Just starting out...

[Swingbattermn]

I’ve got a 10 gallon keg (of sorts) and some copper and stainless on the way, soon to be a modular tri-clamp based CCVM with a 2” column. Still have to buy a heating element (and a port for it), a drain/valve and some caps for the extra ports that came with this keg. Otherwise, I’ll have almost all the parts for the column by tonight (at least if Amazon is on time!).

Question for those with experience, if I place my tri-clamp port as shown on the CAD drawing, is it much of a problem that my vapor path is not quite the highest point of the boiler?

[still_stirrin]

Question for those with experience:
if I place my tri-clamp port as shown on the CAD drawing, is it much of a problem that my vapor path is not quite the highest point of the boiler?

Quick answer.....no, it won’t make any difference whether it is “centered” or “at the highest point”.

BUT.....the racetrack seal is RUBBER and that is frowned upon here on the HD website. Rubber can and will impart bad things into your spirits, so you don’t want any rubber where there will be hot alcohol (and other volatile) vapors. The racetrack opening typical to Cornelous kegs is a “total deal breaker”. The Corny will work great for beer....but not for spirits (or a boiler).

Keep looking for a used Sanke tap keg, and I’d recommend a 1/2 barrel (15.5 gallon) keg. Heavy 304 stainless steel is easily weldable and very durable, ie - safe for our purpose for a boiler. Plus, the Sanke outlet is easily adapted to mate with a 2” tri-clover ferrule and clamp.

Sorry to bring you the bad news...but before spending more money on the Corny keg, you can still make (some) use out of it....BEER!
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[Swingbattermn]

“BUT.....the racetrack seal is RUBBER and that is frowned upon here on the HD website. Rubber can and will impart bad things into your spirits, so you don’t want any rubber where there will be hot alcohol (and other volatile) vapors. The racetrack opening typical to Cornelous kegs is a “total deal breaker”. The Corny will work great for beer....but not for spirits (or a boiler).”

Thanks for the input, my intent was to replace the original seal, or wrap the original with a couple layers of PTFE tape. I’ve heard a common practice to seal the tri-clamp seats is with a cardboard gasket wrapped in PTFE, I assume wrapping the original rubber (or silicone) gasket would be the same effect? I will keep my eyes peeled for a sanke in the mean time... in my case, this korny was a case of ‘right place, right price’ and it was too damn pretty to pass up.

EDIT: rubber no good as it’ll melt. Learnin’, learnin’, learnin’...