SS Milk House Tank pipe thread experts

[Ahnohta]

Are you an expert on stainless steel milk house tanks???

We recently acquired a 318 gallon insulated SS milk hous tank it was last used as a milk hous tank approx 30 years ago. The only marking on tank is "A Approved".

We will be setting up a tubing next spring on our back uphill area. Tank is in good shape except the outlet valve. It was dropped several times in its past life and flares/beveled end is damaged. We have tried burnishing w/ emery cloth, but still leaks.

We now want to convert to a regular/standard ball valve, but do not know what threads are on the milk house tank to convert from.

The threads measure 2" to the outside cut of the threads.

Any help you can give us is appreciated.


Doug + Beth
Ashland Wisconsin
Ahnohta Farm

[Fred Henderson]

You will have to find a catalog that deals with saintary fittings or just use a Ferco and couple your new valve wth that.

[John Burton]

seeing as you are goning to swap the valve out anyhow just unthread it and bring it with you when you pick up the new valve so you can match the threads up and get the right one

[Mike]

I have 2 tanks with the same size outlets...I wrapped them with teflon tape then I bought 2" rubber sleeves (the ones with the hose clamps on them) Clamped the rubber piece on the tank and then put a piece of 1.5 inch piece of PVC pipe with a ball valve on the end with another piece of 1.5" pvc....works great.....

[Fred Henderson]

That rubber sleeve with the clamps was probably a Fern-co coupler.

[maple flats]

A company call Eastern Crown Inc. (ECI), in Vernon, NY should be able to help by suplying you a plastic adapter and nut, then just convert to common pipe or tubing sizes. If you want to contact them and can't find their number PM me and I will get it for you.

[sgsommers]

I think you can also use a 1" male threaded union. Bad thing is though you usually have to buy the complete union, male and female. I have taken the male end and ground down the flats/points where your wrench goes, just enough to let the milk tank nut slide over it then onto the goofy threads. The bevels seem to match well enough not to leak. You can then use whatever you like after that.

[Brad W Wi]

I found it cheaper to weld a 1.25"dia x 3" long nipple on and go to standard thread. I used a stainless nipple. Adapters were alot more expensive.

[Ahnohta]

I was able to get the CORRECT milk hous thread adaptor thru Hamby Dairy in Missoruri, [contact Paul Hamby]

Eastern Crown Inc. (ECI), in Vernon, NY also carries these.

Rather then buy a whole correct threaded adapt w/ valve w/ conversion to NPT, Hamby sold me the correct SS nut and SS beveled adaptor which I can weld a SS NPT nipple and then put on ball valve.

Buying the whole correct unit including valve was pushing $200. By buying the nut and beveled adaptor I was in for around $60 plus NPT nipple plus NPT ball valve so well under $100.

Now have a 300 gal SS tank that is set and ready to go. Just need to get lines and spiles.

Am now looking for another tank to set at South side of hill

100 days till snowmoblie season starts in N Wisconsin
200 days until sap starts to run in N Wisconsin

[maplecrest]

as all my tanks are ss milk tanks i gave up on the tank valves long ago. fern/cos are the way to go. talk to plumbers in your area. they are replacing large valves on jobs that were sweated and they throw out that are still good. 11/4. 11/2 ect. the fernco last about 4 seasons. or how much direct sun light it gets. i also use a fernco to attach the quick coupler to hook the pump hose to for gathering sap. jeff

[sawyer40]

I did it the right way too. I can tell you if it measures 2" it is an 1 1/2 sanitary ss valve. Mine also measured 2" I bought an adapter from the sanitary valve to 2" pipe thread. It cost me over 200.00. The company I delt with makes industrial hoses of all kinds. The guy that runs the place told me there are some 200+ diferant kinds and styles of threads. Most of them are from fire companies. I'm not fond of fernco fittings I have a lot of them in my sawmill on machines for sawdust suction they are always getting knocked off. It would be a shame to loose a tank full of sap when a fitting gets knocked off. My second choice would be to weld a nipple the size you need to the valve.

[brookledge]

I choose the route of welding a stainless coupling to the milk tank pipe and then put a regular 1 1/2" 1/4 turn valve on. The valve and the adapter cost me about 20-30 bucks and works better than the dairy valve
Keith

[Sugarmaker]

My two cents on Dairy bulk tank valves. In summary the good ones dont leak as much as the bad ones. I have four of them and keep the best of the four on the tanks that will be holding the sap the longest. I solved the attachment problem similar to what one person in this thread did but instead of welding.
I had the beveled cap and the nut so I took the beveled cap to a local machine shop and had them drill and tap for a NPT 1 inch thread. Then I just attached a 1 inch copper nipple and continued plumbing to the evaporator. This worked well and total cost was a quart of syrup ( $14.00).
So I still have the original shut off valve for the tank but more user friendly piping from there on down the line.

Also As a tip: When tightened so they dont leak these tank valves are stiff and hard to turn. I took a piece of 3/4 inch gray plastic electrical conduit about 18 inch long, and gently heated and forced over the handle of the bulk tank valve. Made a great lever to open and close these easier.

Another tip: you can by some food grade grease to lube these bulk tank valves. A caulking gun size tube will last you and your great grandchildren several years. :)

Regards,
Chris

[sapman]

How timely that I just saw this thread! I brought a tank home today, and it's my first one in good shape, with a decent valve on it.

Chris pretty well answered what I was going to ask, about the valve working hard and dripping a little. I'd say the valve itself and the front flange each leak a drip every 5-10 seconds. Is that the nature of the beasts, and a trade-off for the ease of disconnecting and completely cleaning the whole thing? Or do they really not leak at all when new? It's hard to believe that stainless on stainless would not leak, without a nylon/teflon seal.

I think I'll try going the route of drilling and tapping the comp. plug, unless I can find the right tailpiece.

Tim