Soldering Keg

[AllanMar]

Anyone here attempted to dimple and solder their fittings in? It seems alot of people here have gas rig's so its probably not an option but as were doing electric it seems like it may be a decent option. Been reading up on the very long thread over on HBT and many seem to have success (with very specific solder/flux).

Originally the plan was to have the kegs TIG welded by a co-worker, but as the welder does not normally do anything where clean welds are much of a concern. The idea of sugaring/etc has us wondering if we should just attempt to solder them on. Our system will be permanent so strength isn't as much of a concern as it won't see much abuse and with the dimpling solder appears to be relatively strong. Soldering makes it easier too as we don't have to attempt to coordinate/rely on anyone else.

I'm not expecting it to be as good as welded, but perhaps good enough? Any thoughts?

[mr x]

I've looked at the dimpling method, but I think it would be cheaper just to have the welding done locally. IIRC, Nash got some stuff done at a place on Almon St. that was pretty reasonable,

[Keggermeister]

I've looked at the dimpling method, but I think it would be cheaper just to have the welding done locally. IIRC, Nash got some stuff done at a place on Almon St. that was pretty reasonable,

http://411.ca/business/profile/991312
Vining Russ Mechanical Limited
0
6189 Young Street, Suite bay 1
Halifax, NS
B3K 2A5
Phone: 902-876-1287


Russ is a good guy, he did great work on my food truck!

[AllanMar]

Any idea on some rough cost's for welding done locally? And if anyone has some suggested welders that would be appreciated. I haven't found too many places that seemed interested. Heard $50/hr from one but they were very iffy on how long it might take.

The soldering cost for us would likely only be the solder/flux (~$30) as we could come up with parts for the dimple tool, but I would prefer welds if the cost is reasonable.

[mr x]

Where are you going to get the flux? I called Harris and got a run-around on getting it locally...

[AllanMar]

Where are you going to get the flux? I called Harris and got a run-around on getting it locally...

I can't be bothered to do the local run around for something like this (unless someone knows somewhere). Kits are on ebay for around $15 shipped or a bit more for just a larger bottle of flux

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1141211348" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARRIS-STAY-BRI ... 564d9f7545" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr x]

That's cheaper than the stuff I was finding on ebay, although the shipping more than doubles the price.

[AllanMar]

Shipping for the kits is $5? I doubt retail here would be less then $15 since the kits are $10ea at homedepot in the US (given the usual Cdn gouging). Bit more if you just want the flux, it stings to pay for shipping but still seems like a good deal to me.

I'm probably looking at 12 or so Tri-Clamp ferrules (got a good deal on ebay a bit ago) across the 3 kegs. I haven't had much luck getting any idea of what this might cost to have done by someone who does sanitary welding. I'm not sure how much money I want to put in to keggles before I should consider looking at kettles.

[mr x]

That kit doesn't solder very much, and that's assuming it works right the first time. I was looking at the 16oz bottle. Keep in mind you may need some acid to clean up the inside.

If this stuff to be welded is just connected to kegs, sanitary welding is overkill for a home setup AFAIAC. Just ask the welder if he can use backing gas and clean up any carbonizing with a bead blaster. Although the whole thing may get expensive I suppose, You can only ask...

[AllanMar]

That kit doesn't solder very much, and that's assuming it works right the first time. I was looking at the 16oz bottle. Keep in mind you may need some acid to clean up the inside.

If this stuff to be welded is just connected to kegs, sanitary welding is overkill for a home setup AFAIAC. Just ask the welder if he can use backing gas and clean up any carbonizing with a bead blaster. Although the whole thing may get expensive I suppose, You can only ask...

Yea, I've heard 4-5 couplings per kit. I would also expect to waste a fair bit so I was looking at the 16oz bottle as well. A more realistic estimate would be the 8oz solder + 16oz flux (way more then i'd need) for around $50 shipped (if I go this route I'll certainly have some to spare if anyone else wants to give it a go).

I probably shouldn't have said sanitary welds, I'm not looking for true sanitary quality welds here. The rest of the setup will not be truly sanitary grade (threaded/etc) as I also don't really believe its necessary for this, I'm more looking for someone that has experience producing clean properly back gased welds. I'll try and get ahold of Vinning Russ Mech. and go from there.

Thanks for the info.

[GAM]

If you can ask for a group price for 5 or 10 welds and we could have a couple done at a time.

Sandy

[AllanMar]

Spoke to them briefly. $75/hr for one guy $105/hr for two. Other guy we talked to (does alot of dairy) was only $50/hr.

For 12-15 fittings this could add up quick. Fairly convinced were going to give soldering a try, otherwise might try a co-worker.

I'll post here how the soldering goes once we give it a try.

[AllanMar]

IMG_0805.JPG

Got the dimpling tool made up and the solder & flux, would have preferred Stay-Brite 8 (higher silver content and hence nicer look) but this was easier to come by in smaller quantities on eBay.

Intend to try a test piece on the keg lid sometime this weekend, will post back with how it goes.

[mr x]

Curious how this turns out.

[AllanMar]

Gave it a try today, pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Used a step bit to drill a 3/8" pilot hole then used a 1/2" conduit punch (7/8" cut hole ) then pulled the dimple tool through. Had to grind the hole slightly bigger to get the ferrule in (can't pull it through like people do with NPT coupling).

Figure I can improve on it a little bit for the real thing. It appears to be plenty strong, I gave it quite a few whacks with the hammer to the point where I bent the lid slightly just to see with no effect on the joint. The dimpling appears to make a big difference in terms of strength. Im using extra solder as filler to smooth out the bottom, on the next one I will probably pull the ferule down more so I can use less solder, which would probably make a better joint. Also difficult to keep the lid level so the solder pooled on one side slightly.

One of the big benefits of this is its re-workable/removable, as I messed up the first attempt (no flux brush, ended up with flux everywhere) and was able to re-heat remove and re-attempt.

IMG_0820.JPG

IMG_0821.JPG

[GAM]

Looks great. What was the price and time investment?

Sandy

[AllanMar]

Cost me $57 w/shipping for the solder (8oz) and flux (16oz) from eBay and I expect this will go a long way, smaller 4-5 fitting (according to others on HBT) kits can be had for ~$15 . I got the tool made up for free, if you check on HBT guys have bought the stuff from mcmaster to make it for NPT couplings ~$30 (if anyone is interested in doing this once I'm done Id be willing to loan it out, although it was built to do 1" ferrules, Id have to see how it would do with a NPT coupling).

We probably spent 2-3hours or so at it from start to finish (2 failed attempts + 2 successful). although much of this was wasted trying to figure out the best way to do things/find stuff/etc. I'd say once we got the hang of it you could probably do one in 10-20mins or less, and much of this is spent waiting for things to heat up/cool down. It's really no harder to do then sweating copper.

I've got 10-12 fittings to do yet for the real thing, once I figure out the placements, including some 2" ones for the heaters which I have to get a new tool made for.