Transfer from Fermonster with floating dip tube to Corny keg - tube intake too low

[timsch]

I just did my 2nd transfer from my Fermonster with floating dip tube to a Corny keg. I had to cut it off once too much trub starting to get sucked up. Problem is, there was still a good 2" of liquid height above the tube intake at this point, which is close to a gallon. I did add a nut to keep the intake from going too high (according to some other threads), so the intake was as low as possible.

Has anyone had success with some other type of float that will keep the tube intake closer to the surface but still below the float?

 

[palmtrees]

I use this one, and it has worked great. Does a nice job of making sure dry hops stay out of my kegs, and it seems to sit at just the right level. I've been able to suck up all the clear beer in pretty much every transfer.

 

[pers]

Had the exact same problem as you on my first transfer. Got some floating diptube filters for each of my fermonsters. Have only done 2 transfers since I got them but both went well. First time the filter got sucked pretty deep into yeast and didn't stop flow.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/floating-dip-tube-filter-attachment.html

 

[NSMikeD]

look at at the Flotit 2.0. its solved the tube being below the float. The guy sells them on eBay.

FLOTit 2.0 Review

 

[timsch]

This was the 2nd attempt to transfer on this batch. The 1st was cut short due to the tube being plugged. I ordered those filters after that and have them sitting on my shelf for the next batch. Glad to hear they may also help with the elevation problem. I'll still probably keep an eye out for another type of float to use as well. i could rig up some pancake-like styrofoam float, which would ride higher than the ball.

The FLOTit looks pretty good too.

 

[mscroggi]

Is the diptube too long? As I understand it, the ideal setup is to have the tube just short enough that when it gets close to the bottom of the fermenter, it will pull to the middle.

 

[timsch]

Is the diptube too long? As I understand it, the ideal setup is to have the tube just short enough that when it gets close to the bottom of the fermenter, it will pull to the middle.

Mine is too long for that. That does make sense.

 

[seatazzz]

The filter described above should work; also tipping the fermonster slightly onto its side once the wort gets to about 2-3" above the trub. You have to tip the fermonster to where the end of the dip tube wants to be but it works for me. A good hard cold crash (if you have the capability to do so) will also compact the trub well enough so that it won't slide down when you tip the fermonster. I rarely have more than 1 cup of clear wort left in the fermonster using this method (I leave it in there because I save the yeast, mostly). This is a great method for LODO kegging but you do have to monitor it.

 

[monkeydan]

I can't take credit for this idea (I saw it in another thread on this site), but you can use a magnet to hold the float above the level of the beer and get the end of the dip tube right to the bottom of the liquid above the trub in the fermenter.

This assumes the float is near the edge of the fermenter and your fermenter is see through! The float is very slightly magnetic, I used a rare earth magnet taped to the outside of the fermenter and it worked perfectly...

 

[timsch]

I can't take credit for this idea (I saw it in another thread on this site), but you can use a magnet to hold the float above the level of the beer and get the end of the dip tube right to the bottom of the liquid above the trub in the fermenter.

This assumes the float is near the edge of the fermenter and your fermenter is see through! The float is very slightly magnetic, I used a rare earth magnet taped to the outside of the fermenter and it worked perfectly...

Thanks - That's a great idea, yours or not. I could also use it to hold the float at the very top to keep it out of the krausen during fermentation.

 

[timsch]

I finally got around to experimenting with a magnet outside of the Fermonster, and while it did attract the float, it was not strong enough to lift the float along with the screen & tubing out of the liquid (didn't even get the float fully out). I'm not sure what magnet type it was, but it was about 1" diameter cylindrical and 1/2" long with pretty good strength. I had it stuck to some metal framing in my shop and it was not particularly easy to pull it off. I had to work it over to a corner and rotate it off there.

Any suggestions from those who've done this successfully?

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't have any issues just letting it float during fermentation. It does get slightly fouled up with sediment, but the day BEFORE I want to transfer out, I just hook my CO2 up to the black QD and blow a little CO2 through to unclog it. The next day, it's pulling clear beer from the first mL. Always prop the fermenter up with a piece of scrap wood on the side opposite the float location so that the beer stays as "deep" as possible at the pickup location. You can get clear beer all the way down to the last few ounces... certainly less than a pint.

 

[timsch]

Thanks Bobby. I'd done pretty much everything you said to the T this brew session. Since the problem, I've reduced the length of the tubing by 4-1/4" (yeah, way too long). I also added a screen at the end of the tubing, which replaced a 6 gram weight I had on it. I'd be ecstatic about a pint of waste. Right now I'm looking at at least a gallon, likely more. Hopefully with some of these changes, I'll do better next time. Sure would like to get the magnet trick going though; that'd be sweet.

 

[Broken Crow]

Here's one of those "this is how I do it.." posts, and just meant to offer an option that not everyone agrees with;
Since I began brewing, I accepted that there'll be losses to the kettle, the fermenter, the lines and so on, so I adjust the volumes in my recipes to intentionally 'waste' the amount of wort/beer that my system is likely to lose, and when it comes to the distance between the float ball and the diptube...well, it's gonna be a bit cloudy anyway, so I make sure I've calculated to 'overfill' my fermenter initially to leave that much behind. It does make it easier to harvest yeast if I can swirl more dregs to pour it out than to add sanitized stuff to get it.
Just an option that you may or may not want to consider.