Converting kegs to boilers

[CARA]

Any good how to's out there? Any one have any experience with doing it themselves?

[Spud395]

This might help Declan

http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1348169553

[CARA]

Lovely, any issue with pressure or is the keg empty when its empty if ya get me?

[CARA]

As in if i take a drill to an empty keg is it going to blow up on me?

[JimmyM]

Na ya wanna stick a screw driver or the end of a sweeping brush in the valve to let all the pressure out before ya go near it.

[CARA]

Grand so, I know I could just google this but wanted to chat to someone who has actually done it.
Would be cool if we could incorporate something like this into the Capital brew day

[JimmyM]

Yeah I made up a jig for my angle grinder to cut a plate out of the top.
I successfully drilled a hole using a hole saw set i got off ebay for a tap - but then proceded to make my kettle element hole too big.

I started another keg - but never finished it - ive use a plastic bucket since... much easier to manipulate

[CARA]

Would you be up for trying another one? Get a few of us together to do more than one?

[JimmyM]

Yeah id be up for it... Equipment is the issue - my holesaws are blunt now cos i suspect i might have went at the keg too aggressively -  i believe slow and patient does the trick.

Im a master at grinding the plate out of the top though so i could provide the angle grinder and disc(s) if someone else brings the hole saws.

Only half issue is the kegs.... id imagine we wouldnt want to be publicly defacing someone elses property

[CARA]

Of course not  although I'm sure we could "buy some" from somewhere. I'll look after that part of the show 

TOG would be perfect, they have a welder also dont they??

[Spud395]

Even slower than that with the drill James.

Lubricate it some way, oil even water at a push. Overheating is the problem. Variable speed drill essential and go real slow.
Stop take a break, lube it up again, back at it slowly.

It could well take 10-15 minutes a hole.

[Will_D]

Also TOG have a plasma cutter that will cut thro' most metals!

However for the elements either a decent bi-metal hole saw or a q-max cutter

Will

Ps: If I fail to master TIG I will be down to TOG to learn TIG.

Don't you just love alliteration

[Padraic]

I was thinking of doing a plastic bucket boiler workshop in tog so anyone who already had a keg could use that instead as long as they owned it of course!

[Shanna]

Hi Padraic, Cara, Will D and Jimmy M,

Can we organise a build of kegs in to kettles/mash tuns in Tog in the coming months. I have a hardened step bit that I have used to good effect on my own keggle. Jimmy M if you have a jig for making it easier to use an angle grinder to take the top off a keg I think we can help each other out. I have a half completed keggle and I want to convert another to a mashtun. I have all of the parts except the heating elements (due to collect them over the next few weeks).

Will D if your tig welding skills have progressed I would love you to get involved also as I am sure that you could help out fabricating and fitting sight valves (saw what looked like a home made effort on one of your old burco boilers) and temperature probes.

Shanna

[Will_D]

Will D if your tig welding skills have progressed I would love you to get involved also as I am sure that you could help out fabricating and fitting sight valves (saw what looked like a home made effort on one of your old burco boilers) and temperature probes.

Don't hold yer breath on the "tig welding and Will" front its harder than it looks. Yet to progress to using the filler rod, let alone "Thick to Thin welding"!

Plus its Baltic in my CSing garage. Tends to put off the hours of pratice needed.

The lager in the lagering fridge is being kept warm!!

If you need a 50 L volunteer let me know