Attaching a ball valve to my kettle - weldless or weld?

[Yeastfridge]

Is it worth paying to have a pipe nipple or coupling welded onto my brewing pot or should I just go with the weldless setup?

I recently bought a 3 piece stainless steel ball valve and a weldless compression fitting setup. I brew in a bag, and recently started no chilling, so having a tap and some silicone tubing is infinitely easier and safer than trying to lift 20-30L of wort in an already heavy SS pot.

A drill bit and some teflon tape is going to cost me around $50, which is more than the tap setup itself. I have zero welding skills so would need to pay someone.

How much would I expect to pay to have it welded?
Does anyone here want a small welding job, or know anyone in Sydney with the skills?
Or have you got a 7/8 inch (22.2mm) drill bit I could borrow in exchange for some homebrew?

 

[warra48]

Weldless is a lot easier to install than welding one in.

A weldless tap is always easier to dissemble.
I'm really glad I went weldless with my taps on my HLT and kettle, because I'm in the process of moving house, and I don't need to fear the taps etc being damaged in transit or storage.

 

[JDW81]

All my valves are entirely weld less. Never had a leak or a problem and I can periodically disassemble for cleaning if needed.

They are far easier too.

 

[sponge]

As stated above, easier to disassemble weldless, but a lot of people weld due to having less areas to harvest nasties (and the tools/experience to do so).

I'm a weldless man purely because I can do it myself and am unable to easily and cheaply get fittings welded.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Something I have often wondered about is silver solder on stainless, has anyone ever tried it?

 

[Yeastfridge]

Thanks all!

Bought myself a step drillbit and was surprised at how easily it chewed through the pot. After seeing a few forum posts about leaking weldless fittings I was a bit worried but the fit looks and feels great, and I've since brewed 2 successful beers (successfuly brewed, at least - they're still both in fermenters).

I can't believe how long I was brewing without a tap.