Emptying lines to/from your pump?

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I don't have a pump yet but I'm going to get one. I just have one question.

When you do a recirculating mash or whirlpool chill, how do you empty your lines to and from the pump? Turn off pump, disconnect lines and pour? Or can the pump empty the lines somehow?
 
Honestly, the amount of wort left in the hoses is typically very little compared to the total amount of your runoff. So I don't worry about it and I take that amount into consideration in my equipment losses. Scale up your grain bill a few percent and mash with enough water to take all your equipment losses into consideration.
 
When I built my RIMS, I mounted the pump at the lowest point in the system.
I plumbed a Tee in the discharge line with a 1/4 " ball valve that acts as a drain.

When I am done brewing I can open the drain valve and get a little over a quart of high gravity wort out of the pump, heater and piping, which I add to the boil.

I circulate cleaner and rinse water through the system and use the drain valve again to drain the wash water out of the system. I leave the drain open until I brew again.

Works well and it drains the system thoroughly.
 
It's a very small amount and will not affect the taste of the outcome. If you do decide you want to purge the lines you can use a 3 way fitting and a ball valve at the pump inlet, but then you will need to reprime your pump. Running the pump dry is a pump killer so I avoid that as much as possible. When it comes time to clean, just run star-san through it and throttle the outlet so it foams a bit in the pump and outlet. I pump it through my entire system and back into a keg for use during the next brew day.
Wheelchair Bob
 
processhead said:
When I built my RIMS, I mounted the pump at the lowest point in the system.
I plumbed a Tee in the discharge line with a 1/4 " ball valve that acts as a drain.

When I am done brewing I can open the drain valve and get a little over a quart of high gravity wort out of the pump, heater and piping, which I add to the boil.

I circulate cleaner and rinse water through the system and use the drain valve again to drain the wash water out of the system. I leave the drain open until I brew again.

Works well and it drains the system thoroughly.
Click to expand...

Exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Can't stand wasting anything. Thanks!
 
I use flexible hose rather than rigid pipe. When I can't suck any more mash/wort out of a tank I switch the hose to the HLT to regain pressure and push the wort with that hot water until I see the wort color getting lighter from the water. Used to worry about possible infection but never had a problem.
 
When the whirlpool is done, I close the valve on the pump and kettle, pinch the silicon hose on the outlet side of the pump, remove while pinching and lift higher than the kettle and release. All wort except for a few drops is available for the fermentor.

On the inlet side of the pump, I pinch the hose nearest the pump, remove and release that into my test vial for a hydrometer sample.

Not much goes to waste.
 
That's what I was thinking of doing. I already planned to have a T fitting before the ball valve for a thermometer probe so wasn't sure how to get a drain valve in there too. Pinch method sounds like it'll work just fine. Thanks everyone
 

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