floating dip tube?

**dubiouschewy** · 10-20-2011, 04:29 PM

So I have ben rocking the no chill biab process and fermenting in corny kegs. It's pretty great, but I do end up with more sediment in both my primary and serving kegs (no vorlauf or cold break).

I came across the Cask Widge (caskwidge.com), and I am planning a DIY incarnation. To prototype, I will use an empty white labs vial for a float, wire tied to a length of silicone tubing.

My main sticking point is attaching this apparatus to the liquid post. My best idea is to cut a dip tube down to a few inches and try to slip the hose over it and hose clamp it down, but that's a fairly tricky feat one handed on the inside of the keg.

Anybody try something like this? Any ideas on attaching silicone hose to the liquid post so it can slide in from the top, or an easier way than a hose clamp to do it one handed? While we're at it, any ideas for a more elegant float solution?

I could just trim the dip tubes, but I would rather have something that adjusts for the volume of trub in a given batch. Plus a floating dip tube would make sanitary top cropping a breeze!

PantherCity · 10-20-2011, 04:39 PM

Get an extra "gas in" tube and just use 1/4" silicone that will slip on tight over the post, no clamp needed. The hard part is going to be figuring out the float end so that it doesn't suck air.

PantherCity · 10-20-2011, 04:44 PM

Just looked at the web site and they sell the float alone in the accessory section. I have seen these before and always thought it as a good idea.

**dubiouschewy** · 10-20-2011, 08:28 PM

Just checked out the website again myself. It looks like the standard red floats are for 9-11 gallon casks and are 22.5 inches long. The "self cut" clear floats can be cut to about 15" according to the product description. That's definitely not roomy enough for a 9" diameter corny keg, so it looks like the DIY float is the way to go.

EDIT: I am a dummy. I thought those measurements were the float heads themselves, not the float + tube. The floats themselves are reasonably sized-- here's a writeup at homebrewfinds.com on using them in the fermenter/serving keg: http://www.homebrewfinds.com/search?q=widge

Just ordered some 1/4" silicone hose. Will update with results when I get it working (or not).

PantherCity · 10-24-2011, 04:47 PM

Look closer, they have just the floating tip with out the hose at all. How were you planing on building one? what material and design?

ODI3 · 10-24-2011, 05:52 PM

Maybe this is a bit off the wall, but you could affix some metal to the end of the hose and a big magnet on outside of keg, then you can move your dip hose higher and lower on the keg.

I have no idea if this would actually work tho.

Misplaced_Canuck · 10-24-2011, 05:54 PM

May be obvious to some, but not to others:

The general idea is to have a section of the float that's buoyant (aka the "top" part) sealed, and the bottom which has a screen/pickup portion. The buoyant part has enough buoyancy to float the contraption just up to near the screen/pickup.

M_C

jblizz · 10-24-2011, 07:43 PM

Sounds interesting but we always just bend the dip tubes a little, no reason to cut em...

**dubiouschewy** · 10-25-2011, 06:04 PM

Well. It's a bit of a kludge but it works, and is basically free.

It's a wlp vial with a few washers to weigh down the bottom end, attached to some 1/4" id silicone hose. There's a gas line dip tube inserted where the tubing is wire tied to the vial to keep it from kinking.

The official cask widge is $35 from the u.s. distributor.

**dubiouschewy** · 10-25-2011, 06:08 PM

One more pic -- it reaches the bottom pretty perfectly.