Diptube Loses Flow At Bottom of Drilled Hole in Kettle

[kdw2pd]

I have a keggle with two holes drilled in it: 1/2" for a ball valve, and 3/4" for a heating element. With thread tape and o-rings, neither hole leaks.

However, when I try to run wort out through my pump for chilling, the Brew Hardware edge pickup dip tube loses flow when the wort gets to the bottom of the hole drilled for the heating element. This isn't a complaint about the Edge pickup tube, it's awesome, and worked fine when I just had the ball valve. Bobby had previously pointed out that I needed to run tubing out the barb on the outside of the kettle, so I did that.

I'm assuming that it stops the flow because it was pulling a vacuum below the level of the hole.

Is there a way to seal the heating element hole so that it stops pulling a vacuum?

 

[day_trippr]

If I understand this correctly, it's virtually impossible that a leaking element bulkhead is causing a pickup tube to stop...picking up.
Are you actually pumping this or are you doing a gravity test?

Cheers!

 

[kdw2pd]

I've done both, it stops at the same point. I'm assuming it was related to the element bulkhead, because that's the point where it stops. It'll pump out just fine above that level.

 

[RPh_Guy]

It sounds the pickup tube may be leaking. Can you see it pulling in air?

I tested my pickup for leaks by making sure I could recirculate water below the level of the threads.

Edit: clarification

 

[day_trippr]

How would a leaking bulkhead on one side of a kettle affect the flow through a dip tube located elsewhere?
It's not like the system is sealed and the air sucking in changes the fluid dynamics...

Cheers!

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Two things come to mind:

First, is it leaking around where the dip tube connects to drain port? If it can pull in air, it will do that instead of siphoning the liquid below it.

Second, "siphoning" is a key part of the first point in that once the level drops below the top edge of the drain port, you're siphoning, not just draining. You need to have hose that runs to a level below the bottom of the kettle (well below, ideally) in order to siphon the wort out that's below the level of the drain port. Even with a pump, it needs to siphon as the pump won't draw the liquid out...it needs a steady flow of input liquid, it will not "draw" liquid in.

 

[kdw2pd]

I'll check the o-ring on the dip tube, that may be it. I have my pump on the ground, with the tubing running from the barb to the pump, which is below the lowest point of the kettle. Bobby from Brew Hardware pointed that out to me.

And I'm not at all sure that the heating element bulkhead is responsible, just noticed a correlation there. Since the ball valve and element bulkheads are at about the same level, it could be losing siphon due to a leak in the dip tube, as suggested above, which would occur at that point.

 

[Bobby_M]

post a picture of the inside and outside of the pot the way you have been testing.

 

[kdw2pd]

Will take pictures.

If it wasn't clear, the issue is figuring out why my kettle setup isn't let me maintain siphon, the dip tube itself is great.

 

[augiedoggy]

as mentioned you have a leak.. I had the same issue before.

 

[don_bran321]

Had the same issue myself. You're compression fitting ring is not tight enough between the dip tube and the 1/2 fitting. If your using stainless maybe try a plastic one or tighten with a wrench if you are hand tightening it.

 

[don_bran321]

Had the same issue myself. You're compression fitting ring is not tight enough between the dip tube and the 1/2 fitting. If your using stainless maybe try a plastic one or tighten with a wrench if you are hand tightening it.

If everything is tight and you have a good vaccume to start it will continue to pick up below the ball valve. If you stop the flow though you are done for. It won't start again. I have tried haha

 

[kdw2pd]

I'm sure y'all will be shocked, shocked! to read that this was a case of user error. The issue was that I didn't have the dip tube screwed on tightly enough. I had it on finger-tight, which didn't appear to be enough to engage the o-ring at the back of the nut. After cranking it down, it maintains siphon below the level of the valve just fine. I end up with a half gallon or so of water left in my keggle.