Final gallon does not transfer over with my pump

[Flash]

I brew outside on a propane burner with a 32-qt (8 gallon) brewpot with a ball valve and I use a PolarWare false bottom. I use a Therminator to cool the wort. In transferring from kettle through Therminator to the fermenter I use a magnetic impeller pump.

My problem is that the final gallon of wort never transfers over. The pump works like a champ for the first 4+ gallons, but once the wort level in the kettle reaches just below the false bottom, the wort stops transferring. I've experimented with physically lifting the kettle to have gravity help pull the wort through the pump, but that doesn't work.

Any hints on maximizing my transfers with my equipment? Thanks.

 

[olllllo]

Pour in a gallon of properly mixed starsan or boiling water in to the kettle right as you are bout to break siphon. Other than that... chalk it up as a deadspace loss.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Wow that must be a high dome false bottom to leave a gallon behind. Do you have a picture?? If it were me I would ditch the false bottom in the boil kettle and replace it with a pickup tube that goes down to about 1/8" off the bottom of the kettle near a wall so I could tip it and maximize the amount transferred. Also, do you have a pickup tube that goes under the false bottom or do you just have it positioned over the top of the valve opening?

 

[Jaybird]

Why not use a dip tube w/ the false bottom?