Speidel fermentors - now with stainless rotating racking arm!

[sasky7777]

Are these the orings that were used? http://www.oringsandmore.com/silicone-o-rings-size-113-price-for-50-pcs/

 

[BSD_Glass]

Are these the orings that were used? http://www.oringsandmore.com/silicone-o-rings-size-113-price-for-50-pcs/

Looks to be true. I measured mine and came up with those dimensions.

Cheers.

BSD

 

[hafmpty]

Are these the orings that were used? http://www.oringsandmore.com/silicone-o-rings-size-113-price-for-50-pcs/

These are the ones I bought (same as original posting) and they work great. Shipping is only $2.50 and the O-rings are only $4.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160961452384?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[eulipion2]

So I have my first brew with this mod in the fermentor and have some concerns/observations:

1) The plastic on the cap flexes a little too much for comfort when I try to turn the valve on/off;

2) The stock o-rings sealed perfectly without a leak - is there any advantage to moving to the recommended rings?

3) How safe would it be to use this in a "swamp cooler" situation? All of my previous fermentors have been solid carboys without spigots or any other additional ports. Just a little worried about the valve sitting in funky water for 2-3 weeks then having my beautiful beer run through it, even with proper sanitation, and assuming no leaks.

4) Did one brew with stock spigot that had a small leak, but the leaking beer dried and sealed the leak. Not impressed with stock, overall I'm happy I upgraded the spigot.

Thanks!

 

[ram5ey]

So I have my first brew with this mod in the fermentor and have some concerns/observations:

1) The plastic on the cap flexes a little too much for comfort when I try to turn the valve on/off;

2) The stock o-rings sealed perfectly without a leak - is there any advantage to moving to the recommended rings?

3) How safe would it be to use this in a "swamp cooler" situation? All of my previous fermentors have been solid carboys without spigots or any other additional ports. Just a little worried about the valve sitting in funky water for 2-3 weeks then having my beautiful beer run through it, even with proper sanitation, and assuming no leaks.

4) Did one brew with stock spigot that had a small leak, but the leaking beer dried and sealed the leak. Not impressed with stock, overall I'm happy I upgraded the spigot.

Thanks!

1-yeah, I never had that much of an issue with that as I kind of held the whole valve as I turned the knob.

2-maybe, maybe not. But this might give you a little extra wiggle room in regard to #1

3-I wouldn't do that personally, but that's just me.

4-I had several leaking issues with multiple stock spigots, never with this solution.

Hope that helps!

 

[eulipion2]

Thanks, ram5ey!

 

[sasky7777]

Got my modification done. On some I put the valve-new oring-cap-new oring-stock oring-nut and others just the new oring. With the extra one in, there weren't a lot of threads left, but neither worked better than the other in my leak tests. Two small issues. First, the orings on the racking arm squish up and don't seem to be entering the valve body properly. Second on some of the valves if I am looking at the fermenter from the front and I want the valve handle on top I have to have the racking arm on the left and then rotate it right to get it upwards. If I have the raking arm on the right and rotate it left I sometimes get leaks. Any thoughts from others using this modification?

 

[ram5ey]

Yeah in my experience you want to always rotate clockwise. I also tried not to over tighten as that could also create a leak. The orientation of the valve doesn't really hurt its effectiveness.

 

[eulipion2]

Quick question: what size o-rings go on the arm itself (the smaller ones)? I figure they're going to need replaced from time to time, but I can't find any info on them.

 

[DemonsRun]

I also did this mod to my Speidel a while ago works great, but I also added the SSbrewtech Thermowell and digital thermometer.

 

[Bellybuster]

I just did this to one of my speidels, damned expensive mod. Little return. My opinion.
The stock valves on the speidels for me have been leak free and allow the use of 1/2" hose. The new one needs smaller hose = longer transfer.

 

[Runt135]

Did anyone figure out what size drill you would need? I just ordered the parts to do this and don't have a caliper to measure it myself. Thanks all for the great info.

 

[sasky7777]

I used a step bit, and turned it by hand since the plastic is so soft. I drilled a small pilot hole then used the step bit checking at each step to test fit, I think it was 1/2, but the step bit worked much better than a regular auger style bit.

 

[DNuggs]

Anyone do this conversion recently? I'm having a hell of a time finding a stainless steel racking arm. Looked at SSBrewtech and didn't see anything. Any thoughts?

EDIT: nevermind....found it

 

[southdenverhoo]

I also did this mod to my Speidel a while ago works great, but I also added the SSbrewtech Thermowell and digital thermometer.

Noobie (to this fermenter) question: about how much beer do you guys think is in the fermenter pictured in this post? (post #40, if the picture doesn't come through in the quote.)

Is this 60 liters? or is 60 liters the full flood capacity of the tank? (in which case this would seem to be about 10-11 gallons, I'm guessing, maybe as much as 12?)

 

[DemonsRun]

In the Picture is the 60L Speidel w/10 Gallons of Wort (Coffee Stout). 60L is the max capacity of this Speidel model (15.9 Gallons). I've done 12 Gallon batches in this as well.

I've also done this Mod to the 30L (7.9 gal) Speidel which I've fermented 3.5-6 gallon batches in.

I got them from MoreBeer who have Speidel sales maybe once or twice a year, and the additional parts directly from SSbrewtech.