Help! My keggle won't fully drain

[Adub71]

I have a Sabco conversion on 15.5 gallon keg, with a ss false bottom, valve and thermometer probe.

The batch of beer I mashed over the weekend, it stopped draining once the liquid level hit the pick up tube. This seems to indicate that air is being sucked in at the flange between the pick up pipe and the valve flange.

The rubber washer has some wear along the inner diameter (where the beer flows past), but the outer diameter (that sits in the recesses of the flange) appears intact.

I plan on getting a new washer, but could something else be the culprit? I have had the thing for about 18 years.

 

[jmcquesten]

Does it stop draining if you have a hose hooked up to the valve? I dealt with the same issue until I realized I had to connect a hose to the valve with the end lower than the bottom of the kettle. The liquid needs to flow down after the valve in order for it to suck up through the pick up tube.

 

[Adub71]

Does it stop draining if you have a hose hooked up to the valve? I dealt with the same issue until I realized I had to connect a hose to the valve with the end lower than the bottom of the kettle. The liquid needs to flow down after the valve in order for it to suck up through the pick up tube.

I never used a hose before on the valve to get it to drain, but if that does the trick, I'm on it - thanks!

BTW, I am mashing/sparging with it. I wound up draining as much as I could, then while the boil was coming up to temp, I scooped out the grain until I cleared off the false bottom. I removed the false bottom, and then used a turkey baster to suck up the 1 gal. heel - that's a lot of beer to leave behind! I made sure not to pour sucked up grains into the boil...

 

[jmcquesten]

Yeah, since the liquid wants to drain to the lowest point, it helps to have the hose lower than the end of the pick up tube. I thought I had air getting in on mine too, but it was the lack of the downhill hose. Same concept with a racking cane, the siphon won't work unless you're draining downhill.