Thread sealant or other solution?

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cimbaliw

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Hi Folks, it's been a long time since I've darkened the doorway of winemakingtalk. Anyway, a couple of years ago I purchased two Speidel 60L fermenters and have really enjoyed working with them. Over time, tightening the spigots had caused the threaded edge where the spigot screws on to curl back on itself. The curl-back was tight and would harbor residue that was very hard to clean. Over concerns of contamination, I cut back the curl and now have two leaky fermenters.

I think using the spigots is no longer an option, but even the caps leak. I tried a few turns of tefelon tape on the coarse threads. This tested well. I went ahead with a 12 gallon batch of must, but the pressure from the load was too much. I suspect a silicone thread sealer is my best option.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Bill C.
 
Hi Folks, it's been a long time since I've darkened the doorway of winemakingtalk. Anyway, a couple of years ago I purchased two Speidel 60L fermenters and have really enjoyed working with them. Over time, tightening the spigots had caused the threaded edge where the spigot screws on to curl back on itself. The curl-back was tight and would harbor residue that was very hard to clean. Over concerns of contamination, I cut back the curl and now have two leaky fermenters.

I think using the spigots is no longer an option, but even the caps leak. I tried a few turns of tefelon tape on the coarse threads. This tested well. I went ahead with a 12 gallon batch of must, but the pressure from the load was too much. I suspect a silicone thread sealer is my best option.

Any thoughts?
Thanks
Bill C.

You could try this food grade thread sealer: https://www.jcwhitlam.com/Product/1/111/135#
 
My guess is that you trimmed the sealing surface that the gasket in the cap makes contact with. You may be able to block sand the sealing surface flat again, but a picture might help determine a solution. The thread sealing compound or teflon tape might be a temporary fix, but it would have to be applied to the sealing surface that you trimmed.
 
Thanks guys. After some research I found 1" bulkheads and will just replace the plastic spigot port on the fermenters. I'll probably use a dremmel cut off wheel to clean up the exterior surface. Here are pictures of the rough fit. The bulkheads are here.
 

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Should work fine, but just my opinion, I would use a plastic washer on the outside so you're not tightening the nut directly on the tank surface.
 

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