Bucket vacuum for sucking out grain

[CoalCracker]

Was looking around home depot yesterday and saw they make a wet/dry vacuum head for a 5 gallon bucket. A light bulb came on. I know a few people use actual wet vacs for sucking grain out of their mash tun. Thought this would be a cheaper alternative. Picked it up for 20 bucks. I had a fermenting bucket that got some solder in it so I used that.

Used it yesterday to clean out both my MT and my boil kettle. Worked fantastic.

 

[kklowell]

That looks like a great tool... gotta check my HD.

 

[CoalCracker]

Yea I jumped on it. I was surprised with how much sucking power it has to it. Plus a bucket is easier to clean out than a 14 gallon vac.

 

[pickles]

I've go one for exactly this purpose. Just don't leave gunk in it. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[CoalCracker]

First thing I did was hose it off when I was done. I've made the mistake of leaving grain in the TUN too long.. almost puked.

 

[boomernintysix]

Those things are awesome but have a little too much power for regular fermentation buckets. The buckets tend to implode when its at full suction, making the top no longer round and difficult to get any lid (including itself) on. I'd suggest spending the 10 bucks and getting the thicker buckets at HD that its made to go on. That being said, it takes about 3 minutes to clear out a 10 gallon grain bill. :rockin:

 

[pickles]

I used an old joint compound bucket.

 

[snackson]

Lowes has the same thing for the same price I think.

 

[Bobby_M]

Do you guys have any trouble with grain caking up on the filter? I don't have one of these but on my normal shopvac, I had to install a larger deflector in front of the vac port to keep the grain from splattering on the filter.

Cool little trick in case you didn't know... If you install a "dip tube" on the inside of a shopvac that goes nearly to the bottom of the container (short by maybe 4") and fill the container with water just higher than the tube, you can vac drywall dust without clogging your filter.

 

[P-Lay]

Awesome. That's much cheaper than the one I was looking at. Thanks.

http://www.speedclean.com/products/bucketvac.aspx

 

[pickles]

When I clean out the mash it's wet so I took the filter out all together. Good tip about drywall dust, btw.

 

[pickles]

Awesome. That's much cheaper than the one I was looking at. Thanks.

http://www.speedclean.com/products/bucketvac.aspx

The Buckethead certainly isn't commercial grade like the one from Speedclean (or so they say). But it's comparable to a small ShopVac. At $20 its a great little tool, and I keep it as a dedicated brewery vac. I put the hose on the outlet and blow out some of my silicone hoses with it also.

 

[broadbill]

I'm confused, why do you need to suck grains out of your MT in the first place? Am I missing something?

Am I missing something when I just go dump my cooler MT into the compost bin?

 

[Shooter]

I've often thought about picking one of these things up, but was never really sure if they were any good. Looks like I might have to grab one next time I'm at HD or Lowe's!

 

[slakwhere]

so i just saw the Bobby video on youtube where he does an updated all grain tutorial, and there's like 3 seconds of him using his shop vac to remove spent grain. then i see this post! perfection!

no more lugging the MLT around to dump or scooping on a stepstool into the bin!

 

[camiller]

I'm confused, why do you need to suck grains out of your MT in the first place? Am I missing something?

Am I missing something when I just go dump my cooler MT into the compost bin?

Well, my 50qt mash tun with a 37 lb (dry) grain bill, once it has soaked up some liquid is pretty heavy. Eventually I'm going to upgrade to something larger.

 

[Dwain]

The only problem I have with mine is that if the grain is very warm, the bucket collapses. Other than that, it's great. I'm still building a tippy dump for mine though. - Dwain

 

[CoalCracker]

I have a keg MLT so lifting that plus 13lb + of wet grain isn't happening. I was scooping it into a bucket then dumping. That got old real quick. This was cake. I rinsed out the MLT and sucked the reminence out with the vac. Dried with a papertowel and I was on my way. Dumped the grain in the garden.

Best 20 I've spent on this hobby.

Forgot to add, A longer hose would make it much better. Only issue is the hose is a bit short.

 

[pickles]

I have a hard plumbed CIP (clean in place) system. I scoop most of the grains then vac out what's left including residual was water. I built my system to be as simple for me to operate as possible. I'm not lugging anything around!