Soldering 13 couplers in 3 keggles tomorrow, any pointers on positioning?

I have 3 fresh keggles that I just finished polishing to a mirror finish. I am going to be drilling the holes, nippling them. and soldering in the couplers tomorrow as follows:



Mash Tun

• Sparage arm
• False bottom center dip tube

HLT

• Whirpool arm
  
  -Mounted at the highest point in the keggle
  -For filling with water, and recirculating the water to ensure even temperature.
  ​
• Top and bottom compression fittings for copper HERMS coil
• center pickup tube
• 4500W Heating coil
• Level tube
• PT100 temp sensor for PID controller

Boil

• Whirpool arm
  
  -Mounted at the highest point in the keggle
  -For filling with water, and recirculating the wort through the HERMS coil (ice water) after the boil, and to whirlpool.
  ​
• center pickup tube
  
  -I am thinking about cutting the length a little and mounting it a little higher so it's off center, this should allow me to whirpool the cooled wort.. this is the biggest question I have.. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to mount this to get the best whirlpool, and how to modify the center dip tube to be a side one?​
• 4500W Heating coil
• Level tube
• PT100 temp sensor for PID controller

Any insight or any pointers that any veteran keggle (or non keggle) brewers have would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks,
Alex.

One thought for the HLT and boil kettle is that you can use the same coupler for both the sight gauges and the temperature probes -- you just use the kit with the tee, here.

You say you're going to mount the whirlpool arm at the highest point in the boil kettle. I'd go lower than that, since you don't want to unintentionally aerate the wort before it's chilled. (I'd take the smallest post-boil volume you intend to do and go just below that.)

If you want a side pickup, I believe you can just flip around the the tube in the compression fitting, if that makes sense.

tophmck said:

One thought for the HLT and boil kettle is that you can use the same coupler for both the sight gauges and the temperature probes -- you just use the kit with the tee, here.

You say you're going to mount the whirlpool arm at the highest point in the boil kettle. I'd go lower than that, since you don't want to unintentionally aerate the wort before it's chilled. (I'd take the smallest post-boil volume you intend to do and go just below that.)

If you want a side pickup, I believe you can just flip around the the tube in the compression fitting, if that makes sense.

Click to expand...

The probes I got with my PID are pretty short, so I got the half coupler so they would be sensing in the kettle instead of in the fitting. They're also M8x1.0 threads, so I have to make my own fitting out of a plug (drill and tap a hole).

I like the idea of putting the whirlpool fitting at the 5gal height, thanks.

Should I do a side pickup? I am inherently going to be whirpooling every batch as I will be recirculating through the HERMS coil with the HLT filled with ice water until I reach pitching temp, then I am going to pump the cooled wort into the carboy. If a side pickup is the way to go, how high off the bottom of the keggle should I shoot for? I dont want too much loss.

Thanks,
Alex.

Yeah, I'd go side pickup in the boil kettle so you can leave the trub behind. The bargain fittings side pickup kit has a picture -- see here -- I'd probably start with something like that. You can always shorten the tube with a hacksaw or pipe cutter down the road if you feel like you're leaving too much of the good stuff behind.

Another option would be something like this (with the 45 degree elbow).

You can always go with a bottom drain near the outer edge. This is the best of both worlds...whirlpool and bottom drain.