Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

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Paulwales

Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Paulwales » Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:52 pm

Hi,
I fished this boiler out of my Grand Fathers Garden, also know of another just the same from a mate...are they any good as a boiler?
Image

Brotherton Lad

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Brotherton Lad » Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:49 pm

Hello, Paul,
Just noticed your post. I've got a similar one with a lid. Hopefully between your post and mine, we'll find an answer. I've found my Burco useful over the years but modern food safety thinking may have a different opinion. I do know that acid is not good in these, so not suitable for making cider for example.
Roy

Paulwales

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Paulwales » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:49 pm

Ah ok happy days, seems like it'll be fine then, also googled and see a few people using them on another Brew site

my Ciders pressed so no worries there,

I wonder if its worth taking the galvenised metal off? just unsure whats in Galv.... zinc?

grumpysod

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by grumpysod » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:56 pm

I have one of those, if you remove the inside coating you'll find copper, it does make a good boiler, the only problem I have is the tap is pants.
there's some pics at viewtopic.php?p=137263#p137263

BarnsleyBrewer
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Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by BarnsleyBrewer » Thu Feb 04, 2010 7:59 pm

Paulwales wrote:Hi,
I fished this boiler out of my Grand Fathers Garden, also know of another just the same from a mate...are they any good as a boiler?
Image
Bet Arthur Negus is turning in his grave!
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CJBrew

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by CJBrew » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:25 pm

I use one of those for my main boil. It is pretty good.

The tap can and DEFINITELY should be removed without too much difficulty and replaced with a tank coupler and ballvalve for a few quid (from Screwfix or wherever, see other threads). That way you can attach some form of hop strainer --- mine is just made of slotted 15mm copper and some elbows.

I have painted over the rusty bits on mine with anti-rust paint, give it a new lease of life.

Once you remove the tap and unhook the wiring you will find the inside section which is aluminium will lift right out. I don't recommend doing this very often but it's a good way to make sure it's all clean and free from rust.

CJBrew

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by CJBrew » Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:30 pm

For what it's worth, mine is different to the image above -- it's a white/cream painted steel (?) shell, and is square...

kay-jay

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by kay-jay » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:14 pm

hi everyone,

my grandad used one of these (with lid) for years for home brewing!, check out "grandads 1974 recipe" in the recipes section, this and his many other recipes were all done in a baby burco boil washer.
as you can see from his journal in the aforementioned recipe section he had tremendous results with this equipment.

KJ

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jubby
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Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by jubby » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:39 pm

CJBrew wrote:I use one of those for my main boil. It is pretty good.

The tap can and DEFINITELY should be removed without too much difficulty and replaced with a tank coupler and ballvalve for a few quid (from Screwfix or wherever, see other threads). That way you can attach some form of hop strainer --- mine is just made of slotted 15mm copper and some elbows.

I have painted over the rusty bits on mine with anti-rust paint, give it a new lease of life.

Once you remove the tap and unhook the wiring you will find the inside section which is aluminium will lift right out. I don't recommend doing this very often but it's a good way to make sure it's all clean and free from rust.
How did you get the tap off CJbrew?? I've tried to unscrew mine, but it won't budge with reasonable force and i don't want to force it.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

CJBrew

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by CJBrew » Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:31 pm

My washboiler is a different type but the tap may be the same...?

Anyway -- it had a sort of screw-in tap fitting that stuck like a sod when I made beer in it. (It's designed to be lubricated by the soap in your wash boil.)

I can't see the detail on your photo but mine looked similar on the outside and was actually attached via a nut on the inside of the vessel. The nut had an internal flange which means normal spanners won't work to undo it.

So I borrowed the largest allen key they had in the workshop at work, probably a 15mm one (which is the size of the internal flat edge of the nut). I simply undid the nut, although I had to hold the tap side still using some copper pipe I had lying around to stop the tap rotating.

You might if you're unlucky find that removing the tap buggers up the hole, but both the ones I did were fine. In my opinion you've not got much to lose because working with those stupid taps is not worth your while anyway, and the benefit of upgrading is that you can fit a hopstopper.

Paulwales

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Paulwales » Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:58 am

Thanks good advice...same tap, I will have to do something with it as I'd soon get hacked off with it

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Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by jubby » Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:13 pm

CJBrew wrote:My washboiler is a different type but the tap may be the same...?

Anyway -- it had a sort of screw-in tap fitting that stuck like a sod when I made beer in it. (It's designed to be lubricated by the soap in your wash boil.)

I can't see the detail on your photo but mine looked similar on the outside and was actually attached via a nut on the inside of the vessel. The nut had an internal flange which means normal spanners won't work to undo it.

So I borrowed the largest allen key they had in the workshop at work, probably a 15mm one (which is the size of the internal flat edge of the nut). I simply undid the nut, although I had to hold the tap side still using some copper pipe I had lying around to stop the tap rotating.

You might if you're unlucky find that removing the tap buggers up the hole, but both the ones I did were fine. In my opinion you've not got much to lose because working with those stupid taps is not worth your while anyway, and the benefit of upgrading is that you can fit a hopstopper.
Thanks for the info. I have a different tap on mine, there's no nut visible. I have managed to fit a hopstopper though, so i will stick with the original tap.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

Paulwales

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Paulwales » Sat Feb 06, 2010 4:44 pm

On the tap subject, my tap has was broke off and relveals the nut I think you talk about. the inside of the vessel looks flush and possoble fabricated to the insie of the boiler... will it just unscrew out where its snaped off to hunt down mother size allen key...will it take off the whole tap?

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jubby
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Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by jubby » Sat Feb 06, 2010 6:30 pm

That's the same as my tap. What you see there is the threaded tap insert, there used to be a bakelite knob attached to that hex socket. I always remove this by unscrewing it for cleaning (you used to have to remove a small screw which passes through the top of the tap body to prevent the whole lot unscrewing. I notice that this screw is missing from yours). I dropped mine and broke the bakelite knob, but managed to silver solder a brass door knob in it's place.
Mr Nick's Brewhouse.

Thermopot HLT Conversion

Drinking: Mr Nick's East India IPA v3 First Gold & Citra quaffing ale
Conditioning:
FV:
Planned: Some other stuff.
Ageing:

Paulwales

Re: Old 10 Gal Burco Wash boiler

Post by Paulwales » Sun Feb 07, 2010 7:40 pm

I've been reading bad things about zinc Galv, did you remove yours back to the copper?, seems either a Caustic soda or a pool acid solution will do the trick to get it all off

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