Hey Everybody - Look at my new Sparge Arm!

Pretty slick eh? Straight-up stole the idea from The_Pol... woot!

Mcmaster parts #'s:

1/2" Blue Loc-Line (4): 10095K45
1/2" Orange Circular Nozzle Assembly (1): 10095K72
1/2" NPT Male Connectors (1): 10095K33
1/2" Assembly Pliers (1): 10095K44

Alright damnit, you've just been doing way to much s*** around here. You're not allowed to come up with any more cool stuff.

Yeah, my bad. My Brewing OCD has went into overdrive lately...

Nice colors.. You may have not had a choice, but War Eagle!

John Beere said:

Yeah, my bad. My Brewing OCD has went into overdrive lately...

Click to expand...

Haha, no way! I'm just messing with you I'm loving all of the new gear. Have you used this sparge arm? I used to have some things like that for air when I worked in a factory. They were really flimsy and wouldnt hold up to the weight of water. How does yours hold up?

I haven't used it yet, but I used them for years in my salt water aquariums with no issue - they always held their shape. Perhaps they make something similar for air? These are specifically made for liquid I believe. They are rated to ~180 degrees, and seem very durable... really are kinda hard to bend around, at least dry.

Cost??? How big are the orifices and do you think you will have any clogging or cleaning issues?

I am guessing you would vorlauf before recirculating through that. Looks slick and easy for adjustment.

That's my only concern. I don't want to use two different delivery methods for mash circulation and sparge and I think the first portion of recirc contains a LOT of husk.

Am I reading that first item wrong? Do you really need FOUR of the blue sections - the catalog says they are 1 foot long... Judging by the fact that the nozzle ring is specified at 4-1/2" diameter, that blue line only looks about a foot long.

I just totaled that up at mcmaster and it came out to $64.45 before shipping.
With only ONE foot of the blue line the total is $43.63.
Seems steep for a sparge arm in my opinion, but I can see how it could be worth it if you're one who's spending more on their brewing rig, rather than a more budget-oriented brewer.

Yeah, I don't do anything cheap... heh. I did buy two feet of the blue hose, just in case. I also bought two of the Circluar Nozzle Assemblies and ended up using about one and a half. You could easily get by with just one.

I like the idea of this LocLine a lot - I can conform it to whatever the height of my mash is without it actually sitting on top of or sinking down into the mash.

I understand the concern of it getting clogged with husks. I guess I failed to mention that I put a one gallon paint strainer over the end of my dip tube under the false bottom... so I do not feel that will be an issue.

Little better prices here:
ModularHose.com - Loc-Line Modular Hose System

and if you buy this kit:
Loc-Line 50813 Sample Kit
it comes with the hose and npt connector plus other stuff for cheaper.

Lots of stuff with potential on the site.

AnOldUR said:

Little better prices here:
ModularHose.com - Loc-Line Modular Hose System

and if you buy this kit:
Loc-Line 50813 Sample Kit
it comes with the hose and npt connector plus other stuff for cheaper.

Lots of stuff with potential on the site.

Click to expand...

OK damnit - you are just telling me now?!? What good are you? heh

I actually saw that but already had a big order coming in from McMaster and just added it to the order...

John Beere said:

OK damnit - you are just telling me now?!? What good are you? heh

Click to expand...

I use this stuff for coolant lines on my machining center. Never thought about the sparging potential until you posted. Great find!
I can even write it off as a business expense

Bobby_M said:

That's my only concern. I don't want to use two different delivery methods for mash circulation and sparge and I think the first portion of recirc contains a LOT of husk.

Click to expand...

That is my concern also, I found little valves you can use in-line here:

modularhose.com - Loc-Line 1/2" ID System Valves / Manifolds

Maybe you could put a valve at the end of the ring and open it for the first couple minutes to blow the husk through the system, then close the valve to sparge the rest. The open valve option would probably make cleaning much easier as well.

Or how about this:

connection and drop line:


Y-fitting at end of blue line:


2-pack of valves, one valve attached to each leg of the Y:


one valve connected to the ring:


one valve connected to a return/vorlauf line:
Use the extra parts from the first kit.

I am glad this has sparked some interest - but really, it was The Pol's idea... all credit goes to him.

Great idea about a blow-by valve! Now I'm hooked. They offer varying nozzles too, maybe you could find one big enough to allow husks to pass and just integrate several of those.....

We use these on the milling machines here. Some pump air, some pump coolant. Very handy to have, but I would not put that kind of cash into a sparge arm that I could build just about as effective for lots less.

How often to you need to reshape it?

Homercidal said:

We use these on the milling machines here. Some pump air, some pump coolant. Very handy to have, but I would not put that kind of cash into a sparge arm that I could build just about as effective for lots less.

How often to you need to reshape it?

Click to expand...

Agreed that it probably isn't that economical of solution, but seriously, have you looked through my setup? heh

I can't see myself needing to reshape it very often, but I can see the need to adjust the height for about every brew session based on the grain bill...

Well, here it is finally in action during a test run on my rig today. I decided to hook it through one of the ports in the side instead of draping it over the top...



And a picture of my overall rig...

JB,

How did it work out for you? Did it work well?

drost

drost said:

JB,

How did it work out for you? Did it work well?

drost

Click to expand...

Well, I haven't brewed with it yet due to a bunch of personal crap, but hope to over the weekend. Testing with water worked just fine, but that is to be expected. I'll report back after brewing with it for real...

Here's a picture of MY sparge arm


Batch sparge baby! Lift that mother!

This LocLine stuff is interesting but one thing that bothers me is that I have yet to read anything on the manufacturer website (or McMaster Carr) about the suitability of it for use in food.

It doesn't seem to be FDA rated and none of the examples have it being used for contact with food. About as close as you get is example of it in use in fish aquariums.

Anyone have any info on the suitability of using LocLine for transfer of food? (And just telling me that "it doesn't make my beer taste funny" isn't good enough).

Kal

kal said:

This LocLine stuff is interesting but one thing that bothers me is that I have yet to read anything on the manufacturer website (or McMaster Carr) about the suitability of it for use in food.

It doesn't seem to be FDA rated and none of the examples have it being used for contact with food. About as close as you get is example of it in use in fish aquariums.

Anyone have any info on the suitability of using LocLine for transfer of food? (And just telling me that "it doesn't make my beer taste funny" isn't good enough).

Kal

Click to expand...

From : Loc-Line World

modularhose.com said:

Q: Is Loc-Line safe for food contact?

A: Yes. The material used to manufacture Loc-Line is an acetal copolymer. This material, in accordance to the rules 21 CFR 177.2470, meets the requirements of this regulation for food contact. All colorants are used at the recommended let-down ratio and meet 21 CFR 178-3297 for food contact.

Click to expand...

Q: Is Loc-Line safe for food contact?

A: Yes. The material used to manufacture Loc-Line is an acetal copolymer. This material, in accordance to the rules 21 CFR 177.2470, meets the requirements of this regulation for food contact. All colorants are used at the recommended let-down ratio and meet 21 CFR 178-3297 for food contact.

Click to expand...

Loc-Line World
scroll to the bottom of the page where the have a FAQ section.

Doh! Completely missed that!

If I can't find a nice way to make a completely stainless (adjustable) sparge arm I may go for this Loc-Line stuff. Certainly simple.

Kal

Sure, but what happens to acetal copolymer at 170F? Vinyl tubing is food grade at 65f....certainly not so with 170F wort....you can actually smell the chemicals in the air when it gets that hot!

I says it is rated to 170 degF... I would not be concerned.

Yup. It says:

Temperature Specifications:

Melting Point: 329°F
Maximum Operating Temperature: 170°F

Still, something nice and stainless would likely make me feel better (and go better with the rest of my setup). I've taken great pains to keep everything stainless (the March pump heads are stainless too). The only non-stainless is the pharmaceutical-grade silicone tubing for the hoses.

Kal

I was expecting a man in a trench coat to be flashing me in this thread.

FYI- I've noticed that the loc-line has cracked in a few places after about six batches but it doesn't effect its performance at all... and I've never noticed any off-flavors from it or anything like that. I suspect it is from the sparge where I'm right at its maximum operating temp... I still like it a lot as it is very easy to adjust.

JB,

Have you had any issues with this clogging? I love this idea....

drost