School me on MT -> BK with pump

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phoenixs4r

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I've finally gotten my pump and running. Due to the way the valve is setup, i was unable to make my false bottom work without kinking a hose (10gal rubbermaid)

I went out and purchased a kettle screen, as I'm lazy and I didn't wanna deal with the braid, and I wanted everything stainless. (I'm going to assume this is where I went wrong)

I've never had a stuck sparge while batch sparging with the false bottom, but I'd never used the pump to transfer from MT to BK. Now, with the kettle screen in place, it seems even though I just crack the output valve to the pump, a few seconds later I have a stuck sparge. I am crushing my own grains, using a crankenstein, which I believe is set at .040. I am using the BYO motor/pulley system, and have calculated my roller speed to be between 150 and 200. (I can't recall the exact number off my head)

Every single peice of plumbing on both the input and output is 1/2" ID, so I'm thinking either the kettle screen isn't doing me good, or I need to restrict the ID of the plumbing on the output to something smaller?

And no, I am not trying to control the pump via the input valve on the mash tun, everything is controled via the valve on the output side.


Thanks for any help.

Also, if anyone has gotten a 1/2" weldess ball valve w/ full coupler to work with the Morebeer! false bottom WITHOUT using their standard 3/8 elbow, I would appreciate input there as well. All attempts I tried to come up with ended up with a kinked silicone hose inside the tun through to connect a 1/2 - 1/2 inch connectors.
 
If there is a dip tube going from your ball valve and through the middle of the false bottom, make sure the end of this dip tube is not sitting flush with the bottom of your kettle. If you're not sure, cut the bottom of the dip tube off at a slant.

This happened to me and I'm happy to report complete success.
 
If there is a dip tube going from your ball valve and through the middle of the false bottom, make sure the end of this dip tube is not sitting flush with the bottom of your kettle. If you're not sure, cut the bottom of the dip tube off at a slant.

This happened to me and I'm happy to report complete success.


Negative ghost rider, no false bottom currently being used. My post may have been misleading?

Currently have this product: http://morebeer.com/view_product/9684//Kettle_Tube_Screen hooked directly to the valve. It is not being crushed either.

And I'm actually quite happy to report it is not a faulty pump, as it is a chugger and they have been known to have issues. I know this as I can whilrpool while boiling and don't have any issues throughout any temperature range.

Thanks for the input tho, whenever I finally get the false bottom working again I will double check to make sure that doesn't happen.
 
Negative ghost rider, no false bottom currently being used. My post may have been misleading?

Currently have this product: http://morebeer.com/view_product/9684//Kettle_Tube_Screen hooked directly to the valve. It is not being crushed either.

And I'm actually quite happy to report it is not a faulty pump, as it is a chugger and they have been known to have issues. I know this as I can whilrpool while boiling and don't have any issues throughout any temperature range.

Thanks for the input tho, whenever I finally get the false bottom working again I will double check to make sure that doesn't happen.

Ahh. I call that thing a bazooka screen, don't know why. I used one for a couple of years.

I probably had a couple stuck sparges, but you know with a pump it's easy to blow HTL water into the ball valve and open that screen up. Anyway, never had a disaster I couldn't remedy. Good luck.
 
Ahh. I call that thing a bazooka screen, don't know why. I used one for a couple of years.

I probably had a couple stuck sparges, but you know with a pump it's easy to blow HTL water into the ball valve and open that screen up. Anyway, never had a disaster I couldn't remedy. Good luck.

Thanks for the luck.

It's not that it isn't easily remedied, I've just reached the efficiency that I've wanted, therefore I'm trying to do my next task which is make my brew day shorter, and this is the next issue.
 
Ultimately turns out I'm retarded and can't read a feeler gauge properly, my gap on my mill was .30. Even with conditioning it turned the overall mash into oatmeal when sparge water was added. Put the mill back to the stock .45 (I hope, LOL) and I have no issues with mash transfer now.
 

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