Boiler questions.

[quixoticgeek]

I am interested in progressing from kits, to all grain brewing, but before I spend alot on equipment, I am thinking of stepping via extract brewing.

I have a spare 5 gallon fermenter, and I am interested in adapting this to make a boiler. For a typical 5gal brew, is a 5 gallon boiler going to be big enough ? (it's a youngs 5 gal I got from wilko...)

Beyond adding a hop strainer and a kettle element, is there anything else I am missing?

What type of Tap do people recommend for a home made boiler?

Thanks

Julia

[Scooby]

I'd question why you want to go from kits to extract rather than to mashing but if you must that size boiler is fine, if you're looking to the future then you won't be able to boil 'all in' with a 5 gall bucket, but you can adapt the process by topping up as the boil commences.

This type of Boiler tap is good if a little pricey.

[wetdog]

That's the tap I use on my boiler and on my HLT.
I would be cautious about using a Wilko fermenter as a boiler though, I use one as an HLT and I find that the tap can come loose, no doubt due to the heat of the water making the fermenter a bit 'rubbery' and that is only from water heated up to around 85 degrees so a 90 minute boil is sure to cause problems.
The answer may be to use a proper boiling vessel or perhaps a ball valve tap

[Parva]

That tap was what was supplied as standard on my H&G boiler. If possible I would go with a ball valve. The reason I changed to ball-valve was because firstly the plastic washer that came with the tap actually split and started dripping wort during a boil, not good. Ok, a fibre washer would sort that problem. The other issue is that the tap tightens onto the hop strainer in a clockwise direction. No problem there but if you're not careful opening the tap (ie. holding the tap whilst unscrewing the knob) the whole thing can come loose and you could end up with wort all over the floor. I bought a 15mm ball-valve for under £5 from my local plumbers merchants and thanks to someone on here sourced the adaptor required to fit it to the hop strainer, it's a much better option in my opinion.

[Scooby]

I use one as an HLT and I find that the tap can come loose,

firstly the plastic washer that came with the tap actually split and started dripping wort during a boil,

the whole thing can come loose and you could end up with wort all over the floor.

And they fit them to their boilers, sounds like it's not fit for purpose that will teach me to recommend something I haven't used

[Parva]

It does the job Scooby and if the washer were to be replaced with a fibre one it would be fine. You just have to be sure to hold the tap when you're opening it.

[edit1now]

I would suggest a 15mm compression - to - compression ballvalve, plus a pair of 1/2" BSP flanged hex backnuts. The items may be cheaper at BES but their pictures are less good.

The thread on the 15mm compression end is 1/2" BSP, so you can remove the nut and olive it came with, put one backnut on, apply a good deal of food-grade silicone sealant, then pass the threaded bit through a 21mm hole in your vessel and screw the second nut on the inside, with further sealant. I haven't had one fall off (I mostly use 3/4" BSP) while I have had a bin spit-out a plastic tap while it was full of hot wort.

[crowds]

plus a pair of 1/2" BSP flanged hex backnuts.

That's great, I already have the 15mm ball valve and have been wondering how I would go about attaching it
Could I use washers instead of sealant ?

[edit1now]

If you don't use any sealant then the wort will seep out along the screw threads

I don't think the threads on a ball valve are long enough to get a sealing washer between the body and your first backnut, then have another washer, the wall of your vessel, another washer, then the final backnut - but I'd be very happy to be proved wrong