Whirlpool Port location in Brew Kettle Upgrade

[BFD_BrewGeek]

I'm planning to upgrade my 15 gal HLT and 20 gal BK. Just upgraded my mash tun to a 20 gal Spike V4. Very happy with it, wish I'd have done it 5 years ago.
My question is, what are the best locations for the return port in the HLT and the whirlpool port in the BK?
Discharge ports will be +1.5" and temperature probes are +6", all at 6 o'clock. HLT total height is 19.4" and BK total height is 21.4". Based on my skid configuration, I'd put both HLT return and BK whirlpool halfway between 3 and 6 o'clock.
Any advice/recommendation welcome.
Cheers

 

[day_trippr]

Return locations only matter if there's some functional difference expressed. Eg: a mash tun return needs to be on top of the mash to be useful wrt recirculation, but a boil kettle or hlt return can be pretty near anywhere, though "submerged" even with a minimum batch size is always a good idea to avoid picking up oxygen unnecessarily.

Left to right: bk, mlt, hlt with hex inside, all 20 gallon G1 kettles. The mlt return goes to an autosparge valve mounted as high as possible without impinging the lid. The bk return is the same elevation as the drain valve; the hlt return is just above the top of the 50' 1/2" ss hex coil for interference avoidance. I kept the hex relatively compressed to keep the minimum hlt volume low - it takes just a bit less than 10 gallons to fully cover the hex, and my typical recipes call for ~9 gallons or more for fly sparging, so I'm not wasting gas heating up sparge liquor that won't be used.

fwiw, I recently added another drain port to the boil kettle when I incorporated a "Hopstopper V2". It's at the same elevation as the other two ports...

Cheers!

 

[BFD_BrewGeek]

@day_trippr thanks for the info. I'll put both HLT return and BK whirlpool low, same level as exit ports. The whirlpool port on my present BK is at the same level as the thermometer, ~6". I have to throttle back the whirlpool pump to prevent splashing over the side of the kettle. So, hoping lower is better.
Also, first class brewhaus you got there...Cheers