Single level stand question about pumping fluid into kegs

[fastdogbrewing]

After plumbing a bunch of stuff last night on my setup I sat and stared at it. I have come to the conclusion that I have a design problem. I set it up with some copper tubing from the front to the back and up to the top of the kegs. I was going to use these to transfer fluids. Thinking about it I realize that is going to be a real mess with all the fluid left in the vertical lines.

You can see what I am talking about here:


So I was wonder how people who pump their fluids attach the hoses/lines to the top of your kettles. I am thinking about welding 1/2" couplers at the top of the kettles in the upper skirt area. With this I can put in the QD ends and a tube or pipe on the other end to direct the flow into the kettles. This will also give me some flexibility of being able to attach things like sparge arms and tubes for whirlpooling. The big advantage is I can then control the flow of the fluid that it left in the hose easily.

Any ideas, advice?
Thanks [/img]

[baltobrewer]

Well, my stand is not too far off from what you did. Here's how I did it:

I used 2 pumps and used 1 for the HLT and the other for the wort. From left to right, my pots go: BK, MT, HLT. The MT and BK share the same line, but the MT can be locked off during the boil. Both lines pass thru the CFC, whcih serves to both raise and lower the temp of the wort. The HLT has the heater and PID control on it, and I set that to mash temps + 3 degrees. When the lines rise up the return arms, I split them. Then you can divert flow around simply by changing the configuration of the valves. Here are a few pics to illustrate the flow:

[bub]

Ummm Baltobrewer,
Don't take this the wrong way but....
GO FUCK YOURSELF.... I HATE YOU
Can I be in your will?
BUB

[fastdogbrewing]

I'll have to look again when I get home, your pics are blocked at work. IIRC I know which system is yours and a lot of what you did was an inspiration for mine. I didn't really want to hard pipe it though, although I don't really have a good reason.

Anyway I am looking for a solid mount on the kegs themselves. Thinking about it all day today, instead of working, I think I am going to just weld some couplings up near the top. I think that will be the most flexibility setup. I may leave the towers and use one to hold a pipe to fill the HLT. I am thinking I may put a cross piece across them and mount my water filter up there with a valve.

[Mylo]

Ok, Jay. Thanks for posting your pix of what I am now calling the "Screamin' Eagle" version of a brewstand. You need to get B3 to send you the raw stand so you can pimp it out, a la, Caroll Shelby. Yeah - Pimp My Brewstand... nice. Which kid of yours is lives in that closet in your basement and only comes out to eat, poop, and polish the brewstand?

Ok, a few serious questions. Did you lacquer any of the exposed copper? Where did you get your SS valves - and why did you put two on each tower? Can you tell us some details about your chilling process? I assume that you recirc the wort on tower #1, and recirc the water on tower #2. I assume that you don't start off with ice... So the first "cycle" theoretically takes the wort down the midpoint between boiling and your coolant? Then you have to empty the HLT and start again? Finally - I don't see any drain taps on the lines - do you store them wet (full)? Sani-Clean for the wort circuit?

Thanks for sharing. How about some detailed pix of your kettles, sparge arm, etc?


Mylo

[BadRock]

Yeah baltobrewer, can we get a hydraulic schematic for your rig? I think I understand what you are going but I'm still not sure. Looks great anyway!

[Mylo]

From what I was able to gather (it did take me a while because there is one section that is not visible):

HLT -> Pump on right -> Outside of Coil -> Tower on right (water tower)
MT or BK -> Pump on left -> Inside of Coil -> Tower on left (wort tower)


Mylo

[baltobrewer]

From what I was able to gather (it did take me a while because there is one section that is not visible):
HLT -> Pump on right -> Outside of Coil -> Tower on right (water tower)
MT or BK -> Pump on left -> Inside of Coil -> Tower on left (wort tower)

u got it. here's a really shitty schematic from word. my computer skillz are ass:


basically, the HLT serves as the heat sink for the MT. there's a type-j thermocouple in the HLT that monitors the water temp and sends the info to the PID control. The PID sends a "heat" signal to a 7000W hot water heater element via a 50A solid state relay whenver it senses a drop in temp below my PID setpoint. During the strike water preheat and mash, i constantly recirc the HLT water to get some uniformity and fast rise. Running on 240V, the HLT can heat water at about 5 degrees a minute at full clip. here's the inside. you can see the t/c on the right wall of the HLT:


the MT has no heat source of its own. i recirc the wort thru the mash pump, then thru the inside of the CFC and back to the left return arm. the water from the HLT goes thru the right pump, the outside of the CFC in the opposite direction from the wort, then back to the right return arm. there's a valve between the MT and the BK to allow me to lock off the MT line so I can take it off to clean and empty it during the boil.

so essentially, the MT picks up heat from the HLT. i've found that without any isulation on the MT, i lose 3 degrees of heat in the pickup, so for the mash, i set the HLT PID to mash temps +3 degrees. this holds my mash rock steady. since i brew indoors, it's also very predictable.

for cooling, i initially wanted to go with ice in the HLT and recirc that. not a good idea - too much of a PITA - 10 gallons of wort burns thru too much ice. i've since added 2 splice valves to take tap water right into the water side of the CFC.
before:

after:



the BK has its own 7000W spa heater element running on 240V. that's controlled by a rheostat dimmer wired into a triac (basically a 10,000W dimmer switch) and connected thru to a dryer plug. see that here with the heat sink for the triac and SSR:


i have 2 return valves at the end of each arm for different stages of the brewday. during the preheat and mash, the left valves are closed and the right valves are open. this directs flow in loops; one from the MT -> MT and one from HLT -> HLT. during sparge, i close the rights and open the lefts. This directs flow from MT -> BK and HLT -> MT.

i clearcoated all of the copper. otherwise it would tarnish and look shitty. and i cant have that...

i hardpiped all the copper b/c it was easier to insulate with armaflex that way. also i never lose prime on the pumps b/c once the water is in the lines, it's a closed system. at the end of the brewday i flush all the lines with hot water and then use this little doohickey to hook up CO2 and blow the water out:


jeez that was a long post...