RIP Cooler E-HLT... HELLOOOOOO Bottom Drain Keg E-HLT....

[BulldogBrewer]

Duckfoot - this is very cool. I'm planning to go all electric, can you list the parts used? I'm new enough to this I'm not sure what all is in the picture.

Thanks!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have lots of skills, but TIG welding isn't one of them. I contacted Jaybird, emailed some pics of cardboard mock-ups and voila! It's 12" in diameter and 1.5" tall. Itr has almost 50% more surface area than a 12" FB alone. I also have a whoopie cushion style (ala Hopstopper) mesh screen to go below it if on occasion I need to use pellet hops. Currently I'm only using whole leaf hops.

I've thought about this type of stuff a lot....we talk a lot about surface area to prevent clogging, but isn't it a moot point for the bottom of the vessel EXCEPT the bottom drain? The whole/leaf hop matter will essentially sit on the floor around the drain and it would be kind of dead space. The fluid should continue to drain towards the center, even if it takes longer. If you had a simple dome type drain cover (screened of course) you could probably get by, right?

Pellet hops would be a different story...you'd definitely need all the surface area you can get.

 

[Duckfoot]

Duckfoot - this is very cool. I'm planning to go all electric, can you list the parts used? I'm new enough to this I'm not sure what all is in the picture.

Thanks!

Sure..

Keg (derrrrr!)
2" tri-clamp to 1/2 mpt fitting
2" tri-clamp clamp from McMaster
1/2" ss fpt 90* elbow
10" x 1/2" SS mpt nipple
1/2' ball valve (i got brass, soon to be replaced with SS)
homemade gasket from a silicone baking dish
4500W 240v water heater element
1" SS locknut for heater elements

 

[evanmars]

You could draw him a picture of a Liger.
...

Here's a liger for ya:

 

[Jaybird]

Jaybird did such a bang up job I should bake him a cake or something

I like cake.....Yeast cake!!!!! Thanks again for the order! That was fun to build.
Cheers
Jay

 

[BulldogBrewer]

I finally was able to water test this design. I got the tri-clover stuff off ebay finally and made a silicon gasket out of a pot holder from the dollar store. Not a single drop of a leak in site, filled the keg to the top and it worked great!

I'll have to paraphrase Bobby_M, the dead space in this thing would leave a paper towel dry!

Awsome. Thanks!

 

[Duckfoot]

Glad it worked for you...

I have been really happy with mine...

 

[shroomzofdoom]

So, just got my angle grinder and I think I am going to have at my first keggle this weekend. Most of the cutting jigs I saw used the sanke neck to make a nice round cut.

Can you tell us more about how you cut the top (er bottom)? Bonus appreciation points if you post a pic of your cutting jig!

 

[BulldogBrewer]

No jig here, I just free handed the bottom. It's pretty easy to use the edge of the sanky as a guide by riding the guard along it. Mine came out pretty clean.

 

[IamNash]

When making mine a couple nights ago, I first tried a dremel, that got me about 1.5 inches before each cutting wheel was shot (probably using the wrong wheels). Next I tried the angle grinder, but the one I borrowed had a really thick cutting disc on it, so it was taking forever too, since it was cutting a 1/4" wide cut. Finally, I broke out the reciprocating saw and that worked fantastic. I had to modify the cutting blades to make them thinner so I could make the curved line. I think I went through a 4 pack of blades getting all the way around and it took around 10 minutes.

Whatever way you do it, wear ear protection (and obviously eye protection), the sound tends to reverb in the keg and it is painfully loud.

 

[trigger]

I just cut the bottom (new top) out of two kegs tonight. I drilled a pilot hole then pounded a finish nail (the kind with no head) into a 2x4. I nailed a second 2x4 onto the side of the first and clamped my angle grinder to the "extension" 2x4 to get it back to center. The boards were oriented long way up. This worked great, and took less than 5 mins per keg to cut the tops out with a 1/8" cutoff wheel. The best part is that the pilot hole I drilled was perfect to braze in the screw for a cabinet pull that will serve as the handle on the cutout, which I made into a lid. I'll do the same to the second keg tomorrow.

 

[JuanMoore]

I did mine almost the same way as above. I started by drilling a small pilot hole in the center of the keg. I then put a long wood screw through a small piece of scrap wood and into the pilot hole. I then clamped my angle grinder onto the scrap wood at the desired spot and started cutting. Cutting the kegs took about 2 min each, with another 2 min to clean up the edges. The entire process to set-up the jig and cut 3 kegs took less than 30 min.

 

[akthor]

I am definetely doing this with my HLT and MT. Like has been pointed out one less hole to drill and when stored no ball valves sticking out. Plus two less dip tubes to buy install.

Where did you get the stainless elbow and straight pipe?

 

[MonkeyWrench]

Where did you get the stainless elbow and straight pipe?

Murray Equipment has good prices on SS fittings.

You could always do copper as well.

 

[Duckfoot]

Zombie thread resurrection:

Finally got around to retrieving the last Sanke from its donor and getting the rest of the parts... The E-HLT is now joined by a bottom drain MLT...

f.b. shot:

And yes wildwest540, I finally broke down and went with the 3-piece stainless ball valves, just for you...

 

[forcabrew]

I'm in the middle of a project that is very similar. Great job this keggles look awesome and are very inspirational

 

[BeerWard]

I like it and my cooler HLT needs an upgrade. Are you putting in a site glass? or do you measure volumes another way. thanks

 

[Duckfoot]

Yeah I ended up getting some welding done and put a site glass on it... Now on of these days I will go ahead and mark off some graduation lines with volumes... LOL

 

[mux]

Very nice, great job.

 

[stamandster]

I'm contemplating doing this with my MLT Keg and BK Keg (whenever I find one!). Any reason not to do this for an e-keggle? Seems to be to be a great idea. Don't think I'd need this on an HLT though...

 

[Bobby_M]

You don't "NEED" it on the HLT but the huge advantage is never having to reach into the thing to sop up the leftover water that doesn't make it up the siphon/dip tube. In theory, you could run 50 batches on a bottom drain HLT without ever having to look inside.

 

[buffalobrewer]

I just thinking about how easy cleaning in place would be. I always end up with a bunch of gunk below the pickup tube. no more shop vac to suck it up.

 

[stamandster]

You don't "NEED" it on the HLT but the huge advantage is never having to reach into the thing to sop up the leftover water that doesn't make it up the siphon/dip tube. In theory, you could run 50 batches on a bottom drain HLT without ever having to look inside.

I wasn't even thinking about that! You're right it is def an advantage there too!

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, I've forgotten to remove that last half cup of water out of the HLT and by next batch, there's a nice patch of algae in there.

 

[evwoller]

i wonder how well you could use the bottom (top?) cutout as a fb with a couple more minutes with an angle grinder. i am imagining radial slits for drainage

 

[dmfa200]

I know it's probably not a big deal but they do make a Sanke-to-TriClamp Gasket
I can be found here
http://www.stpats.com/index.htm
Click on the keg tools link at the site.

 

[HopheadNJ]

I really wish I saw this thread before I cut the top of my sanke off for my HLT!! Bottom drain seems awesome.

 

[Jaellis]

So I thought this is a great use for the Miller threaded style keg. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/ho...ded-keg-valve-not-retained-spiral-ring-76393/)

I'm not sure if this would be easier or harder than the triclover but the connection would be secure on there.

Any thoughts on this? I have 2 kegs, 1 normal ring clip and one miller style. I am debating which one to use for the HLT Mash/Lauter tun and which one for the boil kettle.

 

[spott]

How much liquid does it take to cover the element? I'm thinking about doing this to make a BIAB e-Keggle, however I'm worried that I won't have enough liquid above the element to cover the grains for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[wbarber69]

In my e-keggle it takes approx. 3-3.5 gallons to submerge my element. I have a brewhardware.com triclover element spud soldered as low as possible on mine. With your grain bag and enough water for a 5 gallon batch you shouldn't have any problems. I have done grain steeping with partial extract batches before without any problems.