Alternate keg column attachment

[rangaz]

Wow, this place has really changed since I was last here.

Anyways I pose an alternative to the stainless steel bowl idea for connecting the column to the keg (I apologise if this has already been done). I don't know about anyone else but I had trouble getting the copper column up to the right temp with the oxy without destroying the thin walled stainless bowl. I managed to get it eventually with a lot of sweat and tears but the weld eventually broke at the bowl when the column was dropped in storage.

My new connection is made from a piece of 3" copper pipe that I cut along its length and slowly bent it into a piece of flatish copper. It was then repeatedly heated then squished between two large bits of flat steel to get a very nice thick bit of flat copper sheet.

With this sheet I marked a circle a bit larger than the hole in my keg and then cut it out with a big pair of tin snips (This was the hardest part). I also put a hole in the centre slightly smaller than the diameter of my column (I've forgotten how i did that but it shouldn't be too hard to work out something)

I suppose that the disc could be silver soldered to the column flat, but I wanted mine with a slight curve to match the curve on the keg to give a bit of strength and get a better fit to the keg. I use flour paste gasket so I guess the fit doesn't really matter.

To get the curve I dug up some old rusty discs from a disc plough and laid one curved side up, placed the copper disc on top and heated till sufficiently soft, then dropped another of the plough discs on top and stamped it a little, I repeated this until I had a nice even finish on the copper disc.

I then finished up by quickly and easily silver soldering the column to the centre of the copper disc.

I've found it to be a very rigid and durable connection that seals very well with flour paste, if anyones interested I can post some pics of the finished product, unfortunately I don't have any construction pics.

[Husker]

Please post pix. Even if just finished product, and your description, it should help others if it is working well.

H.

[rangaz]

As you can see by the muck on the bottom of my column, its been a fair while since I've used it. Might have to give it a clean before the next run. Hope this was helpfull

[BW Redneck]

Just wondering, what do you use to clamp the copper disc down to the keg after you've applied the paste? Or does the weight of the column hold it down? I don't see any studs where wing nuts would go. You could use bungee cords and blocks to hold it down, I guess.

[rangaz]

I used to use bungee cords but now i don't bother. Its a struggle to separate the keg and column after a run. I actually have to run a knife around the flour seal before removing it. I figure if i cant even pull the column off, theres no point securing it down.

The copper disc has a fairly nice fit on the top of the keg so the small amount of flour paste I use gets smeared over a large area giving me about an inch wide gasket around the keg hole, making it extra strong.

[theholymackerel]

Good show, rangaz!

I like yer solution.