Large waterfall shower head for sparging??

[RobJ]

Hi, I've got a pare large waterfall shower head (new), obviously it's not good grade but was wondering if anyone has used one for sparging, the theory makes sence it's just it's not food grade. It's got little rubber nipples as water spouts, so wasn't sure if the rubber could alter the taste. I've got a food grade hose pipe at the minute ready to coil on top of the grain bed, anyone think I should just go ahead with that and forget the shower head??? Cheers


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[augiedoggy]

I use adjustable loc line with the little holes in each section... works very well and its fairly cheap to build.

 

[TopherM]

I'd be worried that an average shower head might not be OK with sparge temps. The average hot water heater is set at about 120-130F, sparge water would be closer to 170F.

 

[RobJ]

Have been thinking that the water temp could be too hot for the rubber nipples, I'll got the hose on top of the grain bed a go first, I saw the adjustable one on you tube and thought it looked good, so that'll be the next thing, cheers


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[Cagedodger]

I use adjustable loc line with the little holes in each section... works very well and its fairly cheap to build.

Like this?

I think that Loc-Line fixture is meant for directing cutting oil in metalwork applications. It does a pretty decent job at being a sparge arm in my experience.

Edit: Welp, it seems I can't post pics. I guess I need to learn this forum's gotchas.

 

[dyqik]

You need a certain pressure (and hence flow rate) in the line to get a shower head to spray in its usual pattern. They are really designed for shower type flow rates. If you only let a trickle of water through for fly sparging rates, then probably only a few of the holes in the shower head will dribble water, and these dribbles may run to together to form a single stream of drips.

I tried this with a simple push-on-to-the-taps type hand shower head I had around - it never gave more than a single stream of water, exactly as if I was using a hose.

 

[Bobby_M]

Sparging doesn't require a spray pattern. We're not washing the dishes.

 

[RobJ]

Gona go with hose on top of the grain bed, was the first advise I got in another thread, I had a shower head lying around and thought it might work, never mind!


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[castermmt]

I tried the loc-line but it adds too much air to the mash. I stuck with the hose like Kal uses.

 

[kal]

As castermmt mentioned, I use a simple hose that sits on top of the grain bed. It's what the Blichmann auto-sparge uses, it's what Sabco uses on their Brew Magic setups. If there was any benefit to spending another $50 on a fancy sprinkler or sparge arm, they'd be doing it.

Kal

 

[RobJ]

I done my first brew last night, sparged with the hose on top of the bed, I've got voltage controllers setup on my pumps, worked a treat to control the flow, my only mistake was not taking enough, I should have sparged for longer to have more in the BK, ever mind I'll get in next time, I'm no longer an AG virgin ;-)


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