Puting A Tap On A Crab Cooker

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mosto

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Hi all,

I've acquired the main piece of equipment to move to AG. I'm looking at BIAB, so have bought a 40L crab cooker from BCF. I'm looking to drill a hole and put a tap on it for transferring to a cube. I'm handy enough in that I can use the necessary tools etc, once I have all the gear, I'm just struggle a little with the names/terms of exactly what I need. I'll probably be getting the stuff from Craftbrewer, and after looking on the site have come up the following list:

1/2" Ball valve
ballvalves3p.JPG



1/2" barb
barbhalfinch.JPG


1/2" threaded pipe
ss_tube_halfinch01.jpg


Silicon gaskets
silicon-seal.jpg


Not sure what I need to fasten on to the threaded pipe on the inside of the vessel. I want something that won't protrude in too much so I can sit the basket in there. Would I just use a thin-ish 1/2" nut to tighten the whole thing up?

Or would it be just easier and just as effective to use a syphon?

Cheers,
 
Instead of using silicone gaskets I would personally go with a couple of silicone o-rings and lock nuts
HiTemp-oring.jpg

nut316.JPG

Don't forget to get some hose to siphon with ;)
 
Or would it be just easier and just as effective to use a syphon?

Do you plan to siphon cold or hot side into no-chill?

I'm in the process of tricking up my gear with 1/2 inch fittings, and QLDKev helped me out (thanks Kev) with some info. T & S Valves in Sydney have good prices on bits such as hex nipples, ball valves & elbows, and I got the rest from Ross. The silicon washers were hard to find, but I found some on E-Bay that are 27mm OD x 20mm ID x 3.5mm thick. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/380460060993?ss...984.m1497.l2649

The 1/2 inch food-grade high-temp silicone hose for your barbs can also be sourced from Craftbrewer, I rang around and he's got the best prices I can find.
 
Is the crab cooker aluminium or stainless? Might be something to consider when selecting your fittings (mixing the two can be bad if i remember correctly, though i may just be drunk in which case ignore me)
 
Here's mine, 35mm threaded pipe, which protrudes into the pot about ~12mm.
bvalve.jpg

1/2" locknut and gasket on the inside of the pot, then washer, valve and nipple on the other side.
If you needed it to protrude less, you could throw another washer or 2 on there I reckon, hope that helps a little.
 
for the inside of my mlt, I used a female barb (so I could attach it to my false bottom) that attached to the threaded pipe, and tighten from the outside with the nut as amber showed, you just want to make sue the threaded pip is long enough.

my connection
female barb, threaded pipe, silicon washer, wall of pot, silicon washer, nut, tap.
 

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