tkone

Recipes 

so i live in an apartment in new york, so i'm a little tight on room (and very envious of those with patios, porches, garages, yard, brew huts, etc).

Anyway, I just finished my heatstick, got 10 gallon pot, drilled some holes, attached a spigot, bazooka tube, sight glass and thermo, but I have some minor questions, and being you guys are usually full of decent advice, here goes.

1. when i was drilling the holes i went a little too fast and saw smoke a few times. i was using spray pam as my lube (sadly no way to use water; was doing this in the "office") and it smelled like burning pam (you know college cafeterias). i take it this isn't going to harm the pot (other than making it a little hard to drill).

2. i've got slow leaks. i've got rubber gaskets (weldless sight glass and conversion kit from bargain fittings), but there is still decent dripping. should i use some teflon tape around the threads? how much? ok to use inside the kettle or just on the outside?

3. i've got about 1 1/2 gallons of water left over in the kettle after it drained. this is the lowest i could get the spigot. i take it to get any more out i'm gonna need some sort of pick-up tube? to compensate until i make that, should i (using beersmith), say that i've 1.5 gallons lost due to trub?

now i just gotta finish my stir plate and i'll be in business!

thanks everyone!

Walker

Recipes 

I am re-ordering your questions to make a point...


The pot should be fine.

That's quite a lot of lost wort! I would add a pick-up of some sort or you'll be brewing 6.5 gallon batches just to get 5 gallons in the carboy.

How much leaks out? If it's just a trickle I would not worry. If you are willing to leave 6 quarts of wort in your kettle's deadspace, do you really need to attack a slow leak around the fittings?

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Ground Fault Brewing Co.

tkone

Recipes 

i'm already looking how to fabricate a dip tube -- 1 1/2 gallons is a lot to leave behind, both in terms of wort and money.

it's a decent drip. i would say i probably lost maybe over a 1/2 cup in 15 minutes.

Walker

Recipes 

I guess it wouldn't hurt to put the teflon tape on there.

I think the stuff is rated for temps up to like 500 degrees, so there shouldn't be any issues with using it anywhere you want to use it.

__________________
Ground Fault Brewing Co.

tkone

Recipes 

awesome. thanks for the info. and as far as a dip tube goes just realized i had a 1/2 stainless elbow. that and a chore boy and forget about the bazooka. i should have maybe a cup of wort left in the pot after draining this way.

hooray beer!