First, I have built an Counter Flow Chiller - from 27' of copper, garden hose and some brass fittings.
It took a lot of sweat and nerves to solder it all together since I had no experience in soldering brass, handling propane torch, etc. I even had no proper flux so I used some Aspirine (which has acid suitable for soldering, albeit fumes are rather toxic).
Here are the results:
It took me about three hours to finish this beast, and I have even tested it with actual water flow. No leaks!
Note: red substance on brass parts is high-temp silicone. It is actually for engines :) but I used it there. Anyway, it doesn't contact wort in any way.
Then, I have bought the 50 Litre Euro keg with a leak in the bottom, for just $40 (1000 roubles). Also I bought some fittings, and even the washing mashine pump which is very useful in cycling wort in mash tun.
The pump with fittings already screwed into it:
Now, to the wort boiling kettle. I gone with 50 L keg, but since it had leak, I decided to cut not its top but bottom, and to make some additonal use for stone lid that I already freed of pipe. I will probably use it to wash the kettle without carrying it to the bathroom :)
First I wanted to go with gas stove for boiling wort, but decided to drop the plans: gas is real pain in handling, powerful stove is rather expensive, and electricity is cheap in Russia (about 10¢ per kW/h).
So I bought three 1.25 kW heaters with plans to use all three for bringing wort to boil, and then boiling it all with one or two of them. At the same time I have prepared to add more heaters in the future.
Drilling holes in keg was a hell! While smaller bits did their job well, it was hard to find a proper 14mm bit with 13mm tail (since my drill can handle bits with tail up to 13mm).
Well, after the two evenings of making screeching sounds and killing three bits, I did it!
Also, I will weld a stainless pipe into the keg, and I have bought an excellent stainless steel ball valve for just $20 today! I will go and buy another one tomorrow :)
Here it is with a pipe and hose fitting already screwed in for testing:
Did some search for this manufacturer on Internet. Typical price for this ball valve is $100, so I got it almost for free :)
Since I have to deal with high power (15-16 A will be drawn by the heaters), I bought an GFI with 25A overpower protection. Tomorrow I am going to buy remaining stuff and will be constructing electric part of the kettle.
That's all for today.
