Way too much dead space

Chris Craig · March 08, 2012, 07:04:50 PM

So, I installed a bulkhead in my sanke, and fitted it together today only to find that even though I've lowered the bulkhead as much as I could, I still have about 2 gallons left in the kettle when I lose siphon. Not acceptable.

The idea was to have a SS braid circle the bottom of the kettle.

What do I do?

Kyle · March 08, 2012, 07:27:05 PM

I have a very similar setup on my slowly progressing e-brewery. While I haven't measured it yet, I think there is only about a 1/2 gallon of deadspace.

When you did the test, was any portion of the hose sticking up? that would let air in and kill the siphon.

Also, I can't tell from the photo, but are the connectors right at the bottom? If not, adjust the fittings to lower them right down and you should be good.

Chris Craig · March 08, 2012, 07:41:46 PM

Those fittings are within an 1/8" of the bottom. I wanted just enough room to be able to remove the braid for cleaning. Here's a shot from inside the kettle...

Also, I made a mistake. It's just over a gallon of dead space.

Kyle · March 08, 2012, 07:48:59 PM

I'll see if I can find my camera, I think I have a solution for you on my kettle

Kyle · March 08, 2012, 08:28:58 PM

The clearance beneath the fitting is your problem. If you take an elbow and direct it downward at an angle so the stainless steel hose rests right in the bottom, it works very well. I use a 1/4" fitting to unscrew for cleaning the hose now, but I will be putting a camlock QD in there once the budget allows, as it will be less stress on the hose. As you will see in the pic, the hose needs to be re-shaped a bit near the fitting as it got bent, but other than that, its good.

I used this setup in a boil kettle with a flat bottom, and there was virtually no dead-space.

Chris Craig · March 08, 2012, 08:50:17 PM

Thanks Kyle. I'll give that a shot.

Chris Craig · March 08, 2012, 10:13:21 PM

Ok. I did basically what you did. That knocked it down to about 3 qts, and I think that if I tip the kettle a bit at the very end, I'll likely be down to 1 qt. I can live with that. I'll look into a bit of a redesign a little later.

Thanks for the help!

chrismccull · March 09, 2012, 07:35:45 AM

You could also use a longer nipple between the 90 and the tee.

Chris Craig · March 09, 2012, 08:21:05 AM

Before I could do that Chris/Dean, I'd need to get another piece to extend the whole thing further into the kettle. I'm definitely going to do that at some point, but I'm not spending any more money on this for a while. This $40 keg has ended up costing me over $100!

chrismccull · March 09, 2012, 08:51:26 AM

Why do you say that? You shouldn't need to move it out to lower the tee?

Chris Craig · March 09, 2012, 09:16:09 AM

The T is just barely above the bottom right now. Since the bottom is concave, if I want the T lower, I need to move it further into the kettle.

chrismccull · March 09, 2012, 09:26:39 AM

I see.

I have a 2 1/2" 316 1/2" nipple if that is of value to you.

Chris Craig · March 09, 2012, 09:43:22 AM

It is. I could use that to lower the T, but I would also need a coupler to go from the nipple coming into the kettle to extend it in further. I guess it would be a female to male coupler.

I think I'll just try this out tomorrow, and see what happens.

brew · March 09, 2012, 09:47:44 AM

So I'm getting used to mine now. I made my fittings with copper which is cheap, easy and wonderful. When my keggle is flat, it will drain to about 2 or 3 quarts, but if I tip my keggle with a 2x4 block, I can suck it dry. I did this last night with the Dunedin Dumber, 1 oz of leaf in the bottom (came to about 3/4 of a quart of leaf, plus maybe 500 ml of wort left altogether).

Here's the fitting - 1/2" copper fits perfectly in the weldless fitting from hopdawgs. I wondered if it would lose the siphon, but it does maintain, although a tiny bit of air does get in. I'm going to fit some teflon tape to it next time.

[attachment=1:5c9hgpas]keggle 001.jpg[/attachment:5c9hgpas]

The hose fits nicely on 1/2" copper as well. The fittings slide into the tee nicely - no need to solder...

[attachment=0:5c9hgpas]keggle 003.jpg[/attachment:5c9hgpas]

Chris Craig · March 09, 2012, 10:02:53 AM

Quote from: "brew"So I'm getting used to mine now. I made my fittings with copper which is cheap, easy and wonderful. When my keggle is flat, it will drain to about 2 or 3 quarts, but if I tip my keggle with a 2x4 block, I can suck it dry. I did this last night with the Dunedin Dumber, 1 oz of leaf in the bottom (came to about 3/4 of a quart of leaf, plus maybe 500 ml of wort left altogether).

Here's the fitting - 1/2" copper fits perfectly in the weldless fitting from hopdawgs. I wondered if it would lose the siphon, but it does maintain, although a tiny bit of air does get in. I'm going to fit some teflon tape to it next time.

The hose fits nicely on 1/2" copper as well. The fittings slide into the tee nicely - no need to solder...

Very nice!