Garn Immersion Wells

[bpirger]

I'm searching for 1/2" and 3/4" immersion wells for my Garn. Being a Garn, the wells should not be copper, but rather steel. Garn doesn't want copper in contact with the steel tank. My local HVAC plumbing place doesn't have steel wells. They had a plastic coated copper well in 1/2", but not 3/4", and I thought I could find them both together.

But the only thing I can find is a 3/4" steel well, which is $90. Ouch!

What do folks do for wells for their Garn? Is there a cheaper alternative?

Thanks!

 

[bpirger]

To answer my own question....I heard back from Garn (after midnight...they must be busy!) and they use brass wells. I find brass wells cheap from www.enercorp.com 1/2" and 3/4", 4" or 6", and they come in stainless as well. About $11 each.

I post this for archiving purposes....

Thanks!

 

[ewdudley]

Maybe find a 3/4" plug with enough meat and drill and tap it for a capped pipe nipple big enough for your purposes.

Also I've taken reducing bushings and have tapped them out from the opposite side just enough to accept a nipple from the wrong direction in order to make a poor-man's double-tapped bushing. Some Loktite 55 and a little Permatex pipe joint compound and you're good to go.

And there may be such a thing as a double-tapped bushing small enough for what you need, but I've never seen one as small as 3/4".

 

[in hot water]

Here is a homemade well that allows three 6mm sensors inside. Start with a 3/4X1/2 brass bushing, a 1/2X3" brass nipple and a 3/8 brass plug.

You need a 3/8 and a 1/2" pipe tap to thread inside the bushing and also inside the brass nipple. You can buy brass tubing in a lot of sizes from hobby supply stores or the company directly KSmetals.

This is a very heavy walled, ,lifetime sensor well. It could be built with steel components also. Thin walled copper or brass sensor wells can pin hole do to aggressive water or electrolysis, this one has plenty of sacrificial metal.

hr

 

[DaveBP]

Thermowells can be found remarkably cheap on Ebay if you're patient and have time to watch for them. As usual, watch the shipping fees.

 

[bpirger]

Is there more to a well than just providing a cavity inside the water and a seal to keep the water in? My thoughts are I'd place wells in the 2 holes that I have so I can add something in the future. I'm thinking I can just slide a temp sensor into the hole, with thermal grease, and be done with it. Is there more to this than I'm aware of and will wish I did something different? Won't the sensor stay in place inside the well "on its own" without any troubles?

EDIT: A little looking seems to show aquastat bulbs are 3/8", so a 0.25" bore isn't enough. .385" bores also appear to be a standard, along with 0.25". But, if using an aqustat, I assume th e.385" is the way to go?

This seems to say there will be less metal left for corrosion to eat away....

As with everything else, I'm sure there is more to it than a newbie like me who's never played with aquastate or wells would realize.

Perhaps with just a little more shared experience this thread can be the immersion well reference for all time.

Thanks guys!