My "free" stainless hot-water storage tank. LARGE PICTURES

[deerefanatic]

Yep, Insulated and Stainless.............

It's an old milk bulk tank. 1250 gallon DariKool. One set of the cooling coils is no good so it's no longer suitable for milk usage.

I got some 2" pipe fittings (T304 Stainless) off of ebay and welded them to the tank. Also welded the holes in the manhole cover shut. One fitting on the bottom end where the bung used to be, two on top where the stirrer and washer holes were. Both holes in manhole cover welded shut. One of the top fittings is attached to a stalk that extends about 12 inches down into the tank.

I have since attached two brass gate valves to the tank and installed a reducer bushing in the other top coupling to attach to a hot-water heater for use as an expansion tank.

The bottom fitting and the top fitting with the stalk have a few leaks that I've found with the garden hose so I've still got a little welding to do, but all in all I'm pleased with it.....

Traded a garage door and opener for the tank!

Pics:

The Name says it all:

Overview:

Side View:

Nameplate:

Manhole Cover with holes welded shut:

The Manhole and Gasket:

eBay Stainless Fittings:

Top fitting with stalk:

Bottom outlet:

Top Outlets:

 

[antknee2]

Awesome tank !! In my opinion , to really get the most from such a large tank think about a small super insulated room or shed that can hold heat for a week . A big problem with my system is way to many sources for heat loss , now the solar system is the main heat supplier heat loss through my crazy system is noticeably an a new issue to deal with . Good luck with your project.
Anthony

 

[Bob Rohr]

Nice score. That should last many years. Are you thinking it turning it into a pressurized vessel? Contact the folks on the label before you do for their opinion, if you are considering pressure.

That manhole port is an ideal place to get some hx material inside.

hr

 

[brad068]

That is the exact same as my tank only mine is a 1500 gal. Now just build yourself a garn style and be done with it.

 

[hkobus]

Nice score. That should last many years. Are you thinking it turning it into a pressurized vessel? Contact the folks on the label before you do for their opinion, if you are considering pressure.

That manhole port is an ideal place to get some hx material inside.

hr

I second these thoughts. Like I posted before on this topic, these tanks are not designed for pressurized use, they have a HX system in the lower third of the tank. You may want to test it, not sure what the capacity would be, but you should be able the find out from Baumatic/daricool.
Again I would use it as a conventional tank with and Hx( plate or coil), but not closed system. They are reasonably insulated, but sure could use more.

Henk

 

[brad068]

Nice score. That should last many years. Are you thinking it turning it into a pressurized vessel? Contact the folks on the label before you do for their opinion, if you are considering pressure.

That manhole port is an ideal place to get some hx material inside.

hr

I second these thoughts. Like I posted before on this topic, these tanks are not designed for pressurized use, they have a HX system in the lower third of the tank. You may want to test it, not sure what the capacity would be, but you should be able the find out from Baumatic/daricool.
Again I would use it as a conventional tank with and Hx( plate or coil), but not closed system. They are reasonably insulated, but sure could use more.

Henk

They sure could! If you were to cut open an end like I did to build my boiler you will see that most of the insulation is in the bottom 1/3 because that is where the cooling lines are. There is only about a 1/2" right on top. There insulated to keep the cold in not the heat. Guess I should of flipped it upside down :roll:

 

[brad068]

Deerefanatic, Do you have chickens running rampid on your farm? 'Cause it looks like they s@#! on that tank in pics 15 & 16. If you plan on building a leak-proof boiler you better practice up on them there welds....

 

[deerefanatic]

Thanks for all the input.....

No, not planning on pressurized storage. These things are too thin of material.... Am afraid it just won't hold it.....

Yes, the HX in the bottom of the tank would be ideal as heat rises and the bottom of the tank is always the cold part.. Unfortunately, only one set of coils is good (which is why it's not sitting in a milkhouse somewhere with milk in it...) But they're good for 31,000 btu's of refrigerating capacity.

No, I'm not building a garn.......

yes, it's going to be inside a concrete block structure that is going to be very well insulated along with the pumps, control valves, etc...... maybe even the burner itself.

Yeppers, I gotta practice them welds!!

 

[Nofossil]

Looks awesome.

Note, in reference to earlier post:

NEVER PRESSURE TEST A TANK WITH COMPRESSED AIR!

If it fails, the energy is released all at once, and it will kill you and destroy the building it's in. You really can't imagine the amount of energy contained in 500 gallons of compressed air.

 

[Corie]

Tank looks great. Welds.......could be better, no offense.

 

[deerefanatic]

I agree with the not pressure testing with air... If you must, then fill the tank all the way up with water first, so only a few gallons at most of air is necessary... Plus saves your air compressor from burning up from all that pumping. (1200 gallons is a LOT of air....)

Yah, I know the welds are sucky...... Never claimed to be the best! But I'm working on it.. I'm not a real steady hand. Plan to grind em down and go over the ones that need it again. But, they are well-penetrated, as you can see the discoloration on the other side of the joints...

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Looks awesome.

Note, in reference to earlier post:

NEVER PRESSURE TEST A TANK WITH COMPRESSED AIR!

If it fails, the energy is released all at once, and it will kill you and destroy the building it's in. You really can't imagine the amount of energy contained in 500 gallons of compressed air.

Depends what the pressure level is.

I'd do a 2 psi test, first, to catch any leaks before pumping that much water into the tank. If it held low pressure air, then I'd go over to the water. Saves draining and re-filling if you find a leak.

Joe

 

[deerefanatic]

Right, but I'm not doing the pressure thing right now!

 

[Eric Johnson]

How did you manage to get all those big photos into one post, deerefanatic?

 

[deerefanatic]

The pictures are actually hosted on my personal website, then I embedded them in the message... So Hearth.com isn't actually holding those messages....

Pros: Unlimited space and resolution settings....

Cons: If I delete that folder, change websites, etc, the pictures will disappear from this message forever.....


The joys of owning your own website! Plus, if I want to put better quality pics in later, I can implement them on my website using the same file names as I have embedded here, and Viola! this post will be updated.....

 

[slowzuki]

Looks just like my dairy tank too!

 

[deerefanatic]

That's probably because it is!

 

[slowzuki]

har har! Mine has custom hmm identifying marks from the forklift forks hitting err, I mean being used to mark it.

 

[deerefanatic]

OUCH!!

That'll leave a mark! :O

Mine has a few dents, but nothing major........