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augiedoggy
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thats exactly what I did... two strips of the foil tape to keep them in place until insulated.
american stainless conicals from PA
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thats exactly what I did... two strips of the foil tape to keep them in place until insulated.
What pump are you using to circulate your glycol? I picked up a pond pump off EBay and it crapped out while doing a test on my chiller. I have several different chillers the one I'm testing on is small it is 3/8" tubing in and out.
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augiedoggy
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Im using the built in pump in my chiller... its an old 240v beer line chiller that was resold as a processor chiller for newspaper imaging equipment so I'm not sure on the model.
Thanks my big chiller has a self contained pump like yours. I picked up a 1/8th HP submersible from Northern today and will see how that one does.
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augiedoggy
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they send an extra with the conical and they are really thick... thicker than the stout gaskets. they might actually be the same diameter as a stout or even the model spike sells...
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augiedoggy
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I got all three of my conicals connected to my glycol chiller manifold and temp controllers.. I actually found some thin walled silicone surgecal tubing to wrap around the smallest 7 gallon stout knockoff I found on craiglist... the tubing works very well to control temps as well! I plan on brewing an american lager tomorrow and the vienna lager is now cold crashing from its diectel rest. It was at 66 degree at 5 pm and now its down to about 44 degrees at 10:15... this is 11 gallons too fyi and the chiller was pretty warm from being off most of today plus I added a gallon of warm glycol at 5 also... I also upgraded and wired up my new all stainless 4500w ripple element from Kal/spike and my enclosure from Bobby..
YES my brew area is a pig stye right now... I need to do some major cleanup.
YES my brew area is a pig stye right now... I need to do some major cleanup.
iijakii
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Lookin good! Hope to finish mine up this week. Still no issues with the layflat version?
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augiedoggy
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no.. it worked very well when I tested it... I dont have anything fermenting in it yet but hope to change that soon.
I've gotten two of these conicals and haven't received an extra gasket with either. Now, maybe I'm just being dense, but it comes with a gasket on the lid and a gasket on the conical itself. I assumed you need to leave both on. Is that not the case?
And FWIW, I've already managed to rip one of them so having extras would be nice. I tried to contact the ebay seller but have yet to get a response.
And FWIW, I've already managed to rip one of them so having extras would be nice. I tried to contact the ebay seller but have yet to get a response.
brewfarmDan
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iijakii
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Really, you use both? News to me lol. I just have one on the lid and when I clamp it down it's damn tight.
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augiedoggy
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no I only use one gasket on the lid... The silicone is actually too thick for the lid clasp ring to work correctly with both doubled up from my testing... I even pressurized mine to make sure it sealed correctly and it does. as the clasp is closed it forces the metal lip against the silicone ring and seals fine this way.
Spike uses a different style clasp ring all together.
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augiedoggy
Well-Known Member
it wont even work with 2 doubled up (I tried both ways)
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augiedoggy
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AHB ones are about 16-16.5" in diameter outside dimensions..
these should work fine... https://conical-fermenter.com/SP15LG-920.html
from what Ive learned so far there is a possibility these are made in the same factory as the stout ones are..
brewfarmDan
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I got my fermentor at "Brewforless" 12.5 gallon about 16.5" Dia. They recommend using both but they may be thinner gaskets. I have not used the Spike Gaskets
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augiedoggy
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I google brewforless and get nothing? care to point me in the right direction?
So I got a response back from the dood that I bought them from on ebay. He asked if I had the 'really thick one or the thin one'. I told him I had two fairly thin ones. Haven't gotten a response back yet. Sounds like there are different arrangements out there. I think I'd rather just have one thick one as the one that goes onto the kettle itself stretches very easily. I can't get it to hold any pressure with just one of them. It does hold pressure with two, but, as I've found out, if you don't have them in just the right position when you start to pressurize, and if you overshoot your pressure at all, it blows right through them.
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augiedoggy
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The design and size of the thick one indicates to me that it fits better on the lid... I am not suprised about their being thin ones too... likely an older design. the stout knockoff I bought came with 2 sets of thin gaskets the original owner stopped using when he upgraded the gaskets to the stout version which is thicker and seals better...
brewfarmDan
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augiedoggy
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brewfarmDan
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augiedoggy
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brewfarmDan
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It is D Lucas and email is [email protected]
I have talked to him about seals and he is alays very helpful. I think I paid about $360 delivered but had to wait a while for availability. Well worth it IMHO
I have talked to him about seals and he is alays very helpful. I think I paid about $360 delivered but had to wait a while for availability. Well worth it IMHO
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augiedoggy
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augiedoggy
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mine showed up on my porch 3 days after placing the order... I think he orders pallets at a time from china and thats the hold up at times. I had the same delay when I ordered a couple conicals fromm SS brewing for a friend .. They were held up in customs.
iijakii
Well-Known Member
How do you like the stout lid? The clasp on these seem a lot nicer than that screw down nonsense.
I got pretty miffed with Stout over noticing they're significantly cheaper on eBay versus their web-page. Asked if I could go pickup in-person and pay eBay price and was told no.
edit:
I received mine the next week. I believe he said they ship from around Boston. Mine shipped the next day and then the 4-5 truck freight to the best coast.
I got pretty miffed with Stout over noticing they're significantly cheaper on eBay versus their web-page. Asked if I could go pickup in-person and pay eBay price and was told no.
edit:
I received mine the next week. I believe he said they ship from around Boston. Mine shipped the next day and then the 4-5 truck freight to the best coast.
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augiedoggy
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stout lids are ok... not easy to get to seal every time... I think the clasp is better if it holds up.
Dave sent me some new gaskets. A couple of thick ones and a couple thin. I'm still not sure which to use, one, or tow or? If I put a thick one on the top lid and a thin one on the bottom, it holds pressure wonderfully. I almost wonder if you're just supposed to use one and put it around the lid and the kettle.
I can't find one of my new QD's. I'm also swapping out the 6" thermowell for a 12". I find I get a lot of stratification in temps.
Anyways, a couple shots of my retrofit of my existing coils from the plastic conicals.
I can't find one of my new QD's. I'm also swapping out the 6" thermowell for a 12". I find I get a lot of stratification in temps.
Anyways, a couple shots of my retrofit of my existing coils from the plastic conicals.
I just got my first conical and have been reading through this thread and trying to learn about cooling. I like the idea of the wrapping the flat hose and then insulating around the outside. I am trying to keep this fairly cheap and will probably just be running water right now. Is it really as simple as putting a bucket of water in my keezer with a submersible pump and running it on a temp controller? What pump would you recommend? The conical will be in my house, so no huge temp swings, so I am hoping this will get me cool enough for ale?
iijakii
Well-Known Member
I'm using one of these 396 GPH pumps per conical: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018X2XT4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 -- working great. If I could go back I wouldnt have spent the $60 on glycol as I generally just keep my reservoir at around 50F anyways... stopped cold-crashing in the fermenter and just do it in the keg now.
As long as your keezer doesnt freeze the bucket of water it'll work great. Keep in mind that even slushy water will be bad for the pump.
Edit: I think they were more like $17 when I purchased, seem more expensive now... maybe a better option out there now.
As long as your keezer doesnt freeze the bucket of water it'll work great. Keep in mind that even slushy water will be bad for the pump.
Edit: I think they were more like $17 when I purchased, seem more expensive now... maybe a better option out there now.
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Thanks for the quick reply. When I got home from work I finished putting the conical together and realized that the legs extend up almost all the way to the lid. So the hose will have much less contact with the conical. If I insulate around the hose I should still get some cooling from it. Do you think it will be enough to keep good ale temps inside a house? Probably only need 8 degrees or so.
I'm confused. The legs only go up to the top of the cone where the steel band wraps around to support the fermentor. The rest of the conical is clear and can easily be wrapped.
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augiedoggy
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ditto on the glycol I only added 1 gallon at $30 but I realize now it was not needed at all since my temps are never below freezing... and I am able to lager 3 conicals fine with chiller water temps of around 36 - 38 degrees.
I found that only using 1 gasket around the lid seals perfectly...
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augiedoggy
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I'm confused. The legs only go up to the top of the cone where the steel band wraps around to support the fermentor. The rest of the conical is clear and can easily be wrapped.
I agree I am also confused? did they change the design or something? I found that only 10-12ft of the discharge hose would be more than plenty to work effectively I used about 15-17 ft and found the temps drop faster (like twice as fast) than my cool zone carboy jacket.
I'm addicted to this thread. Just as I was about to pull the trigger on one of these concials, he ran out. Then I ended up getting too good of a deal on two 100L, flat bottom wine tanks. I may try the discharge hose setup on them or sell them to a wine maker and upgrade to a conical.
iijakii
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I noticed he hasnt had any posted for awhile. Have you tried emailing him? Maybe get some more in soon, delay in a restock shipment or something.
