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Category Archives: Build

Too Long on the Juice?

 

As warned in the instructions, if the solution turns green you have contamination.  This happened to our fittings.  We did as we were told, and prepared a new batch of solution.  All is well.

Passivating the Brass Fittings

 

We used a solution of 2 parts white vinegar and one part hydrogen peroxide.  This is to remove surface lead from the brass (based on this: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html).  Not sure if it really matters as many feel the amount of lead in these fittings (meant for potable water) contain very little lead and the odds of any transfering into the beer is minimal.

Burner Mounted

 

One of the burners mounted on the frame. Notice the legs have been cut off.

Starting to Take Shape

Here is the frame mostly done. The burners have yet to be mounted, and the kegs are just resting on top. Next job is to get the burners welded in and some method of securing the kegs on top in a safe and stable way. We want to be able to remove them for cleaning.

Top Frame Cut With Cookers

This is how we planned on mounting the burners into the frame.

welded base

welded base, originally uploaded by seanoj.

We are using 1 inch x 2 inch bar stock. I am not sure the thickness, but they are pretty beefy. This is the basic frame, gusseted with some triangles.

Casters

We bought these locking 4 inch casters on ebay.com. They are decent quality and we like the fact that the brake locks both the roll and the swivel.

Bought from these guys: http://stores.ebay.com/MY-DEALS-DIRECT

McMaster Carr Order

We bought these from McMaster Carr. They are quick disconnects for the silicone tubing and some stainless collars to attach the tubing. McMaster is super quick with shipping. We are very pleased. We are going to treat these so they don’t leach lead. We planned on using polysulfone fittings at first, then switched our thinking to stainless, then to brass. The plastic have an obstruction in them that can clog while the stainless are expensive and out of stock (at morebeer.com). Brass seems like a good, cheap alternative.

Part Numbers:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#6739k59

http://www.mcmaster.com/#6739k64

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5435K17

Plumbing Parts

These are from an order we placed with barginfittings.com: tubing and fittings for our two pumps. The plumbing will be 1/2 inch inner diameter throughout. The tubing is 3/4 inch outer diameter silicone.

Bought here: http://www.greatbargain.net/order/shop2.html

False Bottoms & Weldless Fittings

More parts for the build were ordered from morebeer.com. These are “weldless” fittings and false bottoms for the kegs. The fittings allow us to attach faucets to the kegs without having to do any stainless welding.  We are not super happy with the false bottoms, and the fittings did not have very good instructions. We drilled the hole for these a bit too high, as you have to eyeball it. Hopefully we can get them to fit by rebending the pick-up tubes.

http://morebeer.com/search/102215