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beertastic · 11-26-2012, 09:59 PM

I am wanting to get a weldless bulkhead/valve and diptube setup for my keggle.

How difficult and time consuming would it be to switch the positioning of a dip tube in the kettle on brew day?

Say I only have 1 kettle (a keggle) and I want to use it to heat my strike/sparge water and also use it as a boil kettle.

For the strike/sparge water, I would want the dip tube to pull from the center of the kettle and from the very bottom.

For draining the boil kettle, I would want to use it as a side pickup (post-whirlpool).

Would it be difficult to switch this orientation after my sparge water is heated and drained?

Images are from the bargainfittings website, I would want to do something like this at first (although even lower if possible):

Then switch to this:

day_trippr · 11-27-2012, 01:21 AM

I would try to simplify the switch-over by finding both a center pickup and a side pickup tube for the bulkhead shown in this picture

If you then used silicone O-rings with the compression fitting the change-over would take a pair of wrenches and around a minute to do...

Cheers!

NCGrayson · 11-27-2012, 11:16 AM

why do you want to have both? i know you want to use your keggle dual purpose, but....what's the purpose? you can do both with a side pickup tube.

**Barnesie** · 11-27-2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beertastic

For the strike/sparge water, I would want the dip tube to pull from the center of the kettle and from the very bottom.

For draining the boil kettle, I would want to use it as a side pickup (post-whirlpool).

Or here's a better idea...orient it as a side pickup and use for both. Who cares if you don't get the last few drops of sparge water out of your HLT? If you're doing exact volume measurement, just figure out how much is left in the HLT after your side drain bottoms out and then add that much more to your HLT on your brewday.

Switching would be a pain, but more importantly it would be silly just to drain a few extra cups of hot water.

beertastic · 11-27-2012, 01:40 PM

I was under the impression that the side pickup would leave a considerable amount of water behind (more than a few cups). I haven't measured, but I have started leave about a gallon or so behind in the kettle when I siphon. This allows me to transfer very clear wort into the fermenter. I do whirlpool, but not everything compacts to the center.

Either way I guess if it is a pain to switch it out, I can just measure that wasted volume and add it to my strike and sparge volumes.

**Barnesie** · 11-27-2012, 01:56 PM

For a mash tun, you want to get as much wort as possible. For a kettle, you want to get as much wort as possible without trub. For a HLT...it's just hot water. You don't lose anything by leaving some behind.

I don't even have a dip tube on my HLT at the moment, haven't had any strong desire to add one any time soon, but I generally fill my HLT with more water then I expect to use either way. Better to have more sparge water on demand then not enough.

beertastic · 11-27-2012, 06:02 PM

Thanks, I was hoping to eliminate the pouring of hot liquids from my brew day, which is why I was thinking of changing the dip tube

**jsguitar** · 11-27-2012, 06:16 PM

Day Trippr's suggestion is the cheapest way to do what you're wanting. You could just install both, but of course that means more money and another hole. You might also be able to rig it up with camlocks somehow, but I'm not sure how solid the seal would be.

**Bobby_M** · 11-27-2012, 06:27 PM

Center pickup rotated to hit the bottom during HLT function. Rotate the tube like 5 degrees to hover an inch above the bottom to leave trub behind. Alternative.. use hop bags and leave the diptube alone.