problem with jaybird false bottom

Today was the worst brew session i've had . It was my first time using my new wallace weldless stand. Everything was going well until 30 minutes into the mash. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but somehow grain got underneath my false-bottom . I have a jaybird false bottom (15" in my keggle), the thing looks great, I don't think its defective, but some how grain got underneath it and made it into my chugger pump.

The pump is fine (i flushed it out and tested it with clean water), but there was enough grain under the FB that i ended up scorching grain and had to pitch the batch . When I cleaned out the mashtun, I was shocked to see my dip tube still securely sitting in the false-bottom hole. I thought my tube must have lifted out ( i have a home fashioned dip tube with copper and silicone so it is flexible for installing).

After ruling out the dip tube, I'm kinda at a loss for what happened.... Here are a couple of my hypothesis, Jaybird owners please chime in so i dont waste my next batch!

1. I was running my pump while i had my MT burner on low, i stopped the pump at one point and noticed wort was back flushing into my dip tube, maybe enough water backflushing lifted the FB enough for grain to get in there????

2. I was stirring the mash with a plastic paddle, maybe i applied too much pressure on one side of the FB causing the opposite side to lift????

I hate wasting wort, please give feed back and help a brewer out.

THanks
Chris

I'm disapponted to see no replies to this thread. I had the same issue this weekend (hinged false bottom in keggle, pump on, low heat applied, stiring mash, grain under FB clogged my tube).
I hope you figured it out. I'm guessing vigorous stiring caused mine....maybe I'll have to use spent grains in clear water and stir the crap out of it to test my theory?

If you shut off the pump and wort backflows into the dip tube,
then you are trying to pull wort through the grain bed faster than
gravity would otherwise move it.

Maybe this is causing the FB to buckle enough to leak grain.

I have heard that stirring during recirculation can cause smaller particles
to move through the bed and eventually cause compaction.
I don't stir during recirc anymore and it seems to help.

How much of a gap do you have between the bottom of the keg and the diptube. Did you do anything to make sure the diptube doesn't bottom out under weight? You have to make sure your diptube will suck any gain through that makes it past the false bottom. Grain is always going to get through, you have to make sure it keeps going until the grainbed is set.

I had the same problem with my jaybird false bottom this weekend. My first runnings were fine but the problem arose when stirring the grain at my first batch sparge water addition. I recirculated for 10 minutes or so but it never cleared. My pump clogged once and thermowell tee at my ball valve clooged twice. Once I reestablished flow, I uses a strainer over my kettle to catch the grain getting through. I didn't have any extract efficiency issues and I did hit all my numbers dead nuts so that thats not an issue. It just turned into a big mess and added wasted time to my brewday. The false bottom is designed to seat at the transition of side wall and the dish bottom of a keggle. Mine sits in place OK but with enough force I can imagine it shifting allowing a gap large enough for grain to slip through. My diptube sits above and goes through the center of my FB where its sealed with a flat silicone gasket.

Anybody else having this problem? Is there a way to seal the false bottom edge? The only thing that I did different last weekend was I strirred every 15 mins during sac rest since ive heard that could help extract efficiency and I just added high flow impeller to my march pump. Maybe I was pulling the liquid through to quick? I would be interested to hear replies.

Thanks
Trevor

I ended up installing a hose clamp on the dip tube directly above the FB. The hose clamp puts slight downward pressure on the FB and prevents it from lifting up in my system. I've only brewed a handful of times since implementing this change, but haven't had grain under my FB since.

Hay guys I hadn't seen this one and I am sorry. A few things:

1. Any grain smaller than 3/32 "IS" going to get through the false bottom when you first mash in. Thats the size of of the holes in the false bottom so its just a matter of fact something is going to get through. It's our job as the brewer to get it out before we EVER turn on the heat. So a simple recirculation as we mash in will do wonders for this problem.

2. When setting the grain bed we need to be running at "FULL TILT" for about 1-2 min to "SET" the grain bed. This will set the grain and establish the filter bed we are needing.

3. Never turn off the flow once the grain bed is set. If you do you will need to reset the grain bed all over again.

4. If you are going to stir the mash, turn on the pump so the small 3/32" grain pieces can get re set and you dont have any issues

5.We have developed the "Level" 1,2 and 3 stands to assist in blocking everything that gets through the false bottom. It is a 2 fold piece of equipment and has turned this system into a total rock solid solution.
the level 1 and level 2 were developed for the guys doing RIMS and HERMS and are doing a full recirculation for long periods of time.
We did have some issues with a couple of false bottoms collapsing due to the massive amount of vacuum caused from the suction of the pumps and the long resirc. We solved this problem with these stands. It also adds to the filtration in a major way. The level 3 is to filter pellet hops and not needed in the mash ton.

6.. We also developed the "heavy duty" stands for the guys that bought the system long ago before the "level" stands. And before you guys were pounding 37# of grain or more in a 15.5 gallon kettle and doing a 60 min recirculations. I still stand behind the false bottom and dont think it needs a stand, unless your piling up the grain and doing long a real long recirculation. But the level 1 is such a major addition in filtration I dont mash in without one.

7. Also another thing to look at is, I drill the hole in the false bottom whatever size you need. I also drill it off center so you can "SPIN" the false bottom into place. There has been a few people who didn't see this and didn't spin the false bottom into its nesting place and there was a gap on one site of the false bottom. Make sure you set it down and spin the false bottom so its in the best place and sitting nice on the curve of the bottom of the kettle.

I have been selling this system here on HBT for over 5 years now. We have made MAJOR strides in creating the best false bottom system money can buy and we stand behind this thing 100%. I totally back up my equipment guys and if your having any issues at all I will fix it. 1 way or another. Just call me at the store 530 243 BEER or email me @ [email protected]
If I missed something or didn't answer a question let me know. I will go through this thread again and see if I did.
I am glad to see cobolstinks resolved his issue with a simple hose clamp.

Cheers
Jay

Thanks Jay. I will be ordering the level 1 stand today! Its exactly what I need.

Trevor