10 Gallon Megapot - dip tube needed

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julian81

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Hey guys,

I'm almost done buying all my equipment and ready to brew, when I looked at my megapot this morning and realized the bulkhead was about an inch (going from memory here) above the bottom of the kettle. I did some research and found that this is pretty common and that I should probably install some kind of dip tube / pickup tube.

The threaded coupling in my megapot bulkhead is 1/2" so I was looking at ordering either of these 2 from bargainfittings.com.

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=120

http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=157

I kind of prefer the dip tube kit, since I think I can position it closer/further away from the bottom as needed, and keep it close to the sides away from the center.

What do you guys think? Are there better options?

Julian
 
Looks like you want to go Stainless. You can pick up the parts at HD for about 8 bucks to make your own if you didn't care about SS.

The thing with that top one is that you might not be able to thread it on if your bulkhead isn't high enough. If SS, go with #2. If you don't care, find an angled stub out at HD. A compression fitting and a hack saw and your done.
 
Yeah, I was planning on going SS.

I'm not sure what the clearance is, I'm gonna have to measure when I get home.

Some guy has a really nice setup with his Megapot that I found on NB.

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=93359

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff164/narcout/IMG_1061.jpg

I've emailed him and hope he will respond as to parts used, but anyone here possiby know?

Looks like it could be a:
1/2" NPT street 90 elbow http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_39&product_id=120
1/2" NPT X 1/2" tube compression adapter (http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_39&product_id=103)
1/2" outer diameter stainless steel tubing (http://www.bargainfittings.com/inde...&keyword=tubing&category_id=39&product_id=164)
 
Thats what it looks like to me. You could also get a 90* SS elbow and use it to replace the coupler on the inside of you kettle, it should sit off of the bottom enough to flow and will pull more liquid than the coupler. If you do go that route, remember to clean thoroughly, as the threads could build up some nasty ****
 
Thanks ZWood...you know, I think the best bet is the pre-made SS side pickup tube I linked to earlier. I'm going to order that. It's 1/2", no threads to get gunked up (that would be a pain to clean upside down without removing completely). I think that should do it. Plus, it's about the same price as all the parts above, but already in one package.

--julian
 
I have a 15 gallon megapot and was looking at the same thing. So far I have just been tilting the kettle to get the last gallon or two out.

I was thinking you could just take a street elbow and grind out the threads if you were worried about gunk. That setup looks sweet but there's like $20 worth of hardware there when I think you could do it with only one piece and some teflon.
 
So I got the pickup tube and am questioning it's usefulness and if I installed it correctly.

I tested with water, and I need to tip the kettle anyway to get the remainder of liquid. Doing it this way I had about 12oz of water left over after the valve stopped draining (see pic below). Is it normal to have to tip the kettle? I thought having the pickup tube should eliminate the need. Perhaps my expectations were wrong...

Also, does the installation look right to you guys? I feel like the pickup afforded me maybe 1/8", 2/8" at the most, of added clearance but again, tipping is still necessary.

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4932/c36020110201004243.jpg
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7603/c36020110201004342.jpg

Thoughts?
 
It's only going to continue sucking water out of there as long as there's a siphon. So, when it gets to the top of the dip tube, the siphon will break and it will stop working. If you really want to pick up every last drop in there, you can use a *shorter* dip tube turned 90 degrees and going right down to just above the surface of the pot. However in that position you can easily get clogs from hops and hot/cold break so I'd only do that in an HLT or perhaps if you have a really good setup for filtering out that stuff before it gets to the dip tube.
 
Why would have having an elbow pointing straight down clog it vs the dip tube positioned just slightly more off to the side? If you whirpool to collect all the break material in the center before draining, wouldn't both ways be just as effective or susceptible to clogging?
 
julian81 said:
Why would have having an elbow pointing straight down clog it vs the dip tube positioned just slightly more off to the side? If you whirpool to collect all the break material in the center before draining, wouldn't both ways be just as effective or susceptible to clogging?
Click to expand...

The way that he has it set up has a larger gap between the dip tube and the wall of the kettle. Also with it being on the side it is elevated a bit above the trub/hops. If you go straight down to the bottom and only leave 1/8" clearance to maximize the siphon there is a much greater chance of hops clogging that 1/8" gap.
 
Usually those dip tubes are installed the other way, so the short end is in the middle of the kettle. You could leave as is and angle cut the end of the tube so it is closer to the bottom.

Also, what do you have hooked up on the outside of the kettle? You need to have a hose that extends well below the kettle to keep a siphon going.
 
Demon said:
The way that he has it set up has a larger gap between the dip tube and the wall of the kettle. Also with it being on the side it is elevated a bit above the trub/hops. If you go straight down to the bottom and only leave 1/8" clearance to maximize the siphon there is a much greater chance of hops clogging that 1/8" gap.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation. I guess then my question is, what are typical volumes of loss that I should expect? Is 12oz too much? About right? Should I leave the dip tube as is or should I cut some length off of it so it's not hugging the kettle wall so closely, and not sticking out as far?
 
12oz is fine IMO. Right now I have something like 1.5 gallons of wort potentially left in my BK at the end of a boil, with no dip tube.

Also most of that volume is going to have hot/cold break material, hops particles, etc. So you don't really want to rack it anyway.
 
samc said:
Usually those dip tubes are installed the other way, so the short end is in the middle of the kettle. You could leave as is and angle cut the end of the tube so it is closer to the bottom.

Also, what do you have hooked up on the outside of the kettle? You need to have a hose that extends well below the kettle to keep a siphon going.
Click to expand...

Well this was a SIDE pickup tube not a CENTER pickup tube, it was designed specifically to be placed in the corner of the kettle away from the center.

I have a stainless ball valve, with a barb adapter and tubing that will go to the carboy, providing the siphon. I was just doing testing on this with water over the sink without the outside tubing. I was mainly worried about the dip tube being jammed into the corner of the kettle, and the length of the tube. It seemed like the placement should have been closer to the bulkhead to maximize drainage.

I mentioned in the previous post I was curious what reasonably to expect in terms of volume loss at this stage. 12oz to me seemed like a lot. That's 1 less beer in my belly :)
 
weirdboy said:
12oz is fine IMO. Right now I have something like 1.5 gallons of wort potentially left in my BK at the end of a boil, with no dip tube.

Also most of that volume is going to have hot/cold break material, hops particles, etc. So you don't really want to rack it anyway.
Click to expand...

Holy crap! 12oz does seem reasonable in comparison. Wow. I guess I'll accept my setup and get a brew session going to test and tweak from there if need be. I do have a stainless 90 degree street elbow I can swap out with if need be...
 
julian81 said:
Well this was a SIDE pickup tube not a CENTER pickup tube, it was designed specifically to be placed in the corner of the kettle away from the center.

I have a stainless ball valve, with a barb adapter and tubing that will go to the carboy, providing the siphon. I was just doing testing on this with water over the sink without the outside tubing. I was mainly worried about the dip tube being jammed into the corner of the kettle, and the length of the tube. It seemed like the placement should have been closer to the bulkhead to maximize drainage.

I mentioned in the previous post I was curious what reasonably to expect in terms of volume loss at this stage. 12oz to me seemed like a lot. That's 1 less beer in my belly :)
Click to expand...

Well without the tubing attached you can't really know what the kettle loss would be. Twelve ounces is a lot for a flat bottom kettle that is level and with the dip tube almost touching bottom. On my HLT keggle I can usually drain it with pump leaving less than a cup of water, and I don't have the dip tube as close as you show in your photo.
 
Well the problem is the side of the kettle isn't 90 degree. It doesn't just go from wall, to kettle bottom, there's a curvature leading to the kettle botom, and the dip tube is up against the wall just where it starts to curve. I'm thinking I should maybe cut the tube and bend it down/out more towards the FLAT part of the bottom because it does seem kind of long (in that it's really rubbing up against the kettle wall). And by doing that (cutting it) I should also be able to bend it down further towards the flat part of the kettle...although the angle of the bend will be more then...
 
Yeah, cut it. I've got a 75qt kettle with that dip tube and it doesn't hit the side so it sits directly on the bottom. Although it still stops siphoning once the level drops to the top of the tube which for me is a significant amount being a bigger diameter pot so I tip for the last part of the draining and get all but a cup or so. I've thought about cutting it on an angle but it isn't that much of a hassle to tip and I can choose not to tip if there is a lot of debris I want to leave behind.
 
weirdboy said:
Also most of that volume is going to have hot/cold break material, hops particles, etc. So you don't really want to rack it anyway.
Click to expand...
You can let it drip through a coffee filter or paper towels and freeze it for later use in yeast starters (boiling it first of course). I intentionally make my batches a quart or two bigger than I'm going to put in the fermenter for just these reasons; clearer wort into the fermenter and some leftover wort for starters (extract is expensive).
 
I never thought of freezing my leftover wort for starters, but that's a good idea and I'm going to start doing that. Hell just the wort leftover in my plumbing is probably enough to make a starter or two.
 
BrooklynBrewClub said:
Yeah, cut it. I've got a 75qt kettle with that dip tube and it doesn't hit the side so it sits directly on the bottom. Although it still stops siphoning once the level drops to the top of the tube which for me is a significant amount being a bigger diameter pot so I tip for the last part of the draining and get all but a cup or so. I've thought about cutting it on an angle but it isn't that much of a hassle to tip and I can choose not to tip if there is a lot of debris I want to leave behind.
Click to expand...

I cut 1" off the end of the long end of the tube. Now it's not hitting the side of the kettle and is laying flat on the kettle bottom. I tested with water again, and once the water starts draining off slowly, I can tip the kettle and get it to a point where I only have about 7oz of liquid left. I'd say that's perfectly acceptable :)
 
I was just searching threads because I have a similar question.

I'm installing a side pickup on a keg, and I want to get the placement right. It sounds like people are finding that their siphon quits as soon as the liquid drops below the 90 degree bend. If that's the case, I assume it's best to place the hole as low as you can?

In short....a low and level angle beats a high and steep one?
 
RobbyBeers said:
I was just searching threads because I have a similar question.

I'm installing a side pickup on a keg, and I want to get the placement right. It sounds like people are finding that their siphon quits as soon as the liquid drops below the 90 degree bend. If that's the case, I assume it's best to place the hole as low as you can?

In short....a low and level angle beats a high and steep one?
Click to expand...

You could install a dip tube near the top of your keg with a long length to the bottom and drain almost everything out as long as you don't have leaks and the outlet hose drops far enough below the keg to keep the suction intact. Obviously an extreme example., but I have no issues draining to the very bottom.
 
samc said:
You could install a dip tube near the top of your keg with a long length to the bottom and drain almost everything out as long as you don't have leaks and the outlet hose drops far enough below the keg to keep the suction intact. Obviously an extreme example., but I have no issues draining to the very bottom.
Click to expand...

Yea, this was my impression, too, but it seemed like people were having different experiences. I suspect you might be right to say "far enough below"...maybe people have different experiences based on the strength of the suction...then again, I ain't no physics major.
 

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