brazing fittings onto beer keg

[jpump5]

I want to modify a beer keg and am wondering if brazing might be easier or cheaper than buying s.s. wire and tri mix for mig.
Would brazing have to be done with some sort of filler containing nickel, chromium etc.?

[docwelder]

silver solder may work.

[DSW]

Silver solder would be my choice. Just make sure to clean up the flux after you are done.

[jpump5]

I never thought of using silver solder.

[That Guy There]

aren't kegs made out of aluminum?

[mrmikey]

aren't kegs made out of aluminum?

Any one I've drained ...err seen has been s/s.
Ditto re the silver solder, just make sure that wherever you put the fitting it doesn't buckle away from the heat while you're soldering it. Once you get it blue (too hot) your going to have to stop and clean it and start again.....Mike

[docwelder]

if you chose to go that route make sure you use food grade silver solder. no lead, zinc or cadmium.

[tekstar]

I modified a keg to serve as a pressurized fuel tank for a race car.... silver solder worked fine.

[Teggy1]

aren't kegs made out of aluminum?

All I've seen are.

[Drf255]

All I've seen are.

EVERYONE I've seen are stainless. I've never seen an aluminum one. They look like they're aluminum but they are not.

[ManoKai]

@ jpump5 - check out this article on welding, brazing, and silver soldering on 304L SS beer kegs:

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechnique....6/palmer.html

Options abound. The method you select will depend on your skill level, tooling, and desired outcome.

[jpump5]

-ManoKai-Thanks for the link,it's just what I was(or should have been) looking for.


As for keg material,I don't know that I've ever seen an aluminum beer keg.

[Willie B]

Maple syrup (properly pronounced surup) equipment was for centuries made of stainless steel sheet products bent and soldered with 50/50 lead and tin. 20 years ago, the people who worry about that sort of thing started worrying about lead exposure. Syrup from all over VT was tested, consistently found to be low in, but not free of lead. A study ensued, and it was found that most of the small amount of lead in syrup was found in the ground water that makes up 99.something % of sap. Oh well by this time the consuming public being made aware of it, wanted equipment to be lead free. At first we used antimony solder instead if lead. Tough stuff to work with! Silvabright, a solder with a three metal composition worked better. These days it is all done with Tig. The welders, who were formerly solderers are masters with a tig torch. This fall at G.H.Grimm I had the treat of watching one of them make a simple kettle. They have, for each joint a machined back up fixture through which they flow purge gas.

Either TIG or solder work, TIG being the easier technique. Purge gas being the challenge in a vessel you can't get inside. I'd ask Steve, (Otto Nobetter), he does this stuff.

A small number are aluminum.


Solder must be done with a big electric copper. It is tricky to get the first of the stainless hot enough to begin to melt solder. The liquid flux has a short half life, once the joint is begun it is easier, a process much like TIG except flux, and copper not gas and torch. Clean with Scotchbright and wire brush.

[Teggy1]

EVERYONE I've seen are stainless. I've never seen an aluminum one. They look like they're aluminum but they are not.

I've only cut two apart. One for a still, while in college, and another for a fuel tank on a dune buggy, which was TIG welded to add an aluminum filler. After doing some research, kegs are made from BOTH materials, less commonly aluminum. So while my previous experience with aluminum kegs led me to believe the appearance of stainless steel keg was aluminum, there are kegs made from both materials.

[madosta]

I've seen some coated inside and out with a coating. Would hate to melt that and then drink it.

[docwelder]

i believe miller uses rubber coated kegs.

[Willie B]

We've made some beer vessels. Kegs are hard to come by. Breweries don't want to sell them. Buying a keg of beer paying the 50 dollar deposit and not returning it is enthusiastically discouraged. They are selling un labeled ones at high price for maple syrup storage. Open topped containers aren't a problem, purging is relatively easy. Closed top, I haven't done I'm not sure how to purge, maybe fill the whole container with gas.
I haven't seen coated kegs.

[boatbuoy]

the old Falstaff mini kegs that held a case of beer equivalent may have been aluminum. I have one on the garage shelf in Michigan,but i'm in florida and cant check it.

[65cobra]

The majority of breweries switched to stainless in the early 80s. Prior to that there were a lot of aluminium kegs that were filled from the side and then tapped with a spear from the top.

[Billdacat]

Get a quote from Skolnik...A couple of us wino's bought a few drums years ago and prices were not really that bad.
http://www.skolnik.com/product.php?p...ss_steel_drums

[zenon52]

I have "Silver Soldered" several fittings into SS kegs. My son is a home brewer and is constantly up grading. Ditto on the food grade silver. Just be sure everything is clean.

[Brazin]

you can use a nickel rod to braze stainless, much cheaper than silver, but does not flow as nice.