keggle pickup tube

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joejaz

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How far from the bottom of the keg should the inlet opening of the pickup tube be? I'm going to put a copper scrub pad at the end of it. Orfy, if you read this, it's like your setup.
 
It depends if it's easy to remove.
You have to get the scrubby on it.
I can rotate mine to adjust but 3/8th of an inch is good.
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I use nipples where most use couplers.
 
Thanks Orfy, I see your pickup tube is off center to the side. So you really don't want to have the inlet opening dead center at the deepest point. If you do this then you would have to use the connector like yours cause you wouldn't have enough clearence to screw it in.
 
I'd recommend a compression fitting no matter what. It just makes regular removal a lot easier and you're going to want to remove it ever few brews to really get a good scrub on the bottom of the keg. It gets pretty grimey. You could get away with a soldered MPT end on the dip tube but you'll need about 1/4" clearance to the bottom of the depression. It's not so bad though, you need the room to shove the scrubby in anyway.

I've been thinking about reorienting my tube placement so it's half way off to the side so that I can whirlpool prior to draining. You will sacrifice a little wort that way, but you can hopefully leave mostly hot break behind in the center depression.
 
I fit it loose.
Put the scrubby on. Adjust the hand tighten.

The only reason t's of centre is because roatating it gives the hight adjustment dependant on the filter device used.

I highly reccomend a nipple and compression fitting. I only hand tighten.
 
Bobby_M said:
I'd recommend a compression fitting no matter what. It just makes regular removal a lot easier and you're going to want to remove it ever few brews to really get a good scrub on the bottom of the keg. It gets pretty grimey. You could get away with a soldered MPT end on the dip tube but you'll need about 1/4" clearance to the bottom of the depression. It's not so bad though, you need the room to shove the scrubby in anyway.

I've been thinking about reorienting my tube placement so it's half way off to the side so that I can whirlpool prior to draining. You will sacrifice a little wort that way, but you can hopefully leave mostly hot break behind in the center depression.

Bobby, just thought of something. Why not shorten Orfy's setup and have the elbow coming right from the bulkhead. Do you need the tube that long for siphoning power?
 
Update on pickup tube --- may save someone time in figuring siphoning problem that I had. I put together various tubes similar to Orphy's and had the same problem with all of them. I have a weldless spigot on bottom of keggle and once water level went below the straight part of the pickup tube the water flow or siphoning stopped. I was told that air was getting in some place and was breaking the siphoning, I checked all the connections and still the same results. I used various lengths of hose on the outside of the keg, stll the same. Well finally I realized what was happening. The inside diameter of the outside barb on the spigot where you attach the output hose to complete the siphon was the same diameter as the pickup tube. If you attach a hose to it, then the diameter of the output hose is then wider than the diameter of pickup tube resulting in not getting enough outflow to make a siphon. There was never a siphon but just a flow of water till it reached output level and stopped once it went below the level.
 
You need to learn the "pinch the hose" trick. Anytime there's any airspace in a hose like that, giving the hose a pinch right below the air increases the velocity and sucks the air out. It's really quite amazing.
 
Bobby_M said:
You need to learn the "pinch the hose" trick. Anytime there's any airspace in a hose like that, giving the hose a pinch right below the air increases the velocity and sucks the air out. It's really quite amazing.

Is that what you do with prostitutes?
 
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