Blichman false bottom issues

Hello. Looking for advice, knowledge on using the Blichman false bottom. My friends and I switched from all grain keg brewing to electric using Blichman pots with his false bottom on MT. Seems simple enough, but we definately had issues. We are using the Rims system. We somehow got grain caught under false bottom, therefore grain coming out after sparge.

Do you add water from bottom ball valve, then just mash in or through the ball valve that is in lid for Rims recirc? Not sure how we screwed it up, but we had to strain a lot of the wort. Maybe we hit something while mashing in??We did end up with a lower SG of wort, but that botched bafoonery screwed us. Thanks for any insight.

Eric

Did you make sure to use the washer around the dip tube?

Mine was warped all to hell when I got it. I threw a fit and they replaced it.


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I think everything was assembled properly, including washer. Guess we'll have a go of it again in a couple weeks. Need to inspect if ours has warpage as well but, didn't notice anything significant there.

All I know, is when they work, there's nothing better. Stuck sparges are non existent.


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I figured since all the other Blichman products are well made. The Therminator was flawless. Thanks

wildwest450 said:

All I know, is when they work, there's nothing better. Stuck sparges are non existent.


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Never had a stuck sparge using a standard 3/32" FB......if you overmill the grain or go too fast then I can see that happening....but it's never been enough of an issue in my process to justify a Blichmann FB.....hell, even a braid worked just as well when I used it. They ARE nice, but unfortunately I have to disagree that there is nothing better considering it is a proprietary and very expensive component.

OTOH, a BASKET will NEVER have a stuck sparge....

I just purchased a 20 gal blichmann false bottom. Warped.

ScubaSteve said:

I have to disagree that there is nothing better considering it is a proprietary and very expensive component.

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We'll since the op was referring to a Blichmann pot with a Blichmann fb.....
I've used braids and cpvc manifolds, their not in the same league, and i'm no Blichmann fanboy, I think their quality control sucks


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BDB said:

I just purchased a 20 gal blichmann false bottom. Warped.

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I've got two of them. One is perfect and the other is identical to what you show. You can't even try to straighten it as it just pops from being warped in one direction to being warped in the other direction when you flex it.

I have not tried to use the warped one, but the one that is flat works perfectly.

Yup, mine was warped to hell as well, but my mod with fold down tabs solved that issue, but I don't use their kettle. Too bad they don't serriously address this problem, I might be interested in their other products in the future, but not now.

Hex said:

Yup, mine was warped to hell as well, but my mod with fold down tabs solved that issue, but I don't use their kettle. Too bad they don't serriously address this problem, I might be interested in their other products in the future, but not now.

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That ring is very cool. If I would have given $40 for the pot , I would have expected to have to mod it. I didn't and I don't.

You could always make a ring similar to mine, except, fit it on top of the Blichmann false bottom in their kettle. This one that I made is a snug fit in my kettle, and with heat, the copper expands greater than the stainless, so with heat, it locks in place, and could potentially solve any warped false bottom issue in their system.

They could also put locking tabs in their kettles, and notches in their false bottom, and key the false bottom into place.

They must be having difficulty stamping all those 'holes' while maintaining a flat plane.

Anyway, here is how you make the ring if you want to experiment on your systems:
Obtain 3/8" copper tubing off coil of stock,
massage into proper shape to fit kettle bottom,
cut a the ring to be just a bit too large,
file ends to make perfect butt joint,
Make a 1/2" length roll of same material to work as a scarf reinforcement interior to the tubing,
sweat solder and clean up, press into place.


btw, my kettle was $80 from LHBS, plus tax.

I thought about wrapping the FB edge with some 3/8" or 1/2" silicone tubing. That should make it fit snug a the bottom and solve any issues with gaps.