bulkhead fitting sucking air on the inside?

[tarponteaser]

Evening all,

Installed a 1/2" ss bulkhead fitting from bargain fittings today on a 50 qt Winco aluminum pot.

I ordered the set up w/ the soldered washer and installed as instructed.

I have no leaks on the outside of the pot, but the pot quits draining when the ss coupling is half exposed to air...leaving X volume of water in the pot.

I think the problem is the 'roundness' of the pot is not allowing the flat surface of the ss coupling to form a tight seal on the inside.

Tightening down the fitting does not work....the red washer on the outside squeezes out when too tight.

What do you folks do to remedy this? Yes I wish to drain the maximum amount of wort out of the pot!

Thanks

 

[stratslinger]

Make a dip tube. Basically, a short section of pipe that attaches to the inside of the bulkhead, and has a 90 degree bend to it, so that the end of the tube is about 1/4" or so above the bottom of the pot. It basically acts as a siphon.

 

[tarponteaser]

Opps! I forgot to mention I put the 1/2" copper side dip tube on the coupling. Bottom of tube is touching the pot bottom.

 

[day_trippr]

Might be worth an experiment: add some kind of grommet to the inside of the fitting against the pot wall and see if the "air leak" is resolved or not. At least that'll give you some direction...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

Do you have any tubing hanging off the outlet of the ball valve on the outside? This is required to maintain a siphon.

 

[Golddiggie]

+1 on getting/making a dip tube. With a good amount of pull (from draining) you should be able to get almost everything from the kettle without issue.

 

[tarponteaser]

I did not have any tubing on the outside when running the test. Basically, all I did was fill the pot with water and wash out the inside with some dishsoap and a sponge, then drain, rinse and refill.

I'll try putting some silicone tubing on the outside fitting and retest.

IF I still have incomplete draining, I'll take off the ss coupling and apply some food grade silicone to the face and let it cure to make a 'gasket', then reattach to the bulkhead fitting. Another option would be to apply the silicone to the coupling and screw it on, then let it cure.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[stratslinger]

Yeah, the dip tube really is there, as I understand it, to form a siphon. If you don't have tubing on the outside that extends at least a little lower than the dip tube, then that siphon never really gets set up.

 

[tarponteaser]

Putting some silicone tubing on the outside fitting did the trick. Thanks a bunch for the suggestion. I'll boil a full pot of H2O today to prep the aluminum and plan on a batch in the new pot tomorrow.