15/5 Keg Build

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Well it turns out the steam head was fine, once I looked at everything it cleared the keg ring no problem. I've got the kettle head almost finished and I'll post up more pictures when it's complete. I'm hoping to get a good push this weekend on the rebuild, work is going to be brutal for a while and I'd like to get this as far along as possible before I'm slammed.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

I'm about to be very busy at work, and I've taken a second job, so I've been working away all weekend and made some major progress. The rebuild is 100% complete, including a Twisted Brick style 26" shotgun condenser. (Thanks for all the help today Twisted!) I need to , calibrate the PRV/VRVs, clean up the joints and polish it a little, but everything has been pressure tested with either water, air or both. I started after work on Friday and have basically spent the last 48 hours thrashing on the rebuild. It still needs a good cleaning and sacrificial run. Next weekend will be steam and vinegar, then I have some corn stuff I screwed up to run through it as the sacrificial.

The rebuild started with a Backyard Pro 210,000 BTU large banjo burner from Webstaurant. I just wasn't happy with either of the burners I tried with my old Bayou Classic frame, neither would burn clean no matter how much you worked with them. The new one burns nice and blue, from low to WHOA!.

I believe with the new setup, I have a ton of versatility. I can run with a single pot and shotgun on propane, a steam rig with 15.5 & 7.75 gallon thumpers or any combination in between. Truth be told, I enjoy the building more than running or drinking, although I really enjoy both of those as well. In fact the next one is in the planning stage as we speak, my wife wants something really small to use for essential oils.

OK, I showed you guys the steam head and PRV/VRV so I'll pick up from there.

Next step was to add the 6" ferrule to the 2nd keg. I was going to weld it, but I could not get my machine to penetrate well enough. I was at the very end of the circuit so I think there were too many ACs and stuff between me and clean power. OK, fall back and punt, I've heard legends of soldering them on, my other options exhausted, I decided to give it a try. I won't be afraid of it again, I'll be adding a 2" drain and a 2" charge port when I have time and I'm going to solder both. I have to think the Harris products where a huge help with the stainless to stainless and with all the stainless 2" ferrules. After a LOT of measuring I marked the top and used a jig saw with a metal bit to cut the keg.

I have a star top keg, so I soldered all the ridges first.

I added copper mesh to the lows to help hold the solder and it worked like a charm.

I would not hesitate to use solder again, I picked the keg up and swung it around by the ferrule to see what would happen. It ain't going anywhere. I tested it to 20PSI, that should be a lot more than it'll ever see in operation.

Continued in the next post.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Next was the 6" to 2" adapter, a sight glass, the kettle head and thumper connection with its PRV. The kettle head has a 1" down tube, tee and 45s for the steam wand.

Next a sight glass and thumper head. The thumper head has a 3/4" to 1" down tube.

Next came the riser and 90s for the shotgun. It will work with a 7.75 keg or a 15.5 keg.

Twisted Brick Shotgun assembly in the next post.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Twisted Brick provided the fins, end caps and a ton of help for my shotgun, here's the assembly.

The core was held in place with a couple of bricks and a bar clamp. I used two 1/8" aluminum bars to make sure the tube registration as correct and not twisted.

I soldered on the fins then the vapor end cap.

Clearanced the ends of the 2" and added the I/O ports. I used a half round file to make the I/O ports flush with the inside of the 2" shell.

Next the inner tube assembly is slipped into the 2" shell and the product end cap & ferrule were soldered into place.

Continued in the next post.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Finally the vapor ferrule was soldered into place.

Here it is in the set up, internals are (4) 24" x 1/2", shell wound up being 26", ferrule to ferrule not including the collector.

Lastly are the connecting arms, each includes a thermometer and relief valve.

I can't wait to have some time to fire it up now!

Rusty

[NZChris]

Awesome work Rusty. I wish you many years of fun running it.

[zach]

Nice work Rusty!

[Twisted Brick]

Hats off to ya, Rusty. Fine piece of work indeed. And good job slaving over that hot copper for hours to satisfy your wife's urges for your backyardi!

[Yummyrum]

Looking good Rusty.
I’m curious about the SS PRV |VRV ?? that you showed a few photos back .
I see now you have a short copper section with a 45° on the top . What is happening there ?

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Looking good Rusty.
I’m curious about the SS PRV |VRV ?? that you showed a few photos back .
I see now you have a short copper section with a 45° on the top . What is happening there ?

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

Hi Yummy. That's just a piece of 2" M with the 45° soldered on. It drops over the PRV the same way a can would and the idea is that the 45s will direct anything that comes out away from the operator. The 2" sits on the PRV ferrule with about an 1/8" all the way round the body of the PRV, the 45° is open to air at the top.

Rusty

[MooseMan]

Fantastic work Rusty, you have solid metal working skills man.

I'm sure I'll get around to adding a second vessel to my 100L boiler at some point in time, so I'll be referring back to this build thread when I do, thank you in advance.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Fantastic work Rusty, you have solid metal working skills man.

I'm sure I'll get around to adding a second vessel to my 100L boiler at some point in time, so I'll be referring back to this build thread when I do, thank you in advance.

Thanks Moose! That's high praise coming from you. It was a bunch of fun again, I'm honestly kinda sad it's finished. My wife has a small setup she would like me to build, then I'm going to have to start doing copper art or something. Copper is so much fun to work with, but I can't justify rebuilding the Goat again.

Rusty

[Chauncey]

Fantastic work Rusty, you have solid metal working skills man.

This. I'm going out to beataco/Madisonville to mess with my big setup soon, can't wait

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Fantastic work Rusty, you have solid metal working skills man.

This. I'm going out to beataco/Madisonville to mess with my big setup soon, can't wait

Hollar man, I'll come hang for a few. I'm a Northshore boy.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

All dressed up and ready for a maidan voyage this weekend. Steam, leak check and vinegar will be happening Saturday.

The Horny Goat V2.0

I'm almost happy with everything, there are a couple of things I want to tweek in the future, but they can wait till after a rum run we have planned.

Rusty

[Yummyrum]

Looking good Rusty
Love the use of the bricks as firewalls and stands .

[Twisted Brick]

Yummy, here in the states those are called CMU’s (concrete masonry units) or just ‘blocks’.

[Yummyrum]

Yummy, here in the states those are called CMU’s (concrete masonry units) or just ‘blocks’.

LOL , sorry , we call them Besser Blocks here .

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Looking good Rusty
Love the use of the bricks as firewalls and stands .

Thanks Yummy! The plan is eventually replace the wooden floor, it's actually a solid pallet from work, with a nice level concrete slab about the same size. I thought the CMU blocks would work great to go along with that. The idea with all the height changes was to get my connecting arms at a reverse angle to drop any reflux back in the vessel it came from.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I found a 15.5 keg on Facecrack cheap so I'm going to replace the bent kettle keg. I didn't think it would bother me, but it does...

Rusty

[Tammuz]

With 2 thumpers I would insulate those lyne arms and thumpers so that the second thumper doesn't build up liquids from the heat loss.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

With 2 thumpers I would insulate those lyne arms and thumpers so that the second thumper doesn't build up liquids from the heat loss.

That's the plan, once I check for leaks, everything from the steam head to the 90°before the shotgun is getting insulation. Several layers of Refletix for the vessels and foam for all the plumbing.

Rusty

[Pure Old Possum Piss]

Everything is looking great, Rusty. It's took a while but it's something you can be proud of!

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Everything is looking great, Rusty. It's took a while but it's something you can be proud of!

Thanks POPP! It's the culmination of a year of research, 6 months of running in various states to gain experience and building. I'm sure I'll always tinker with it here and there, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. This weekend will tell the tale.

Rusty