DIY Dip Tube

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mcgster

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Ok so after a few dip tube designs that worked ok.. i thought why not just used 1/2 copper with fittings

I noticed that i can get the fittings to stay together relatively well by putting a wrap of teflon tape around the slip fittings. Certainly well enough to do a brew but then when you take it apart to clean everything you have to redo it everytime.

Aside from lead solder is there any good way to join the pipe to make this option work? Any thoughts??

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ditto, you can get silver solder, and its super easy to sweat it on to copper. Cheers,
 
We do the same.... But, for our dip tube that goes three our false bottom, we use a compression fitting into the coupling on the wall of the kettle. Its cheap and Works great.
 
Yeah solder is the way to go, just be sure to mark everything so it lines up after you solder it.
 
Ah ok that makes perfect sense, completed the solders and its a good seal, the fit is perfect.

Do i have to do anything to clean the pipe before i brew with it?

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PBW, oxyclean, barkeepers friend will all clean up the copper.

Just don't do any extended soaks and you should be fine.

Main thing is to rinse well after cleaning to flush away the flux
 
You can also do a good "initial" cleaning of copper with vinegar.
Give it a good soak, and it works wonders!
The hotter, the better...........You can clean your coffee maker with it beforehand, and soak your copper stuff with the hot batch of vinegar you just "brewed".
 
Thanks for this idea. I bought a stainless diptube online for too much. I never thought about this. I just did a huge plumbing job at my house and have all the parts I need already. Cheers for the diy idea!
 
One note. copper and steel fittings should be seperated by brass, or some other metal. The copper and steel corrode. Remedy that with a gatorbite brand fitting for your pipes if need be.
 
One note. copper and steel fittings should be seperated by brass, or some other metal. The copper and steel corrode. Remedy that with a gatorbite brand fitting for your pipes if need be.

Well i was wondering about that, i had heard about this before years ago but i wasn't sure how much of a roll the teflon tape would play, i put a generous amount on and hoped it would prevent any issues.. any thoughts?
 
You will not get much if any reaction between the different metal types touching. Generally, noticiable reactions will happen only when the metals stay wet or in contact with corrosive liquids.
 
Well i was wondering about that, i had heard about this before years ago but i wasn't sure how much of a roll the teflon tape would play, i put a generous amount on and hoped it would prevent any issues.. any thoughts?

It didn't take but 5 brews in and sure enough, the copper and steel were corroding and rusting. I used generous amounts of teflon tape as well (3-4 revolutions.) A friend of mine alerted me to this metallurgic terminology and it sounded right. He was definitely right. I switched it out and made sure these two did not connect again. wort is acidic, hence it will hasten corroding of the metals copper and steel which are placed together. no amount of tape will prevent them from touching.

check out galvanic corrosion
http://metals.about.com/od/Corrosion/a/Galvanic-Corrosion.htm
 
It didn't take but 5 brews in and sure enough, the copper and steel were corroding and rusting. I used generous amounts of teflon tape as well (3-4 revolutions.) A friend of mine alerted me to this metallurgic terminology and it sounded right. He was definitely right. I switched it out and made sure these two did not connect again. wort is acidic, hence it will hasten corroding of the metals copper and steel which are placed together. no amount of tape will prevent them from touching.

check out galvanic corrosion
http://metals.about.com/od/Corrosion/a/Galvanic-Corrosion.htm

I will grab a brass fitting soon and swap it out
 
Brewed a Black IPA this weekend with the new keg MLT / Boil kettle and the tested the two new dip tubes. They worked great and maintained the siphon until there was only an ounce or two of fluid left. The total cost to build was about 6$ so i would chalk it up to a win.
 
PBW, oxyclean, barkeepers friend will all clean up the copper.

Just don't do any extended soaks and you should be fine.

Main thing is to rinse well after cleaning to flush away the flux


Why do you mention not doing any extended soaks with the oxyclean (etc.) Curious as I haven't come accross that before and I let my immersion chiller soak for a little while sometimes to remove oxidation before using it.
 
I use fine steel wool clean up copper pipes that have discolored from heat. you might want to 'pickle' the brass union.
 
Ok so after a few dip tube designs that worked ok.. i thought why not just used 1/2 copper with fittings

I noticed that i can get the fittings to stay together relatively well by putting a wrap of teflon tape around the slip fittings. Certainly well enough to do a brew but then when you take it apart to clean everything you have to redo it everytime.

Aside from lead solder is there any good way to join the pipe to make this option work? Any thoughts??
did you buy that false bottom or make it?
 
That false bottom looks just like the one I bought from More Beer. I've been bugged by the fact that it leaves an inch or more of wort in the bottom of the tun. Great DIY idea to fix that problem! Thanks!
 
The false bottom i picked up from amazon, it was fairly cheap compared to alot of the options i saw out there.
 
I just finished another version of what you did. Instead of soldering things together I decided to try to keep the elbow and plastic tubing that came with the false bottom.

My solution was to cut a brass coupling in half and then screw it into a 1/2" hard copper male/slip adapter. Because pipe threads are tapered I had to cut the coupling more than in half and it was a struggle to get the elbow threads to start. Once started, though, it threaded in OK and everything is really snug. The pickup is about 3/8" off the floor of the mash tun and I can lengthen it now by just adding a very short section of hard copper tubing to fit.

Will try it out on a batch of cream ale this weekend. I'm interested to see how it works. I'm sure it will be far better than the stock setup that left almost a quart of wort behind.

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Are you going to be boiling that? There's a good chance that plastic tube shouldn't be boiled. Actually, most plastic tubes shouldn't be in water over 120 degrees. I showed a plumber at Home Depot what I was going to do and he shuddered. The only tubing they carried that could safely withstand the heat was a big braided thing that looks like the tubes used in restaurants. That or silicon are the safest bets.
 
The question is why are you worried about leaving only a quart of wort behind? That is nothing.

Because I'm frugal. I don't want to waste any more of that hard won sugar than I have to.

Used the new setup for a batch yesterday and ended up tossing less than a pint that drained off the grain after I pulled it from the mash tun. Pretty successful mod, IMO.
 
I also can't stand leaving anything behind in my tun (hence the thread!)

What you did above was basically what I did for my first crack at it but the hose seemed to fall off easy and restrict flow so I went with the half inch copper
 
Someone mentioned using brass fittings to connect the copper and stainless to prevent corrosion...will it still corrode with copper to stainless? I thought there was an issue with exposing brass to high temps for extended periods? Something about the zinc leeching but maybe I'm way out to lunch
 
Someone mentioned using brass fittings to connect the copper and stainless to prevent corrosion...will it still corrode with copper to stainless? I thought there was an issue with exposing brass to high temps for extended periods? Something about the zinc leeching but maybe I'm way out to lunch



With dissimilar metals and moisture,you'll always have corrosion, just some quicker and more aggressive than others.
 
So basically no avoiding this unless you have some kind of plastic or ceramic...brass won't solve the problem?
 
With dissimilar metals and moisture,you'll always have corrosion, just some quicker and more aggressive than others.


This is true to an extent. However this generally won't happen unless you keep liquid in your equipment for long periods of time. Especially with Copper up against Stainless steel.

Here is a chart to help. http://www.engineersedge.com/galvanic_capatability.htm

For normal conditions, you want to keep the anodic index value less than .25V difference between the two metals in contact. Copper is .35V and Stainless(304 SS) is .50V (18% chromium-thus 18/8 SS). You still would need a conductive path(Water/Wort) to move ions from one metal to the other.
 
This is true to an extent. However this generally won't happen unless you keep liquid in your equipment for long periods of time. Especially with Copper up against Stainless steel.

The key for us, if I understand this right, is the length of exposure. Short-term exposures (such as a 1 hour boil or 1.25 hr. mash) reduces the rate of corrosion.

And the next question is, so it corrodes a little. What harm is there in it? Does this minimal corrosion release anything harmful? If it does, is it at a level that we need to be concerned about it?

Doesn't a lot of this concern originate from a time when roofers used to stuff a bunch of galvanized nails in their mouths and did it day in and day out? The proportion of exposure is, IMO, significantly different.
 
The key for us, if I understand this right, is the length of exposure. Short-term exposures (such as a 1 hour boil or 1.25 hr. mash) reduces the rate of corrosion.

And the next question is, so it corrodes a little. What harm is there in it? Does this minimal corrosion release anything harmful? If it does, is it at a level that we need to be concerned about it?

Doesn't a lot of this concern originate from a time when roofers used to stuff a bunch of galvanized nails in their mouths and did it day in and day out? The proportion of exposure is, IMO, significantly different.


I wouldn't worry even long term exposure with copper against stainless. The two metals are so close on the galvanic scale that you won't see any corrosion unless in a very tough environment.

It helps to also hit your stainless and copper with a strong mixture of star san and let it air dry. This will re passivate the metals creating a passive oxide layer to protect them.
 
I wouldn't worry even long term exposure with copper against stainless. The two metals are so close on the galvanic scale that you won't see any corrosion unless in a very tough environment.

It helps to also hit your stainless and copper with a strong mixture of star san and let it air dry. This will re passivate the metals creating a passive oxide layer to protect them.

Super! I'd heard of passivating stainless but had no idea a simple StarSan bath would do it. Thanks!

So what about brass and stainless? Any issues there? Same solution?
 
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