How to fit a ball valve and hop stopper to a Buffalo boiler

Hi guys,

Ordered all the parts for this and have an issue I'm looking for help on.

When trying to screw in the parallel nipple into the valve I can only get a few turns before it stops, I can't screw it fully in, this leaves a large gap when screwing in the reducer so is nowhere near watertight. Contacting BES they state that the thread on the 20306 is tapered so the parallel nipple wouldn't screw in far, everyone else seems to have managed so am I missing something!?

All help appreciated.
Cheers
Dan

The catalogue says that is parallel so one or more of the following must apply:
1. The catalogue is wrong and they are now supplying a different part.
2. You have been sent a duff part.
3. You were told nonsense.

Can anyone remember the size of the hole on the boiler.

I have the parts in my hand right now and one side of the tap has a taper thread and the other parallel so the parallel nipple will only fit on that side. It's tight on the first try so make sure it's in to the correct side or you may damage the thread.

OK here's the problem. The ball valve shown in the OP has the handle in the open position pointing away from the boiler however the ball valve delivered to me is the other way round (as shown on the BES site) and there appears to be no way to fix it

PS mods please fix the forum to open links in a new tab/window!

Well that's it fitted only took 5 mins, turned the tap handle upside down and have filled it with warm water and some oxyclean to remove the staining and water treatment additions from the heat plate. My old hop strainer fitted so the one comming from the homebrew shop will get used in my mash tun as the SS false bottom that came with it gives a stuck mash from time to time.

[Joe1002]

Does the tap open fully with the handle upside down?

[Joe1002]

I've contacted them asking so should have an answer soon.

Im waiting with anticipation as my boiler has been dispatched to me and I am itching to get on with it!

rpt - Presumably the reaon you went with 3/8BSP was because it was the largets tap without having to modify the hole? Also, are there any other mods/things to look out for with the buffalo 40l?

Thanks very much for the guide. For those with problems with the parallel nipple and the valve:

I ordered the parts this week and ran into the same problem (parallel nipple would only screw a little way into the valve, say a 1/4 of the nipple's length). In my case the issue was the same on both sides of the valve.

I resolved it by using the original rubber washer from the buffalo boiler backed by a m16 stainless washer (so rubber against boiler, stainless against valve) in place of the Teflon washer. The extra thickness making up for the limited distance the nipple would screw into the valve. The M16 washer is just the right size to go over the thread and fully cover the rubber washer. Forms a nice tight seal, seems to work fine without leaks.

Not put off by the buffalo issues i have read - which is lucky as arrived today! What kind of efficiency / boil off rate do you get from yours? Id be interested as a starter before i adjust on the basis of the performance of mine.

A slight variation on the theme... I use a 90 degree elbow out of the boiler to keep it closer to the kettle so im less likely to knock it!

Just ordered one of these for £95 in Nisbets sale so will be cracking on with this how to, although not till after Christmas as it's a present from the wife.

All my bits just arrived from BES (had hop stopper and silicone tube already) so will hopefully put this all together tonight and do my first brew tomorrow night.

Just done this for mine so easy! Love the mod! Thanks


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Couldn't resist the 95 quid Buffalos so caved in and ordered everything on Thursday. It all turned up next day and it took all of 10 minutes to follow this brilliant guide today! Didn't have any problems with any of the parts they all fitted together perfectly.

And I've finally got around to building my Gatorade mashtun by repurposing the tank connector and tap from my old burco boiler, so it's a brand new brewery! Although I've always done BIAB so this is a whole new learning curve when I get the chance to brew again

The design of the Buffalo has changed and the hole is no longer round. I don't know how easy it is to fit a tap now.