calling all keggle builders

[ehk089]

hey guys, I'm new to the hobby, and quickly moved on from my Northern Brewer kit to making my own keggle for all grain. the problem I have is the keggle I made leaves close to 1 gal in the pot when draining. I used 1/2" copper and am wondering if I reduced that to 1/4" if I might get more suction and get everything?...any thoughts would help. thanks

 

[charger]

I used 1/2" copper and am wondering if I reduced that to 1/4" if I might get more suction and get everything?...any thoughts would help. thanks

I have no idea what this means. Gotta give more information and preferably a picture.

 

[mongoose33]

I'll bet it's the manifold on the bottom he's talking about. One way, if that's in fact true, to do this is make sure the holes are on the bottom of the manifold, not the top.

 

[charger]

I'll bet it's the manifold on the bottom he's talking about. One way, if that's in fact true, to do this is make sure the holes are on the bottom of the manifold, not the top.

Manifold or dip tube? I was thinking boil keggle, maybe it’s for mashing, hard to tell from the OP.

Ultimately you need to create a siphon with a hose on the outlet of the keggle that oulets lower than the liquid line in the keggle. This will draw the remaining liquid, at least before the dip tube or manifold is exposed, and I think this is applicable in both mashing or boiling.

 

[day_trippr]

^exactly that^

A dip tube on its own isn't going to draw below the higher port through which it passes without the siphon effect.
Add a couple of feet of tubing to the outlet, get the flow going, and it should draw down to the end of the dip tube before sucking air...

Cheers!

 

[ehk089]

sorry guys, couldnt post a pic (and had a few beers when posting). I was referring to the dip tube in the keggle. I havent been using a hose because I just let the cooled wort drain directly from the valve so it aerates on its way down into the fermentor bucket....So If I attach enough hose to the valve so that its below where the dip tube is, then it should drain more than without the hose? I figured if I had the valve wide open it would be the same effect.

 

[buzz1670]

Has to be below the valve.

 

[charger]

So If I attach enough hose to the valve so that its below where the dip tube is, then it should drain more than without the hose? I figured if I had the valve wide open it would be the same effect.

Yep, the hose end needs to be below the keggle to draw more wort out.

Another point to add, depending on the diameter of the hose, the valve may need to be kept wide open as well. If the wort doesn’t completely fill the tube, a siphon won’t be created. Just open full bore when you begin to drain and it should take wort down to dip tube no problem.

 

[Bobby_M]

Think about why siphons work and then think about what would encourage liquid to go up hill with nothing hanging off the outside of the valve. A siphon works because the weight of the water on the drain side creates a vacuum within the tubing. More water has to be in the drain side than in the diptube inside the tank and the outlet has to be lower than the inlet.