Stainless Braided hose issue

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BubbaK

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I did my first mini mash last night and it went well I think with the exception of draining the tun. I used a 3 gal water jug and mashed with 3.5lbs of grain and 1.25 gal water. When I went to drain, the stainless braided hose kept clogging up to where nothing was coming out. I had to keep a spoon inside and constantly scrape the hose to get it to drain. After I got it to drain, I sparged with 2 gal of water and ran into the same issue. I spent about 1/2 hr with it, then finally decided to get a paint strainer and just dump the whole thing into that to drain. Not the best sparge method I'm sure, but it got done. My target OG was 1.054, and I ended up 1.062, so I did pretty good I think.

What type of stainless braid are people using and any mods to it to make it drain faster? Mine is ~3/8" id.
 
I posted a very similar question last week, and one reply advised to use the larger diameter braided hoses that are used to connect water heaters. I went to the local Home Depot and found the water heater section. Right next to the heaters were herky braided supply lines. I've reconfigured my TUN with this larger braided line. I"ve done one brew since, a partial mash, and the TUN worked well. I need to test it with a serous All Grain but it sure looks like it will improve the flow. Another suggestion is to open the valve slowly and let the grain bed settle gently, then increase the through put. Good Luck.
 
Make sure the braid you have is actually SS, there are alot of ones out there that look like they are stainless but are instead some sort of silver plastic. Those get soft at mash temps and don't work.
 
Thanks... Mine is definitely stainless. I'll pick up a bigger hose and give it a shot. I am currently working through a 1/4" valve so there isn't much flow as it is. I don't think opening it any slower would have helped. I'll look for a looser braided hose and give that a shot.
 
The SS hose I used was for a car gas line. The diameter is about 1/8" thicker than the hose that came with my turn and its stronger. The weaving on the car/gas line is tighter than the sink hose. At first I thought it wouldn’t work well since the mesh is so compact but it works perfectly. You can smash it bend it twist it and it pops back into the original shape.


Amazon.com: Spectre 29204 Stainless-Steel Flex Fuel Line - 4-Feet Long: Automotive
 
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I use a toilet supply line, 1/2" IIRC. Start your runoff with the valve just cracked open, then once the grain bed is established you can open it up. See dennybrew for details
 
Not to sound like an ass...but you did remove the rubber hose inside the SS braid, yes? cut both ends off, and pushed (not pulled) the inside hose out?

the braid is such a coarse weave I can't imagine them getting clogged unless the grain bill was prone to being sticky (lotta wheat, flaked wheat, etc...where rice hulls become handy)
 
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