Another pickup tube option - elbow + silicone

So tonight i finally drilled a hole in my HLT for one of the weldless kits i bought from bargainfittings ages ago.

I'd seen some posts about how a simple elbow fitting works fine as a pickup tube, so i ordered some with my valves. And then for months i worried about whether i would end up drilling the hole in the kettle slightly too high or slightly too low.

As it turns out i drilled a bit high, about half an inch from the bottom of the elbow to the bottom of the kettle. So i started wondering about what i could install that would give me a siphon closer to the bottom of the kettle.

Turns out that 1/2" ID silicone tubing fits neatly inside 1/2" NPT female threads.

I'll see how it works out tomorrow.

A hose barb would work and you can angle it down to where you need it.

The tubing might loose suction unless you can get a very tight fit on the inner threads.

we used silicone on a customer's keggle to get underneath the pico false bottom

It works great

I guess i should take a picture - I've got the elbow + bit of hose pointing straight down

I'll see if it loses suction during my brew day today. even if it doesn't work out right, it'll be less pouring than I'm used to.

OK, if draining rinse water out of the kettle counts, and it should, if i tip the kettle to the side when it gets near the last of it, it leaves behind a little less than 1/2c of water.

TimpanogosSlim said:

I guess i should take a picture - I've got the elbow + bit of hose pointing straight down

I'll see if it loses suction during my brew day today. even if it doesn't work out right, it'll be less pouring than I'm used to.

Click to expand...

How is this working. I bought an 90 deg elbow without the street, and I am starting to worry that i will have the valve up to high. I want to give myself enough room for protecting the valve against heat and also that I can possible get fit in a pickup tube later on.

I was curious to how the silicone tubing is working with it being so close to the bottom and the diect heat. I am slightly worried the burner would affect the tubing because its so close to the bottom of the kettle.

Amazon has some 1/2" NPT pipe threads for cheap that I might use as well. Just not sure what direction to take and I am dying to put my valves in.

Check this fitting from BrewHardware.com out