Pressure barrel

[Old Geezer]

Sorry to be picky but 1/8 bsp requires a 10mm hole. Schrader valves require an 8mm hole.
I’m surprised you managed to get the gauge thread to seal just with a loose brass washer and a rubber washer. Whenever I try it I always get a leak up the thread. Well done!

Sorry, my bad you are right it was 10mm, I have edited the post in case someone decided to follow it.

I did think about pressure leaking up the thread and ordered some Dowty sealing washers but they hadn't arrived when I fitted the gauge, fortunately, I haven't needed them, at least I have them now in case I get a problem with the other two.

Have you tried Dowty washers AKA Bonded Seal Washers it may just work for you?

Pack of 5 1/8 BSP Dowty washers £1.99 on eBay probably cheaper still if you shop around.

 

[Buffers brewery]

ave you tried Dowty washers AKA Bonded Seal Washers it may just work for you?

Yes, @Old Geezer I use them instead of o rings and rubber washers. Because I was concerned about thread leaks I used a bulkhead fitting
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brass-Bs...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649or female/male connector
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metric-B...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649with a brass washer soldered under the hex section to seal the join. Dowty washer fitted under the washer and onto the cap. More expensive than your route. Put it down to my OCD about leaks

 

[Old Geezer]

I'm beginning to think I was just lucky, half expecting it to start leaking now I was just trying to do it on the cheap.

It would make things a lot easier if you could get a pressure gauge with a long thread unfortunately I haven't been able to find one.

 

[kelper]

If the washer goes on the outside, it can't leak past the threads if there is a flat surface on the gauge. My low pressure tyre gauge is working well. My PB was at 1psi so injected a CO2 bulb and it went up to 4psi.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I'm beginning to think I was just lucky, half expecting it to start leaking now I was just trying to do it on the cheap.

It would make things a lot easier if you could get a pressure gauge with a long thread unfortunately I haven't been able to find one.

Just had a look at a bottom entry 1/8 bsp 40mm gauge I had in the shed. I think you should be alright as there’s a nice shoulder at the bottom of the thread so a dowty washer has a face to seal against with the cap on the other side. Although the gauge thread is tapered there’s only a short length exposed on the inside of the cap which takes the nut nicely. I think you’ve come up with a good fix there (hope that doesn’t put the mockers on it). Well done.

 

[The Cat]

Been checking stocks for months and just picked up 2 PBs from Wilco online to give them a go. Will check them with water first and use vaseline and tape see how we get on, Making enough batches to try them out anyway alongside bottling.

 

[Jon1964]

Been checking stocks for months and just picked up 2 PBs from Wilco online to give them a go. Will check them with water first and use vaseline and tape see how we get on, Making enough batches to try them out anyway alongside bottling.

Are they the 4 inch cap size ones??
Cheers Jon

 

[The Cat]

Are they the 4 inch cap size ones??
Cheers Jon

Don't think it says but they look decently wide from the picture https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-pressure-barrel-25l/p/0441260

 

[kelper]

For £50ish, you could get a top-tap KingKeg which is better quality.....

 

[The Cat]

For £50ish, you could get a top-tap KingKeg which is better quality.....

Maybe later on :)

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

If you’re going to use a pressure barrel, I wrote some content that might be useful at some point:

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/pressure-barrels-more-than-you-wanted-to-know.89344/

 

[terrym]

And there's this too
Guide to a Standard Home Brew Pressure Barrel
Hopefully those who have recently bought a PB of any type will now be in the 'I think my PB is wonderful, I wouldn't be without it' group rather than 'What a crock of **** , what have I wasted my money on?' group.

 

[Rodcx500z]

I have 3 wilko barrels no probs with any of them i bought a 4 inch spanner that works a treat, also have a youngs 2 inch cap pita to clean and goes through caps seals fairly quickly going to dump it and buy another wilko

 

[The Cat]

Thanks chaps - am quite prepared for some trial and error - hopefully not losing 23l of beer though!

I've got 4 brews bottled I really need to save a bit of space so that's why I'm trying this out.

 

[Wherrypuzzled]

I bought one recently and it had a leaky tap . There seemed to be a weeping from the front of it which you may negate with your vaseline

Someone (Clint ?) pointed out to me that the Tap when turned to the "Off" position has to be as close to 90 degrees as you can get - or it will leak albeit maybe only slightly and he was right

One other niggle I had is (if yours is same model) the handles are moulded into the body. I thought "what a good idea" for a number of reasons but with 40 pints on board I found personally they are not deep enough to grip properly and it feels like on my journey to the Garage where it is c-o-l-d the Keg is slipping through my fingers

Apart from that - they are fine and 2 brews gone with pressure kept almost to the end

 

[Jon1964]

I bought one recently and it had a leaky tap . There seemed to be a weeping from the front of it which you may negate with your vaseline

Someone (Clint ?) pointed out to me that the Tap when turned to the "Off" position has to be as close to 90 degrees as you can get - or it will leak albeit maybe only slightly and he was right

One other niggle I had is (if yours is same model) the handles are moulded into the body. I thought "what a good idea" for a number of reasons but with 40 pints on board I found personally they are not deep enough to grip properly and it feels like on my journey to the Garage where it is c-o-l-d the Keg is slipping through my fingers

Apart from that - they are fine and 2 brews gone with pressure kept almost to the end

I'm thinking of making some sort of harness using nylon rope or webbing that I can loop under and over to use as a carry handle.
Mine will have a journey to garage also.

 

[BridgeBrew]

Put a King Keg tap on it, and make a little mover, with a bit of ply, and some castors. I have 2 Wilko kegs, and the first thing i did was change the taps, then fit schrader valves to the caps to monitor the pressure. Only problem i've had is one keg has slightly distorted, its gone a bit rugby ball shape, but it has been up to 22psi for about 4 days during secondary. The moulded handles are a pain in the **** to be honest, but on the plus side the green caps are far better than the kk caps. I run 3 KKs as well as the Wilko kegs, to be honest had more leaks on the KKs than the Wilko's..

 

[private4587]

slightly off the rest of comments but i have recently obtained a couple of KK's which are in need of a good clean before use. I normally use Wilko's version of oxyiclean to clean my plastic fermenters. would this be OK to use on the KK followed by starsan?

 

[kelper]

Oxiclean on its own will do fine. It will de-stain, de-odourise, clean AND sanitise/disinfect. And any residue is harmless. If cleaning glass, you might want to rinse.

 

[private4587]

Many thanks