I understood the why, just not the how.
I have had it with my Plate chiller.
- Thread starter Orangevango
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I understood the why, just not the how.
Yes, it does do that and then immediately cavitates again unless I kill the flame.
What kind of tubing do you have. Does it keep it's shape.
Ender
Well-Known Member
I also recirc. the boiling wort from the kettle starting at about 15-20 until flame out. It goes from a clear silacone tube from the boil kettle up into the in side of the pump, thru the out side and into my Shirron plate chiller, then back into the boil kettle. I can see it cavitating due to the boiling wort. It still pumps though. I have my pump head so the in side is facing towards the ground. All of my tubing keeps its shape as well. I use pellet hops only and have a home made "hop taco" , although I also put the pellets into those foot thingies you can get from shoe stores.
I'm using the 5/8" ID braided hose. Keeps it's shape just fine. Boiling wort on my system has lots of steam bubbles in it and they get sucked right into the pump when the burner is on. It's not a problem really as I do the recirc through the chiller near the beginning of the boil and just shut the burner off for the 10 minutes or so needed. Then I resume the boil and finish out normally. I don't want to interrupt the boil near the end as it would throw off my hopping schedule. Up front, it's out of the way for the duration.
flyangler18
Well-Known Member
Have you tried filling the vessel through the bulkhead and from the top, purging air from the dip tube?
I have a ball-valve on the kettle and another ball-valve on the output side of the pump. When I'm ready to recirculate during the boil, I open the kettle valve to allow the the pump head to fill and open the valve on the output side slowly to purge any air out before activating the pump. Works for me every time.
Buford
Well-Known Member
You don't want pellet hops to gum up your plate chiller, but they will also clog a boil screen. I have several of these to remedy that problem:
They're 4" in diameter so there's plenty of room for the pellets to expand and contact the wort and they contain the hop sludge pretty well. I haven't had any issues using them. I got mine from here: Tea Infusers, Strainers & Accessories; they're listed as "Jumbo Mesh Stainless Tea Infuser Ball", $10.99 each.
They're 4" in diameter so there's plenty of room for the pellets to expand and contact the wort and they contain the hop sludge pretty well. I haven't had any issues using them. I got mine from here: Tea Infusers, Strainers & Accessories; they're listed as "Jumbo Mesh Stainless Tea Infuser Ball", $10.99 each.
I kill the heat and recirc for about 3 minutes to avoid the boil bubbles before I start chilling.
Air lock in the dip tube is not a problem. I have no trouble at all priming the pump and I have an air bleeder valve installed. The issue is only with boiling wort. The key word being "boiling" as in making steam bubbles. The bubbles are steam and affect the pump the same as an air bubble or pocket. These pumps are fussy about air, steam or vapor pockets. Apparently, not everyone encounters this problem. I simply work around it, so really not a problem. Pumping liquids that are actively boiling is a good trick, it's just that I haven't been able to do it.
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