Keggle and a pick-up tube

[DocDriza]

I have a keggle that was given to me. I recently bought the pick-up tube that is in the link below.

http://www.homebrewing.org/Copper-Pick-up-Tube_p_4541.html

I just tested it out, and it seems useless unless I tip the keggle and even then it doesn't seem to be that effective. There is no hose on the the front spout of the keggle. Is there some physics I am missing, or did I just waste $5.99?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Temp81]

I've read in a few threads on here that you typically have to have around 2 ft of hose on the end of the valve in order to gain the suction for the dip tube to work.

 

[DocDriza]

OK. Thanks. I'll pick some tubing up to see if that works.

 

[ultra_cas]

Yes - I think having a hose on the end of your spout will get the flow of beer below your keggle, creating a siphon which should help.

 

[jbb3]

As others have said, tubing is the right answer.

Anytime the outlet valve is higher then the intake (dip tube), you'll need tubing on the valve to create and maintain a siphon once the liquid level drops below the level of the outlet valve. And make sure the end of the tubing is lower than the bottom of the keggle/dip tube.

Water doesn't flow uphill. Not without a little help...

 

[DocDriza]

Is there an inner diameter the tubing needs to be in order for this to work? I just tried 1/2" inner diameter tubing as a test and it didn't work.

 

[jbb3]

Is there an inner diameter the tubing needs to be in order for this to work? I just tried 1/2" inner diameter tubing as a test and it didn't work.

I'm sure there is a point where if the inner diameter got so small, it would not support the flow of the siphon effect. But it would have to be pretty tiny. 1/2" is plenty big.

For the siphon effect to work, you need to satisfy a few conditions.

1. The starting water level in the BK needs to be above the level of the valve.
2. The dip tube/valve assemble needs to have a good seal.
3. The free end of the 1/2" tube needs to be below the level of the valve. The lower the better.

If any of these 3 conditions aren't meet, the siphon effect will not work. If you met conditions 1 & 3, you might want to check and tighten all the connections between the valve and the dip tube to make sure there are no leaks in order to maintain the siphon.

 

[DocDriza]

I don't know what I was doing wrong before, but I was able to get this to work. I brewed twice yesterday, and there was maybe 1/4 cup of liquid left in the bottom. I'll consider this a success.