Hooking Up Ball Valve To Techni-ice Esky

[WarmBeer]

Guys,

I'm looking to buy one of the following 40lt Techni-ice for use as my mash tun. I figure if it's rated to keep ice cold for 10+ days, it'll do a pretty good job at maintaining my mash temperature.

It comes pre-drilled with a bung that can be replaced with a 25mm tap adapter to fit my current ball valve, but I can't work out how I am going to connect my Beer Belly false bottom to the "inner" side of the tap

One of my mates has one of these, and he says the outlet leading to the bung is angled to make draining the esky easier (see below) but this means I won't be able to use a long piece of SS thread through the adapter, as it would run into the bottom of the esky

Does anybody who's got one of these esky's have any ideas or inspiration for getting a proper seal?

Cheers, and apologies for my rubbish drawing skillz

 

[redbeard]

You could get some termite mesh & cut it to fit the bottom, so then you dont need to plumb inside the esky. Also put a handle on it, so u can lift it out to clean it.

 

[Fourstar]

Does anybody who's got one of these esky's have any ideas or inspiration for getting a proper seal?
Cheers, and apologies for my rubbish drawing skillz

Fents is the man to ask. :icon_cheers:

 

[Cocko]

It should come with its own bung/drain which you can utilise easy..

I have a similar Big Chilli brand, eski as a mash tun and managed to use the built in drain with a cheap thread set of adapters from bunnings!

Looked like:

View attachment 37247

fitted inside:



Manifold fitted:



And from the outside [best shot i have]




They give you a thread use it!

Or yeah, ask Fents!

 

[Cocko]

God I love the old girl!

 

[clarkey7]

Warmbeer,

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3637

Get one of these and you just cut a small piece of plastic out of the hole, screw this bulkhead straight through (the thread is long enough and it seals perfectly without having to screw on the nut on the inside, then you screw a barb straight into it.

Connect false bottom with food-grade hose.

Here's mine. 100L version. Note Beerbelly false bottom looks a bit small in this puppy!



PB

 

[Cocko]

View attachment 37255

PB

PB,

A 'Floating' thermometer is a straight up awesome idea!

Well done!!

Cheers

:icon_cheers:

 

[clarkey7]

PB,

A 'Floating' thermometer is a straight up awesome idea!

Well done!!

Cheers

:icon_cheers:

Yeah, I didn't want to drill a hole in such a thing of beauty either....Plus - I'm crap with tools.

PB

 

[Cocko]

I hear ya, drilling the hole for mine was like preforming brain surgery.. not that I have... well on another person anyway! :blink:

But the other advantage would be, leaving your tun open to smaller batches yeah?

I mounted mine at a height that will only really work with 50L or more batches.. not that that is a drama for me but it limits my desire to knock out an experimental batch!

Genius I reckon.

\m/

 

[planner]

Does anybody who's got one of these esky's have any ideas or inspiration for getting a proper seal?

Warmbeer

I can't help with ideas or inspiration for a proper seal, but I can confirm (based on my TechniIce) that your drawing is incorrect. The drain hole on my 150l esky sits square in the wall, maybe 15mm off the floor. I know this because I have to tip it over to fully drain it.

The manifold solution offered by Cocko would work fine in mine, not that its likely to be used as a tun.

Aside: as an esky they are fantastic, last xmas 40-45deg, 7 days and still cold beer.


Planner

 

[zebba]

Warmbeer

I can't help with ideas or inspiration for a proper seal, but I can confirm (based on my TechniIce) that your drawing is incorrect. The drain hole on my 150l esky sits square in the wall, maybe 15mm off the floor. I know this because I have to tip it over to fully drain it.

The manifold solution offered by Cocko would work fine in mine, not that its likely to be used as a tun.

Aside: as an esky they are fantastic, last xmas 40-45deg, 7 days and still cold beer.


Planner

I've got the 40l that WarmBeer is planning on getting and the drain is definitely recessed, similar to PocketBeers post below. I think looking at his pics though that his recess is larger than mine. I'll TRY to remember to get some measurements tonight.

I haven't got mine setup as a mashtun just yet, but I'm planning on getting a mate who's a SS fabricator to arrange a false bottom for me that will leave zero deadspace. I just gotta get off my ring and make it all happen...

 

[WarmBeer]

Warmbeer

I can't help with ideas or inspiration for a proper seal, but I can confirm (based on my TechniIce) that your drawing is incorrect. The drain hole on my 150l esky sits square in the wall, maybe 15mm off the floor. I know this because I have to tip it over to fully drain it.

The manifold solution offered by Cocko would work fine in mine, not that its likely to be used as a tun.

Aside: as an esky they are fantastic, last xmas 40-45deg, 7 days and still cold beer.


Planner

I'm looking to buy the 40 litre jobbie, as I usually brew 16 - 23 litre batches. I could look at buying the 60lt esky instead, but then my grain bed depth is going to be pretty low.

A mate of mine has the exact esky I'm planning to buy, and on the 40 litre esky's he's confirmed the drain is sunk into the base. I guess it's just a difference in the manufacturing process based on the size of the mold.

Edit: Zebba's mad keen typing skillz beat me to it. Damn you!

 

[Steve]

Warmbeer

I can't help with ideas or inspiration for a proper seal, but I can confirm (based on my TechniIce) that your drawing is incorrect. The drain hole on my 150l esky sits square in the wall, maybe 15mm off the floor. I know this because I have to tip it over to fully drain it.

The manifold solution offered by Cocko would work fine in mine, not that its likely to be used as a tun.

Aside: as an esky they are fantastic, last xmas 40-45deg, 7 days and still cold beer.


Planner

Agree. Peteoz77 has one and his outlet is on the side. You'll be right. Great eskys for a mashtun.
Cheers
Steve

 

[stew.w]

i got a big chilli esky and to connect my manidold i screwed 1"x1/2" nipple into the bung. put the 1/2" ball valve on the other end of the nipple.
ive got a 3/4" copper manifold and i just slot the outlet of it into the inside of the 1"x1/2" which is a reasonable tight fit.
the inside dia. of the 1" nipple is almost the same as the outside dia. of the copper pipe
it doesnt need to be water tight anyway just the same or a smaller gap than the slots cut in your pipe.
ill post a pic when i get home if you want.
what size is the outlet on the beer belly falsie??
also makes it a lot easier to get out and clean as it just slides out.

cheers,

stewart

 

[dgilks]

I've got the 40L with a Beer Belly falsie. It does work but it was a pain to set up as the bunghole is set very low which makes getting the seal on the inside very difficult. If you are using the Beer Belly bulkhead kit you will need to get them to send you a sheet of silicone so you can cut your own seals as well as picking up some bigger washers. The other issue was that the surface wasn't smooth (it had a couple of bumps on it) so you may need to smooth those out to get a seal.

 

[WarmBeer]

Sounds like I might need to get myself down there and have a look at one of these esky's.

I'll check out the 60 lt version as well, see if the bung is situated any differently.

Cheers guys

 

[glaab]

A BB bulkhead won't fit in a 60L tech-ice. I got a 1"-1/2" reducing bush and screwed a barb to it from the inside then a 1/2" nipple to the outside for the valve. I had to remove the plastic grille thingy with a scalpel 1st. It does hold the heat well :icon_chickcheers:

 

[WarmBeer]

A BB bulkhead won't fit in a 60L tech-ice. I got a 1"-1/2" reducing bush and screwed a barb to it from the inside then a 1/2" nipple to the outside for the valve. I had to remove the plastic grille thingy with a scalpel 1st. It does hold the heat well :icon_chickcheers:

View attachment 37258
View attachment 37259

That looks pretty do-able, Glaab, and I especially like the tap setup you've got.

What's the white, shaped, plastic poking into the esky in the bottom photo? Is that the reducing bush that you had a go at with a stanley knife? I reckon I could get something like that going. I'm not a handyman, but not a total tool-tard, either.

 

[glaab]

that's the female part of the bunghole, I haven't touched that it's how it arrived. IIRC I head to grind the
hex shape part[which you put the spanner on] of the barb so it was nearly round so I could fit it 1st, with pliers/ multi-grips then screw the whole assembly in from the outside. The hex part of the barb was slightly too big to go through from the outside and I couldn't get a socket or anything on it from the inside. I couldn't work out any other way to do it short of making a new hole, there isn't much clearance on the inside but that worked out well.

edit; the reducing bush is SS, it's on the far right in the first pic and has a 1/2'' nipple in it to fit the tap to

 

[Fents]

seriously i think the easiest with these esky's is to bypass the bung hole and get your drill on, especially if you plan to use a BB Bulkhead. I've seen it done both ways and imo the drill is the go.

For anyone in Melb, when i did mine i made Dave from Greensborough HBS get some Stainless All thread in (which he still has some i think, im still yet to get some), that coupled with some stainless washers (if you can find them) and some silicone baking tray washers and some nuts and you should be good to go.