassing, it's a reasonable price. There's a difference between welding pharma/food grade SS and welding SS railing and motorcycle frames.

 

[krenshaw]

that seems reasonable.. i had a bunch done like 3 years ago and they were $8 each.. i just cut the holes myself so that probably cut some price down a bit.. that and inflation


edit: $8 each inch i mean

 

[brewtime]

If they are done with argon back gassing, it's a reasonable price. There's a difference between welding pharma/food grade SS and welding SS railing and motorcycle frames.

Bobby,

I just bought some fittings an other items from you yesterday. I am going to cut the holes and have a question for you. on the 1/2" welding spud what size hole is needed to make it fit snug? I am useing these instead of Half cupplers for the sight glass and temp probs.

I just got notice my order is shipping Wow that was fast

 

[broadbill]

Thes is for a HLT and a Boil kettle so I do not see where a kitchen equiptment shop is nessary, if it was fermentation tank then yes

I asked about those things BTW

By my caclulations he is charging me 20-25 per fitting. I could silver solder eveything but dont have the time and I would have to by the tools to do it this seems a ok solution to have it tig welded. This guy does stainless steel welding

You spent on money on Sabco stuff but now you are going to cheap out on the welds? What will you save? 10-15 bucks a weld tops?

Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever floats your boat.

 

[Bobby_M]

The back collar of the 1/2" spud is just a touch over 1" so if you drill to 1" and use a file, you'll be good.

 

[brewtime]

You spent on money on Sabco stuff but now you are going to cheap out on the welds? What will you save? 10-15 bucks a weld tops?



Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever floats your boat.

Enlighten me how I am cheaping out on the welds. My question was is $10 per inch of wire a reasonable price. The welds will be back gassed I already asked that question. The Sabco pot is not the issue and does not even factor in to this. But hey if trolling is your thing so be it


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[acidrain]

Enlighten me how I am cheaping out on the welds. My question was is $10 per inch of wire a reasonable price. The welds will be back gassed I already asked that question. The Sabco pot is not the issue and does not even factor in to this. But hey if trolling is your thing so be it


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Per inch of wire, or inch of weld?
I assumed you meant inch of weld. I just welded 2 bungs for a guy, charged him $75 for both (there was remove and repair of previous welds), and used more than one 3' length of welding rod.
You must mean length of weld.

On the question of fit... best to leave that to the welder. They have the tools, and it makes them responsible for the entire project.
If you do the fit up, they can always say you didn't do it good enough, or that the substrate was contaminated.

 

[broadbill]

Enlighten me how I am cheaping out on the welds. My question was is $10 per inch of wire a reasonable price. The welds will be back gassed I already asked that question. The Sabco pot is not the issue and does not even factor in to this. But hey if trolling is your thing so be it


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It sounded like you didn't think sanitary welds were necessary and you were considering a "make do" DIY silver solder job instead...sounded like cheaping out to me...but whatever, change your tune....

As for the price....what if it was $30 an inch but that was the only place near you to get the weld done?...really, isn't it inconsequential if someone else 1000 miles away got their done for $10 an inch?

You got a guy who can take that keggle, do the welds the way you want them done in 45 minutes and you are going spend time on here endlessly discussing if it is an honest enough price for you? How much time are you going to waste going back/forth with this guy to get the price some other guy on the internet got?

Its a one time job, nut up and pay the guy what he wants for the job and move on. I may come off like a troll here, but you are trolling this welder by dickering to save $20 bucks on your little hobby project that you are already a couple a hundred deep on.

My 0.02....I just don't get why people have no problem shelling out full price for the high dollar item (or did you haggle with Sabco?...of course not) but you are going to shake down the local welder on the small job.

 

[brewtime]

It sounded like you didn't think sanitary welds were necessary and you were considering a "make do" DIY silver solder job instead...sounded like cheaping out to me...but whatever, change your tune....

As for the price....what if it was $30 an inch but that was the only place near you to get the weld done?...really, isn't it inconsequential if someone else 1000 miles away got their done for $10 an inch?

You got a guy who can take that keggle, do the welds the way you want them done in 45 minutes and you are going spend time on here endlessly discussing if it is an honest enough price for you? How much time are you going to waste going back/forth with this guy to get the price some other guy on the internet got?

Its a one time job, nut up and pay the guy what he wants for the job and move on. I may come off like a troll here, but you are trolling this welder by dickering to save $20 bucks on your little hobby project that you are already a couple a hundred deep on.

My 0.02....I just don't get why people have no problem shelling out full price for the high dollar item (or did you haggle with Sabco?...of course not) but you are going to shake down the local welder on the small job.

This is where you come off as the internet guy who does not add to the conversation at hand but only objective is to insult the OP.
Did I say anywhere I wanted to cheap out on the welds? first of all the price I got was for sanatary welds when i contacted the welder that is the first question I asked I went through 3 other guys before I found someone who said that they would back gas . My response about it not being necessary, was of an opinion that is out there on this board and others, that in the HLT and the Boil kettle the heat will kill any organism that may be present. That I would agree if it were used post boil it would be imperative to have it sanitary welded.

Second where did I say I wanted to negotiate the price all. I asked if this is a fair price. I came here to ask since there seems to be some people with experience with this and I do not. I had already agreed to the price. I thought it was a fair price I was just confirming it. as other here have responded as such. I I found out that it was high I was not going to haggle as you assumed I would. I am paying for a service that I cannot do myself so I am willing to spend the money. I have already shelled out 4K building this new brewery so you think I am going to skimp on the welds when the kettles are one of the most important pieces of the brewery.
I am guilty of trying to save money where I can. I shopped around for the materials to get the best price. I took advantage of Vendor specials here on HBT. Jaybirds 25% sale this month saved me close to $100 by buying most of the equipment I needed to finish off the brewery. After spending what will be close to $4500 to build the brewery you think I am concerned about the price for welds. Believe me I am not worried about spending a few hundred dollars on welding fittings.

I am on my third and last brewery build. I am spending the money to build it the way I want. After 10 years of homebewing, I jotted down the things I did not like about each of the other set ups and how I would change them to make the dream system. I also made the decision that the less DIY the better. So I guess you can say I Nutted Up just fine.

 

[brewtime]

Got an update from the welder here is the HLT TC port for the element and the float switch port.

Found a guy who does sanitary welding after all said and done he is charging me around 27 dollars a fitting.


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[acidrain]

Good price, and nice looking weld!

 

[maierhof]

Good price, and nice looking weld!

+1 to that.