tubing-less copper pickup thingymajig

[Flomaster]

so in trying to finish my keggles so i can get a first brew under my belt I came to the whole "pickup" thing. do I want to go into the center and draw from the very bottom, do i want to get the side, whats better?

well I brought home from work a few fittings to test out.

1/2" Male adapter
1/2" street 90
1/2" street 45

so I plan on using a sack or bag for my hops and grains so i shouldn't have to much trub down at the bottom of my first 5 gallon boil. i also plan to whirlpool before draining into my CFC

here is what I have devised, its not soldered up yet, but would this idea work?

its about $4 in fittings

it sits right at the bottom of the keggle and i'd still be able to remove the setup to clean and what not.


-=jason=-

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

It wouldn't be necessary to solder the fitting into the male pipe adapter, unless you are concerned about it falling out during brewing. That way you can just push it in and pull it out without having to screw it on and off for cleaning. Unless that was your idea. Of course you want to solder your elbows together.

The only other thing to take into consideration, is: are you comfortable with the anount of loss you will have without drawing from the center bottom?

Obvioulsy drawing from the side will help to reduce trub especially after a whirlpool, but you will leave more wort behind too, just some food for thought.

Otherwise I think that is a clever idea!

 

[Flomaster]

I figured that the trub cone would fill the void that is the bottom thus allowing me to get all but a cup of wort.

this design put more of the fitting closer to the bottom of the keggle kinda like a standard center mounted pickup tube.

I like the idea of soldering the fittings together, but not soldering to the male adapter. i'd have to do some test runs with water and whirlpooling to make sure the fittings didn't fall out of the male adapter.

-=Jason=-

 

[bendavanza]

If they are not soldered or sealed somehow, they can pick up air and break the siphon near the end of a drain.

 

[Yeastmonkey]

Keep in mind too, that in your first design, you will only siphon to the very top of the fitting. Like was said before, as soon as you suck air, your siphon is over.

 

[Flomaster]

yeah first design is out the window, but the second I could use my grinder and get the exact same distance all the way around, I guess the thing to do would be get rid of that male adapter and use a male x compression fitting.

-= Jason =-

 

[RetroTechno]

oh hey! It's a doublechinkisvalvesphinctermechanism.

 

[jtrainer]

Dump that male adapter and get a compression fitting. Dump the compression fitting sleeve and go with 2 o-rings from bLowes plumbing to seal that to the keggle wall.

Pull from the center and move outward until your comfortable with the amount of wort left behind. Don't fear the trub.

Just my tuppence...

 

[BrewBeemer]

The only other thing to take into consideration, is:

are you comfortable with the anount of loss you will have without drawing from the center bottom?

Tilt the keggle near the end of the syphon process.

 

[Flomaster]

maybe I should just get a compression fitting and some soft copper and pick up from the side, im not worried about leaving a cup or two in the keggle. at work they have a 1/2" male x 3/8" compression fitting, anything wrong with using 3/8" soft copper instead of 1/2"?

-=Jason=-

 

[IrregularPulse]

Solder everything and teflon tape the threads. You do not want a piece falling off in the bottom of 5-10 gallons of boiling wort!

 

[Flomaster]

Solder everything and teflon tape the threads. You do not want a piece falling off in the bottom of 5-10 gallons of boiling wort!

so my 4 piece fitting idea is just fine as long as I don't mind leaving a cup or two behind.

cool I'll pay for the parts today and solder it up tonight.

-=Jason=-