Many
brewers simply look over the top of their vessels to gauge how much
liquid they have inside and sometimes use a measuring stick. In some
cases they may drain liquids into a measuring vessel like a graduated
bucket (like I have in the past). In the case of multi-tier stands,
where some vessels are well above eye level, it is much more convenient
to use an external level indicator or "sight glass". I looked at a lot
of the commercial solutions available at all the brew stores and they
all seem to use weldless fittings (mixed stainless and brass), polycarbonate
tubes.
I put together some high end stainless fittings
with pyrex glass kits that I used on my vessels and sold them to a few
people through this site. However, there are two reasons I am not offering
the glass at this time. First, while glass is a durable, long term solution
when properly handled/protected, not everyone has luck with fragile
glass. A few people have broken their glass :-(
The second reason is that the bulk pricing
I originally got on the glass has been increased over 300% and it would
put my kits over a price that I think is reasonable.
A stabilizing bracket can
be created with a stainless steel eyebolt. In a Sanke keg based vessel,
a hole would be drilled in the upper skirt where the handles are. I
am not including the eyebolt because everyone's length requirement
is going to be different based on your bulkhead arrangement. Stainless
eyebolts are available at most home centers for less than $2.
NOTE: Some users
of similar kits have noted a potential issue with bubbles forming in
the sight tubing when using in a boil kettle and it has 2 potential
causes. First, it may help to put a coupling or short nipping on the
inside of the kettle to help divert rising bubbles. The second
potential cause is having a large burner very close to your kettle
which causes a lot of heat (or even flame) to lick up the side and
overheat the fitting. In that case, the liquid actually boils inside
the fitting itself. The best bet here is to install some kind of
sheet metal heat shield just under the sight glass fitting or lower
your burner away from the kettle. This will also add more life to
the polycarbonate.
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Sight Glass Availability:
All of my current kits use
Polycarbonate tubes 19" long (long enough for 1/2BBL keg based
vessels) and they terminate into a compression elbow. If you
already have a
coupling welded into your vessel, you just need the basic kit.
If you want to install a kit without welding anything, you'll
need the weldless kit. Please choose carefully.
3/8" NPT Weld Kit - Includes 1/2" tube, oring ferrules, and
stainless compression fitting with 3/8" male NPT presented to
the vessel. You may be able to use it as weldless but you're
on your own there. You'll need female 3/8" NPT threads in your
vessel to use this.
I have a 1 left as of 6/1/09.
$18 each plus shipping.
1/4" NPT WELDLESS Kit - Includes 1/2" OD tube, oring
ferrules, stainless compression elbow with 1/4" female NPT,
weldless orings, 1/4" male adapter and stainless washer as shown in the picture.
$25 each plus shipping. 1/2" hole is
required. See install instruction video
below.
Out of stock at the moment. Check back in about a week.
NEW!! Weldless Thermometer and
Sight Glass combination assemblies. All Stainless!!
This assembly uses the same sight glass kit as above but
adds a 1/4" NPT stainless TEE, a 2" diameter Trend analog
thermometer (50-300f range) and weldless parts. The
installation is similar to the regular weldless sight in the
video below. I have a limited quantity of these. This is great
for a hot liquor tank. This will not work in a cooler.
$38 each plus shipping.
Gone.
If you have one of my sight glasses with 1/4" NPT threads and
want to add a thermo, email me and I can set you up with the
thermo and TEE.
You can also just buy the thermometer that I use in the thermo/sight kit. The temp range is 50-300F, 2 inch diameter dial, 2.5 inch probe length,
1/4" NPT on the back. The bare thermometer is $12 and the
weldless version with stainless locknut and two o-rings for
$17.99. If you're just buying one thermo, the shipping is
cheaper at $4. Anything more than one thermo, shipping goes to
the standard $7.
Requires a nice clean hole just a touch over
1/2" diameter. If you oversize this hole, you may have a
leak on your hands.
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Note: the kits listed above may be slightly different than the
exact configuration shown in the video.
