2inch or 3 inch Bok

[bjay]

I have just made a pot still the other day and it works just nice , Thanks for all the advice i have read on here

Anyways i scored some 2" and 3" copper pipe 1650 of 3inch and 2mt of 2 inch well pleased :-D

Is it worth the extra effort involved with the 3 inch , Fittings to keg ect
And if you use a 3 to 2 reducer for the keg fitting, would that be a bottle neck and choke the 3 inch back some

Thanks
B

[Zak Griffin]

Definitely go the 3" mate... 2" Boka's are known to be painfully slow.

As far as the bottleneck goes, it's probably just as cost effective to weld a 3" ferrule onto the keg as it is to reduce the 3" to 2". I don't know if there is actually any bottleneck effect though, plenty of guys run 4" bubblers on standard kegs :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Which brings me to my next point; why not build a bubbler? :)

[hillzabilly]

:text-+1: with Zac and if ya get a bigger boiler down the road a 3" will handle it .cheers hilzabilly

[TheMechwarrior]

The 2" will not bottle-neck you.
But I'd be looking to install a minimum 4" and preferably 6" ferrule to the top of your keg.
This will enable you to get your hand inside to install weldless elements and also physically inspect and clean your keg :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You then mount a 3" ferrule onto you 4" or 6" ferrule cap for a seamless look, reducers only add unnecessarily to your column height.

Cheers,

Mech.

[backyard brewdog]

If your able to get a bigger ferrule welded on, why would he go weldless elements lol

[TheMechwarrior]

If your able to get a bigger ferrule welded on, why would he go weldless elements lol

Weldless is the preferred element if you are considering using your boiler for grains/solids/etc, easier to maintain ;-)

[bjay]

I didnt mention that my pot still is fitted to the keg , So would like to keep that if possible , Good idea about welding a bigger ferrule in then coming down to 3 inch ,, I have my elements sorted i have 2 X 2200W band elements around the outside have been using them for a while on my allgrain settup they work well ,And easy cleaning , They fit inbetween the ribs of the keg 70mm wide from memory
The ferrules are they on the 5 star website
A few ideas and decisions to make cheers

[Sam.]

You then mount a 3" ferrule onto you 4" or 6" ferrule cap for a seamless look, reducers only add unnecessarily to your column height.

As long as your not mounting a plate straight above it then you will have issues with the downcomer if you go down the bubbler path later, either way it's only an extra fitting 8-)

[1 2many]

If your able to get a bigger ferrule welded on, why would he go weldless elements lol

Weldless is the preferred element if you are considering using your boiler for grains/solids/etc, easier to maintain ;-)

Don't now how you figure that :wtf: It takes me 5 seconds to get my (welded type) out of the boiler by undoing a try clamp, the weldless type you need to remove the element guard then undo a nut. to remove them.

[TheMechwarrior]

Crap gets caught between the elements in the non weldless, element banter is best left to a dedicated thread.

[whiskeyshiner]

I welded a 4" ferule to my boiler as i plan to build/buy a bubbler in the future so i had to make a reducer for my pot simple 4" to 2" reducer with easy flanges. If you want to keep the keg 2" then use a similar reducer saves the cost of welding staino as u can braze or soft solder the pipe to reducer

[bjay]

I am going to get a 3 to 2 reducer and dont touch the keg at this stage ,
That way i can just slap my pot head back on no probs
You have got me thinkin about a bubbler now ,
Will build the Bok first and learn to run it , I reckon thats the only way to learn this trade
For me it is not all that expensive as i have access to a full machine shop
I will take some pics of my build and start a thread
B

[Zak Griffin]

You'll only use about 300mm of that 3" to actually build the Boka head; the rest is just packed column. This will leave you heaps of 3" left over to turn into plate tees later on :)

You WILL build a bubbler, it's only a matter of when now :handgestures-thumbupleft: