I recently picked up a Brewtus II on Craigslist. It had not been used for a couple years and both pressure gauges were frozen (otherwise everything is perfectly functional). The steam gauge has a mushroom/nut fitting, so I can easily replace it. However, the brew pressure gauge was direct soldered. I heated it up and pulled pulled it. Now I am contemplating options to replace with a new gauge.

Does anyone know a source of compression or solder fittings that I could use to convert the copper capillary tube of the brew boiler (2.5mm OD via calipers) to a 1/8 NPT? Or any other options for that matter.

I went to a plumbing supply store today and he said a 1/8" (3.175mm) compression wouldn't take up the space and recommended I just direct solder it again; it just seems like quite a bit of space to fill with solder.

In full disclosure, I posted this on the Brewtus Google Group a couple days ago but there doesn't seem to be a ton of traffic over there.

Thanks Eric. I called chriscoffee to see what size/type of threads are on the respective ends of that capillary and I will compare this with what I've got. There isn't a ton of room for adapters, but if it is plug and play that would be a great option. Thank you.

His are 1/8-G (1/8"-28 BSPP) the same as yours - at least on the gage end.

I had a similar problem with a gauge on my Office Leva and I ended up herding cats for 6 weeks before I just got out the torch, solder and flux and fixed it. With that said, if you haven't called Whole Latte Love yet I'd check with them. Call them though. When I tried to get mine fixed the odd ball request got lost in their email system and I never heard back. (That's not a comment on the company. I hear they are great to work with. I just didn't figure it out until after I'd fixed things.) From what I understand they are the only convenient source for Expobar parts. Chris Coffee tried to help me but could not confirm if their parts would fit before I bought them. I ended up with a gauge that was not an Expobar part but I filed the mushroom down to fit. The issue I had was matching the threads on the boiler side of the equation since getting a capillary tube/gauge match was easy. Good luck. Hopefully the newer machine is easier to work on than my old Leva.

Ride, I read the string about your gauge replacement from a couple years ago. As EricS noted (thanks to Eric), the capillary from Chris Coffee will fit the gauge side (if I stay with bspp instead of going NPT) but from memory I think the boiler side looked bigger; I am going to check when I get home.

It may be worth a call to WLL to see what they have to say, but if I am going to the trouble of changing gauges, I am probably going to get ones that are liquid filled and not replace with an Expobar part.

I guess at the end of the day if I am just going to solder it directly to the copper like it came from the factory, the gauge doesn't really matter. It will just be up to my ability to fill the gap between the copper tube and gauge port with solder while not plugging up the gauge inlet hole.... Of that, I am not overwhelmingly confident.

erics wrote:His are 1/8-G (1/8"-28 BSPP) the same as yours - at least on the gage end.

Checked it last night and the boiler end is 1/4". I assume BSPP, maybe NPT. Steam boiler is 1/8" and 1/8".

I think I am going to just direct solder it once the new gauge is in. Any tips on direct solder would be appreciated. I have sweat a few copper joints around the house, but nothing like this. I don't want to ruin a new gauge by heating up the threads too much.

I think I am going to just direct solder it . . .

It is definitely BSPP and adaptors to go from 1/4" BSPP to 1/8" BSPP are available. This operation could be a "toss up" as to which way to proceed, i.e. adaptors take up space, soldering could be a little tricky as the original assembly was very likely performed sans gage casework.

http://www.swagelok.com/search-results/ ... -4-rat-2rt

Solder connection is normal. On the few gauges I have replaced I ordered the OEM replacement which included the soldered on capillary tube. You just disconnect the capillary tube from the boiler and remove/replace it as one unit.

erics wrote: This operation could be a "toss up" as to which way to proceed

cannonfodder wrote:On the few gauges I have replaced I ordered the OEM replacement which included the soldered on capillary tube. You just disconnect the capillary tube from the boiler and remove/replace it as one unit.

Thanks for the replies. I ended up finding a great deal on some 2-1-2% liquid filled gauges and ordered them last week and have now locked myself into soldering. I will report back when I finish