DIY Cornelius Sprayer

[Guest zolar]

I Have put together a LONG post of pics and links for building your own Connelius

for very little money or effort.

so here goes......

First

The tanks were popular for beverage dispensing before the Bag-in-box system

They are known as Cornelius, Firestone, or Spartanburg tanks

For this post will will be covering the Cornelius tanks

of those there are 2 main types of fittings

they are named for the type of fittings and posts

Ball lock [Pepsi]

Pin lock [Coke]

The ball lock were the most popular

..........and the type used for this project

For this project you will need a few parts

1] a tank

2] a liquid side, and gas side ball lock fitting

3] a hose and wand

4] some other fittings and/or clamps

5] an air compressor

The tanks can easily be found at:

soft drink bottling plants

home brewing suppliers

e-baaahhh

here are some links

e-baaahhh [$12-25]

http://www.weekendbrewer.com/homebrewkegging.htm [$26]

http://www.midwestsupplies.com [$27]

webtrolly.org [$35]

The fittings are color coded grey or white for the gas [pressure] side .........or intake

......And color coded black for the liquid side ...or output

They have 2 types of ends

Most have a threaded post, the hardware dude identified as a 3/8 machine thread

They are also available in a barbed end

here are some suppliers

http://www.rcbequip.com [$3.75]

http://webtrolley.org[5.95]

http://www.weekendbrewer.com [$5.05]

If you use the common threaded end you will need to terminate the hose ends with a swivel nut and stem

And secure the hose to the stem with a standard hose clamp

........or the Oetiker Stepless Ear Clamps like Cornelius used

Clamp Links

http://www.oetiker.com/

E-baaaahhh

So here is the hardware you need to get it going

Next you need an air compressor to pressurize the tank

.........if you use a conventional compressor at the shop

A coiled air hose with a standard 5/8 air fitting on one end

...and a swivel nut and stem on the other will work great

I don't have easy acess to a compressor yet

.........and I may want to charge a tank on a mobile installation

.........So a $5 12 volt dollar store air compressor is the ticket

it even has a gauge built in

just cut the tire end off ........and add a swivel nut and pressure side ball lock

.........on the Filmhandler site it says the tanks must be pressurized to 125psi

the rated pressure is only 130psi for the tank

I highly reccomend 60psi for a working pressure

You will need some hose to attach to the output side of the tank

The cheapest way out is clear poly hose found at the hardware store for 25?/ft

The hose found on the store bought Cornelius is by Freelin-wade called Flexcoil

if I am right in my sourcing

http://www.coastaltool.com

$17.50 with 5/8 air ends

I have found another source for transparent blue coiled hoses ... Plastair

I am working on a hose and wand with a 3/8 threaded end for the ball lock

...with the folks at Plastair

And I will add it to thetintdoctor.com as it becomes available :inot

The Spring Jet hose and wand are on my main tank

........and is available from Amazon

in 25' and 50' from $15.94

but the hose is thinner than the Commercial Cornelius sprayer hose

........and the wand leaves a bit to be desired

here are some hose links

http://www.spokanehose.com/

http://www.centralstateshose.com

The wand [or shut-off] can be obtained at many sources

Any wand from a pump-up sprayer will work

The Chapin Company makes sprayers for 44tools .........and damn fine ones

I have ordered their shut-off, and nozzle for my tanks for $3.10 each

here are some Chapin links

http://www.absolutehome.com

http://www.hechinger.com

You may want to add a gauge to your sprayer

They are available ready for the cornelius

from $16 and up

some links

http://www.weekendbrewer.com

http://www.williamsbrewing.com

.........or if you are creative the thread on most gauges is 1/4"

........and standard gauges start at $1.25 on e-baaaahhh

here are some more sources

http://www.rcbequip.com

http://webtrolley.org

Here is an exploded view and parts list for the tanks

The output side has a 7/8" nut securing the post and O ring

after removing... the tube pushes straight up to give you the ability to trim it and add a filter

And the wand can be removed from the shut-off on most any high quality sprayer assembly

to resemble the commercial Cornelius system's shut-off

......anyhoo, here is the end result

I have 4 Cornelius sprayers for less than the price of 1 replacement hose from the tool suppliers

Hope this helps my fellow tintdudes :inot

[Guest Al-tint]

Nice post Z.

I made two much the same. When you use it swing the hose over the tank so that the weight of the hose and water is not hanging down on the valve. I pressure mine at 30 to 40 pounds.

Inlet.

Outlet

Filter

[Guest willie]

awesome post Zo - I'll get you pics of mine soon -mine look more like Al with a fram filter on

and I have a vlave stem on my inlet

any suggestions for filters on that tube- Im gonna work on getting mine out

And not to be contrary but mine are old Dr Pepper tanks, ball lockes but some are different sizes

If anyone needs these let me know, I got a buddy that works for Dr Pepper

[Guest zolar]

Nice post Z.

I made two much the same. When you use it swing the hose over the tank so that the weight of the hose and water is not hanging down on the valve. I pressure mine at 30 to 40 pounds.

[*]389200

Al is that a Chapion shut-off for the sprayer

good point about the weight of the hose and slip

the ball locks will leak if they are pulled to one side

[Guest zolar]

awesome post Zo - I'll get you pics of mine soon -mine look more like Al with a fram filter on

and I have a vlave stem on my inlet

any suggestions for filters on that tube- Im gonna work on getting mine out

And not to be contrary but mine are old Dr Pepper tanks, ball lockes but some are different sizes

If anyone needs these let me know, I got a buddy that works for Dr Pepper

[*]389216

I have seen the small in line fuel filters

they will probably work

I would like to see the diffefence in a Dr pepper tank

the ball locks are different on each side of the tank anyhoo

[Guest willie]

awesome post Zo - I'll get you pics of mine soon -mine look more like Al with a fram filter on

and I have a vlave stem on my inlet

any suggestions for filters on that tube- Im gonna work on getting mine out

And not to be contrary but mine are old Dr Pepper tanks, ball lockes but some are different sizes

If anyone needs these let me know, I got a buddy that works for Dr Pepper

[*]389216

I have seen the small in line fuel filters

they will probably work

I would like to see the diffefence in a Dr pepper tank

the ball locks are different on each side of the tank anyhoo

[*]389224

your right -the only difference are the ball locks -I couldnt get my coke fittings to fit and of course not the pepsi's

my tanks are from mid to late 80's -the later DrP and cokes may be the same your the expert not me

and I could have been just that mechanically uninclined on the ball locks -I would bet this

[Mdog]

I DRILLED A HOLE IN THE TOP CAP AND PUT A BOLT ON AUTOMOTIVE VALVE STEM IN IT, you can do it that way also if you cant or dont wabt to buy another "ballCOCK valve" :DD

[Guest zolar]

how did you get a hole in that stainless cap

I broke the dril bit

I like the hose fitting on the tank on the left

[Guest willie]

how did you get a hole in that stainless cap

I broke the dril bit 

I like the hose fitting on the tank on the left 

[*]389233

see I think this is where mine are different Zo

My cap screwed right off and I just use a tap set and threaded it - the valve stem just screwed in then

my outlet tube is molded into the tank and wont come out

I have some pepsis and cokes Im going to look at them

[solareclipseauto]

nice write up, looks just like ours