It's time for the V1 brewery to get it's new copper/boiler and hlt.
I've made 2 of these, the HLT with 2 x 2.4kw elements and the copper/boiler with 2 x 2.75kw elements
The bits
1 x Stainless Steel Stock Pot (this ones 100ltr volume) cost £48 (not shown in this pic)
From Nordic Optical on E-bay
1 x ½" stainless steel ball valve, part number 10397, £16.37
3 x ½" running nipples (brass) part number 6576, £2.16
2 x ½" 90 Deg elbow in 316 stainless steel, part number 14271, £3.05
2 x ½" 316 stainless steel lock nuts, part number 14547, £1.65
All from here www.bes.co.uk
2 x 22mm ID stainless steel washers from a local BSA parts shop £0.90
or from below
(M22 washers form B from here www.a2stainless.co.uk)
2 x 2.75kw elements from a local electrical shop (not those shown) £21.90
1 x brass female straight connector ½" female to 15mm compression (local plumbers) £1.00
2 x John Guest part number PM011014E, £4.20
From here www.airflow-compressors.co.uk
1 x length of polycarbonate tubing in 10mm outer diameter £7.50
(from a 2m length costing £30)
From here www.gcip.co.uk
TOTAL COST £106.73
Tools, a drill, 40mm & 20mm hole saw bits, a drill and a dremmel.
JB Weld, element leads.
These costs were not added to the boiler costs, as I already had them.
Marking the holes for elements/sight tube and ball valve
Firstly I placed the stock pot on a table and made sure the pot was level, using a spirit level.
I measured the distance between the handles and marked the central point with a pencil mark on some masking tape. I then put a piece of masking tape at the bottom of the stock pot, roughly under the pencil mark, to show where I wanted the ball valve to go.
Using the spirit level vertically, I marked on the bottom piece of tape, a line to show the vertical location of the ball valve.
I then offered the ½" lock nut to the line to make sure that it would be free to turn from the curved base of the pot. I then crossed the line through the centre of the nut.
I repeated this process for the rear of the stock pot to show where I wanted to mount the elements. I marked a position far enough apart on the rear so I could place the elements as close to each other as possible.
I also used the same process to mark the desired position of the sight tube, with the upper elbow as close to the rim of the stock pot as possible.
I used a 4mm titanium hss drill bit to make pilot holes at each of the points, before using the hole saw bits to make the final holes.
I used a constant supply of cold water to cool the stock pot and hole saw bits whilst drilling the holes in the stainless steel.
The hole saw bits left a burr on the interior of the pot which I ground down using my dremmel.
Holes for ball valve and sight tube (20mm)
Holes for elements (40mm)
Elements fitted
Simply pass the rear of the element through the hole in the stock pot and tighten up the nut they come supplied with, job done
Ball valve and sight tube fitted
Fitting the ball valve
I used plenty of wraps of PTFE tape on the nipple before screwing it into the ball valve as far as it would go. I placed a washer on the nipple before passing the rest of the nipple through the hole in the stockpot.
I smeared a small amount of JB Weld onto the entire circumfrence of the other washer (pot facing side) and also onto the nipple where it meets the pot on the inside.
I put the washer over the nipple on the interior of the stock pot and tightened the brass female straight connector fitting onto the nipple, until it would turn no more, and cleared away any excess JB Weld that was squashed out from the washer.
I have found that this is enough to create a water tight seal.
The reason for the washers is that the metal of the stock pot is quite thin and if you don't use washers to thicken the metal, there is too much movement in the ball valve so much so.. that if you place a non soldered, standard copper manifold, on the rear of the valve, the opening and closing of the ball valve will make the manifold come apart.
Fitting the sight tube
To fit the sight tube I first wrapped plenty of PTFE tape around the nipple before screwing it into the elbow as far as it would go. The John Guest fittings have a internal rubber seal that seals them to the mating surface on tightening so no PTFE tape was required. These fittings were screwed into the other end of the elbow.
For the bottom elbow I smeared a small amount of JB Weld around where the nipple meets the elbow and then passed the nipple through the hole in the stock pot. I attached the ½"lock nut on the inside and tightened as far as possible. This forced excess JB Weld out from the sides of the elbow and the nut, which I cleaned away with cotton wool buds.
I did the same for the top elbow however no JB Weld was used. Instead I used a o-ring on the inside of the stock pot. The reason for this is that, if I break the sight tube, I need to replace it, and I can't do that unless I can remove the upper elbow. As the liquid level never reaches the top elbow it doesn't need to be sealed.
To cut the polycarbonate tube to length I first had to know how much of the tube goes inside the JG fitting. To do this, before I fitted the elbows I inserted the tube into one of the JG fittings. I then wrapped some masking tape around the tube, where it met the fitting. I then removed the tube and the masking tape showed me how much tube was inside the fitting.
After I had fitted the bottom elbow to the stock pot, I inserted the tube into its JG fitting. I attached the upper elbow to the pot and used masking tape to show where the JG fitting met the tube on the upper elbow. I then removed the tube and added the extra length as measured earlier.
I cut the tube to size, removed the top elbow from the stock pot, inserted the tube into the bottom elbow, then the top elbow, and screwed the nipple into the top elbow from within the stock pot, I then put an o-ring over the nipple and secured the elbow to the pot with a lock nut.
That's it and here's the picture of the inside of the new boiler
I still need to calibrate the sight tube but that's no big job
Great value for money IMO!
Ican see you upgrading the brass nipples to SS one in the future 
£4+each
