$3.52 eye sight

[randyisrad]

http://poorhousebrewing.blogspot.com/2010/12/diy-eye-sight.html

 

[DKershner]

It looks like the tube would melt...

 

[DKershner]

It looks like the tube would melt...

This fits his price range:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=141&

This is what he should have ordered:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=276&

I realized this is YOU. In any case, change the he's to you's.

 

[randyisrad]

I just had it in boiling water. It's fine.
Geez, do you people not have anything else to do than to sit on a forum and poke fun at other people's posts that you know nothing about?

 

[passedpawn]

I just had it in boiling water. It's fine.
Geez, do you people not have anything else to do than to sit on a forum and poke fun at other people's posts that you know nothing about?

If we had anything better to do, of course we'd be doing it. You too, I presume.

Post a DIY on this forum and expect your DIY to be inspected for brewing suitability.

I've been through a few sight glasses and I can tell you that yours won't last. If it breaks, it will be a disaster of boiling liquid gushing in an unstoppable torrent. You might save yourself, but your prepubescent beer will pay the ultimate price.

 

[DKershner]

I just had it in boiling water. It's fine.
Geez, do you people not have anything else to do than to sit on a forum and poke fun at other people's posts that you know nothing about?

Well, if I knew nothing about it, I wouldn't have posted, or gone to the trouble of finding the replacement that would solve the problem.

There is a reason all of the producers of the sight glasses use high temperature, fda-approved polycarbonite instead of the cheaper acrylic. Your sight glass will still be pretty cheap, so don't fret!

 

[JuanMoore]

I just had it in boiling water. It's fine.
Geez, do you people not have anything else to do than to sit on a forum and poke fun at other people's posts that you know nothing about?

I don't see anyone trying to poke fun at you. We're trying to help you out with a little constructive criticism based on our own experiences. And we've tried many of the things you're showing us, so some of us DO know something about it.

Your sight glass will work on a temporary basis, but there are alternatives in the same price point that are much more durable. Feel free to use your sightglass, just be aware that if you're direct firing it probably won't last in the long run, and when it does fail it will likely be a hot sticky mess (not to mention a little dangerous). How do I know this? Because you're not the first brewer to try it. I know exactly how well acrylic works as a sightglass in a direct fired vessel, and how much of a mess it makes when it fails.

Take this into consideration so that you're at least aware of the limitations of your design, ignore it and find out the hard way, or improve your design based on this knowledge. The choice is yours.

 

[randyisrad]

Ohhhhhhh
It's not the hot water, it's the flame.
That makes more sense.
Sorry you'll. I'll upgrade to the others plastic

 

[JuanMoore]

Ohhhhhhh
It's not the hot water, it's the flame.
That makes more sense.
Sorry you'll. I'll upgrade to the others plastic

I'm not sure it's the flame so much as the acrylic getting brittle after repeated extreme temperature changes. A fellow brewer I know used to use an autosiphon to drain his near boiling wort into his chiller becuase he didn't want to drill a hole in his kettle. After a while the acrylic tube started getting hairline cracks and then eventually failed. It never had any exposure to flames, just extreme temp changes.

 

[DKershner]

I'm not sure it's the flame so much as the acrylic getting brittle after repeated extreme temperature changes. A fellow brewer I know used to use an autosiphon to drain his near boiling wort into his chiller becuase he didn't want to drill a hole in his kettle. After a while the acrylic tube started getting hairline cracks and then eventually failed. It never had any exposure to flames, just extreme temp changes.

Yeah, one is just faster than the other, but both will eventually kill it.

 

[the_bird]

The plastic tube is one thing, but I really wouldn't want that CPVC fitting that close to the bottom of the keggle and the flame.

 

[DKershner]

The plastic tube is one thing, but I really wouldn't want that CPVC fitting that close to the bottom of the keggle and the flame.

That's true, some form of heat shield would probably be beneficial.

 

[Revvy]

My buddy made a sightglass based on plans on here I think, but got his actuall tube mixed up with a cut piece of racking cane he was using on another project. It worked....for about 15 or 20 minutes of the boil, until I noticed that it was starting to make the shape of a question mark.

Then it started to spew wort.....Boiling hot wort.


Setting it for a few minutes in boiling water to see how it holds up and actually boiling wart for 1-2 hours is two different things.

Noone's intentionally trying to criticize, in fact I'm sure everyone on here is pulling for you for this to be a success, and that price, hell yeah we want it to work. But we want to make sure so we're not trying to seal up a high pressure meltdown while our beer is brewing.

This is exactly what you want to happen, a bunch of expert brewers critiquing it and offering suggestions.

Swapping it out wasn't pretty or fun.

 

[toddbyrne]

This fits his price range:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=141&

This is what he should have ordered:
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=276&

I realized this is YOU. In any case, change the he's to you's.

Would you use a compression fitting to attach it to a SS coupler?

What size would you recommend for ease of cleaning?

Thanks,

Todd

 

[dragonlor20]

I'm not sure it's the flame so much as the acrylic getting brittle after repeated extreme temperature changes. A fellow brewer I know used to use an autosiphon to drain his near boiling wort into his chiller becuase he didn't want to drill a hole in his kettle. After a while the acrylic tube started getting hairline cracks and then eventually failed. It never had any exposure to flames, just extreme temp changes.

This happened to me as well. The autosiphon looks like a mosaic now. I bought a new one and changed my process so that I am only siphoning the wort that is ready to pitch.

 

[DKershner]

Would you use a compression fitting to attach it to a SS coupler?

What size would you recommend for ease of cleaning?

Thanks,

Todd

I would actually recommend that you look at Bobby M's sightglasses, or at least the thread in actual glass part. I believe the expense is worth the convenience of just threading it in place.
http://brewhardware.com/index.php?o...t-glass-kit&catid=37:thread-in-kits&Itemid=61

Now, if I were using that piece of tubing, I would probably use a compression fitting, yes. Bargain fittings has a nice stainless one, or you could perhaps fashion one up at home depot for bronze.

I think the one I have at home is a thick walled 1/2" OD and it is plenty easy to clean with a long brush or a pipe cleaner.

 

[bendavanza]

There is no F'n way I'd use CPVC in a boil kettle. Even if it was electric no flame. Especially for a bulkhead, for the previously stated dangers. At least buy brass compression fittings, and use O rings to seal it. Polycarb tubing would be ideal for the "glass"

 

[randyisrad]

It's not on the boil kettle

 

[the_bird]

Boil-kettle or not, I'm assuming this is direct-fired, though...

 

[randyisrad]

it is direct fired, but I rarely use the burner on the MLT.

 

[Revvy]

Do the readers of your blog know that it's not meant for a boil kettle but for a mashtun? Do you think they will make the distiction?

Simply reading a few of the Darwin Award Winners, is enough to prove that for the most part people are idiots, and so it's a good idea to assume the worst in folks abilities not to screw up royally.

(My favorite is the Russian Roulette one.)

I think most people looking for a sightglass design online are going to be looking for one for their kettle. So if this ain't gonna work for it, and may end with 5-15 gallons boiling liquid spewing out of their kettles you are going to have to put neon warning signs all around the instructions on your blog not to use it for your kettle at all.

 

[randyisrad]

Good point.
I'll change it. Thanks bro

 

[the_bird]

What's the point of a sight glass on a mash tun, though? I was going to install one on my boil kettle so I'd know my boil volume, so I could make sure to end up with 5.5 gallons. If I had a separate HLT, having a sight glass would let me know how much strike or sparge water I had added to the mash tun.

I'm just not sure what information I'd get out of having a sight glass on the mash tun itself. I know the amount of water I added, I know the weight of the grain.

 

[randyisrad]

HLT or MLT would be the same difference. Either I know how much water I've added (MLT) or I know how much water I'm going to add (HLT)
Im going to get the other plastic and a brass fitting for the kettle

 

[the_bird]

I just don't see how you're going to know how much water you've actually added, since you're starting with dry grain. The first X gallons of water you add to the mash tun, there shouldn't be much movement at all on the sight glass because that water's going to be mixed in with dry grain. Maybe I'm missing something, though.

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't particularly like combining the drain port with a sight glass port for two reasons. First, it makes reading the level impossible while draining. Second, you have to seal the top of the sight in order to maintain a siphon for a full drain.

Also hanging a ball valve and tubing off such a cantilever of plastic is a sure way to break something.

I'm not busting your balls for the fun of it. It is fun, but it's not why I'm posting ;-) Disclaimer: I sell sight glasses that are more expensive for a reason.

 

[DKershner]

I just don't see how you're going to know how much water you've actually added, since you're starting with dry grain. The first X gallons of water you add to the mash tun, there shouldn't be much movement at all on the sight glass because that water's going to be mixed in with dry grain. Maybe I'm missing something, though.

Agreed Bird. I have never seen the purpose of a sight glass on the MLT. After grain absorbtion water level means nothing to me.

 

[Jawbox0]

Well, for fly sparging it would be good to know that you've matched your input and output rates...

 

[JonW]

Well, for fly sparging it would be good to know that you've matched your input and output rates...

Ditto. Also useful for filling to the initial strike water volume.

 

[the_bird]

I suppose. Personally, I don't think I would bother with one on the mash tun. Assuming I had separate mash tun, HLT, and boil kettle, I'd put then on the HLT and boil kettle. Just something else to potentially leak or fail that seems to be of limited utility (some utility, but limited)