Nordic Thermo Mash Tun conversion help!!

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Hi

My nice shiny 50 Litre Nordic Thermo Pot has arrived, and now i have a small dilemma.

I have looked through Vossys guide to converting and it all looks just a little beyond me, and I am likely to make a real mess of it.

I plan to attach a 15mm Ball tap to the side, and put a standard false bottom in as that should be easier, I may even just use a copper pipe manifold to start with until I get the false bottom.

Anybody know how I go about putting a tap in the side, what bits do I need and what size holes do I need. I'm feeling a little out of my depth at the moment and really don't want to ruin my nice shiny pot.

Thanks

[mark]

Way out of my depth as well Steve.....I had to get someone to do mine for me
I believe QMax cutters are required.......are you going to fit a bottom drain or drain from the side??

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I was going to do a side drain as I thought it would be easier, I'm not so sure now though.

Unless anyone has any easy ways to do it mine may be getting done by someone else as well.

[Aleman]

BOttom Drain is easier.

Get hold of a Through deck fitting rather than make one like Vossys. Then all you do is make the appropriate hole (21mm), and pass it through. YOU will need to cut the fitting to length, so that a http://www.screwfix.com/p/female-elbow- ... male Elbow will do up tightly to seal it all in place . . . Some Fernox LSX will help getting a watertight seal. then take some 15mm tube from that out through the side wall. And add a 15mm Ball Valve

The real PITA is cutting the bottom skin and repairing it, but a small angle grinder with a slitting disc makes short work of that . . . Spray foam seals insulates and acts as a good glue as well

I've got pictures of my conversion using this method. If you have the tools it's quite easy.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Cheers Aleman

Thats the plan then, I have a small angle grinder, so cutting the deck should be OK. I have been offered the loan of a Q-Max cutter for the hole in the floor.

I can pick up the elbow and some LSX from my local plumbing shop.

I have just ordered the deck fitting, so no turning back now.

[Aleman]

Here is how I did it.

First drilling a 3mm hole from the inside to the outside in the centre, turning the thermobox over, A suitable hole was drilled using my Cobalt Holesaw (52mmIIRC) . . . If you dont have a hole saw you can cut a square using the angle grinder



Plenty of water as a coolant, and taking it slow and steady with the hole saw easily cut though the outer skin, which was then marked up for cutting the channel.



As much of the cuts as possible were done with the slitting disc, but close to the wall I had to resort to a reinforced cut off wheel in the trusty Dremel. The insulation was removed, and a 21mm QMax punch made the hole for the fitting.



Here is a shot of the Deck Fitting which needs trimming down. I used a length of nipple to screw the right angle fitting onto as far as it would go, and then marked the end position with the PTFE Tape. This showed how much thread was required to mount the two pieces together . . . Short work with the angle grinder and a file reduced the Deck fitting to length.



And here it all is dry assembled. To fit it in place The underside of the Deck fitting was liberally coated with LS-X and pushed into place, the O Ring was put into place and the threads of the deck fitting had some LS-X smeared on. The Female elbow was then screwed on tight to slightly compress the O Ring. Excess LS-X removed and it was put aside to dry.



I drilled a 17/18mm hole in the outer wall of the TB to allow the pipe to exit. In my case it had to be a bit bigger than 15mm as I wanted to use a Female Ball Valve so needed a 15mm to 1/2" Male BSP end soldered on to the pipe, and also used a stainless washer to cover the hole in the external skin



This is all you see on the inside.



I haven't finished it yet as I still have to spray foam it to replace the insulation removed , and fit another bottom . . .but I have used it anyway standing it on a sheet of polystyrene

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Cheers Aleman, that is really helpful. Excellent instructions that even an idiot like me should be able to follow. Thanks very much for this.

This mash Tun conversion has also been a good excuse to buy a Dremel, I've been wanting one for ages.

SWMBO is happy too as I have just bought her a 50 inch Full HD Plasma telly, (so I can watch the Grand Prix)

[big fella]

hey steve with the size of your vessel it might be worth going up to 22mm pipe and fittings

[stu-le-brew]

hey steve with the size of your vessel it might be worth going up to 22mm pipe and fittings

I disagree with you thought, I have a 70ltr thermo which drains via a small hole, never had a problem with draining from the mash tun - it should be done slowly to achieve maximum extraction, I always aim for sparge/drain to take an hour.

[Kev888]

I've used both 15mm and 22mm (or 3/4") for MTs; 22mm is a bit more convenient for draining when cleaning and so on, but it doesn't do much that 15mm can't, and 15mm seems more than enough to keep up with the runoff. In this case I suspect there wouldn't be room for a 22mm elbow/pipe assembly though, so probably thats the biggest factor.

Cheers
Kev

[GrowlingDogBeer]

15mm it will be as thats the size of the parts I ordered. Just waiting for everything to turn up now so I can get cracking on it.

The HLT is ready, the boiler is ready, the pump is wired in an appears to work, all I need now is a Mash Tun as I don't think I'll mamage a 10 gallon brew in a Cool Box!

[DomClarke]

For the bottom drain on mine and beermonstas' tun we used the through deck fitting (brass/copper though) and from screwfix:
55471 - 1/2" BSP female elbow to 15mm compression fitting
15mm copper pipe (cut to length)
73198 - compression fitting - 1/2" BSP thread connector (to use through bottom of mash tun instead of soldering onto the 15mm copper)

The tap was then screwed (with PTFE to seal) straight to the outside of the mash tun with 22mm stainless washers (off ebay) on the inside and outside of the wall of the tun. The seal was made on the drain off (through connector) with a silicone washer (cut from a silicone cake tin) and ptfe tape on the thread!

EDIT - Not sure why I randomly found this thread and replied when he's already finished it!

[mooj]

Not sure why I randomly found this thread and replied when he's already finished it!

Let me guess, had a couple of homebrews?

Some good advice for someone anyway I suspect!

[GrowlingDogBeer]

EDIT - Not sure why I randomly found this thread and replied when he's already finished it!

I assume it was as I linked to this thread from the thread by Simple One as he was asking how to convert his Thermo Pot.

[mooj]

I assume it was as I linked to this thread from the thread by Simple One as he was asking how to convert his Thermo Pot.

Maybe it was that instead then, or maybe both. Me, I've had a couple of perries