# Show Us Your Sparge Arm



## Franko (11/2/07)

Gday Brewers,
just planning what I will use as the sparge arm for my new brewery and keeping with the Bling factor Im thinking of using a shower head as shown below.
Does anyone use something similar and does it work efficiently.

These are 19cm in diameter

Franko


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## mika (11/2/07)

Where you getting that from Franko ?
I'd thought of using a shower head but hadn't found a suitable one.


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## Franko (11/2/07)

mika_lika said:


> Where you getting that from Franko ?
> I'd thought of using a shower head but hadn't found a suitable one.




Theres quite a few of them available on old Ebay

I think it would work ok 


Franko


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## poppa joe (11/2/07)

Would it be usable without all those ss BLINGYS.?????
Maybe a few holes drilled in side..??????????
I have 4 adjustable shower heads and was looking at 
same type of project.....
Cheers
PJ :beerbang:


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## Gerard_M (12/2/07)

Franko said:


> Gday Brewers,
> just planning what I will use as the sparge arm for my new brewery and keeping with the Bling factor Im thinking of using a shower head as shown below.
> Does anyone use something similar and does it work efficiently.
> 
> ...



Franko
I reckon it would work great as long as you regulate the flow. The DME commercial systems use a spray nozzel rather than an arm that moves around. As long as you keep a couple of inches of liqour above the grain bed you should avoid any problems with channeling. The most important thing really is whether or not it is shiny enough to match the rest of your gear.
cheers
Gerard


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## Stagger (12/2/07)

In my old setup I use a shower head but it was just a normal one, worked a treat.


Stagger


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## Tony (12/2/07)

Will you be recirculating wort throught it mate...... if might block a bit if you do

looks great though 

cheers


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## Franko (12/2/07)

Tony yes I will be recirculating wort thru it, just hope the false bottom contains the grain.


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## Pumpy (12/2/07)

Franko said:


> Gday Brewers,
> just planning what I will use as the sparge arm for my new brewery and keeping with the Bling factor Im thinking of using a shower head as shown below.
> Does anyone use something similar and does it work efficiently.
> 
> ...




Franko ,I do not use a sparge arm as I batch sparge .

You may have to put some sort of pre filter to avoid grain bits getting stuck 

Yes the Bling factor is very high where do the 'blue fluro lights' fit :blink: 

Pumpy


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## Jye (12/2/07)

I originally had a copper ring with 2 mm holes and grain would still get caught when recirculating... plus it was a PITA the clean. Ended up replacing it with this and Ive found it works just as good and doesnt disturb the grain bed. By the sounds of it you are fly sparging but I would still try something simple like mine and it your find it disturbs the grain bed change it. Plus this eliminates HSA (if you believe in it) since it sits just below the water level.


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## Yob (6/5/12)

Necro.. 

dunno why this thread doesnt have more in it as Ive found others photo's and ideas on various aspects of brewing and equipment in specialised areas most informative inspirational for developing a set of equipment that suits me... and continue to do so  

One of the things that has annoyed me, recently, is a wort return system, manually just sucks arse and since finding pumps my world has opened up, however, Ive found Ive not been following the KISS rule.. and damn but Ive been through some copper and silicone trying to find something that works for me.. lol

So today, after a successful trial of my ghetto HEX I focussed on my sparge arm.. Makr V, the KISS version.. My Over The Side Sealed Unit




It's gunn fit nicely in my Willow esky, the left hand side is just for support and has been plugged off with FG silicone.




Im thinking I might enlarge the 3 holes (which are drilled staggered on it) on the right (inlet side) to help flow but am waiting for the silicone to set and will test it before making alterations to it.




So... Much... Tinkering...  

Yob


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## homebrewkid (6/5/12)

Franko said:


> Gday Brewers,
> just planning what I will use as the sparge arm for my new brewery and keeping with the Bling factor Im thinking of using a shower head as shown below.
> Does anyone use something similar and does it work efficiently.
> 
> ...



stuff the bloody sparge arm i want that in my shower  


cheers: HBK


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## Wolfy (6/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> One of the things that has annoyed me, recently, is a wort return system, manually just sucks arse and since finding pumps my world has opened up, however, Ive found Ive not been following the KISS rule.. and damn but Ive been through some copper and silicone trying to find something that works for me.. lol


Floating the silicon wort return hose on the top of the wort adheres to the KISS principle ... but I'm not sure that the setup you have there does. 
Floating the silicon hose seems to work well in round mash-tuns but not sure how well it would go in an esky.


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## bum (6/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> dunno why this thread doesnt have more in it


Because you can't make a sparge arm out of swiss voile or green red buckets.


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## Fish13 (7/5/12)

my sparge arm


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## Truman42 (7/5/12)

I use a length of silicone hose looped into a T piece and with slits cut into it every inch or so. 

Haven't tried it yet but I think it will work.


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## felten (7/5/12)

Is that a good grade shower?


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## Yob (7/5/12)

fish13 said:


>



I started with one of these but got cencerned with the potential for it blocking... 

4 builds and much wasted copper later :lol:


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## razz (7/5/12)

Truman said:


> I use a length of silicone hose looped into a T piece and with slits cut into it every inch or so.
> 
> Haven't tried it yet but I think it will work.


Works just fine Truman. I'm using mine right now!


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## Fish13 (7/5/12)

I'm fly sparging atm. Although i am sure i will have to change it.


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## Truman42 (7/5/12)

razz said:


> Works just fine Truman. I'm using mine right now!



Lucky bugger, brewing while Im stuck at work..


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## dicko (7/5/12)

I have tried sparge arms with holes and I have found that invariably they block up when recirculating.
If you are only adding sparge water then they are fine however if you are recirculating for clarity or herms/rims operation then you will need to use the "cup runneth over" method.





similar to above.

Cheers


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## Yob (7/5/12)

I was thinking of putting some fine voile over the manifold to eliminate/reduce the chunks going through the system.

:unsure: will soon find out  

Yob


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## pk.sax (7/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> I was thinking of putting some fine voile over the manifold to eliminate/reduce the chunks going through the system.
> 
> :unsure: will soon find out
> 
> Yob


After my brewing disasters with wheat, highly recommended. Works like a charm.
Go a step further and dough into a sheet of voile, makes grain removal a piece of cake.

Also, next time I'm gonna let water rise above the fb level before I dough in.


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## mckenry (7/5/12)

practicalfool said:


> After my brewing disasters with wheat, highly recommended. Works like a charm.
> Go a step further and dough into a sheet of voile, makes grain removal a piece of cake.
> 
> Also, next time I'm gonna let water rise above the fb level before I dough in.



I use this beerbelly wort return, to do just that - return wort, i.e. for vorlauf. As far as sparging goes, underletting rules (IMO)


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## Yob (10/5/12)

righty ho...

all set for 2 things this weekend... spacTAPular tmoz night  and to use me bad boy Mk IV on sat. planned a double, probably back to back as it's the first use for a fair bit of the kit.




sits in there nicely, very stable and happy with the position in the MT




The flow.. 

I did add a couple of small holes at the bottom middle thirds of it after that photo, not too concerned about getting blocked but will be easy enough to enlarge the holes on the fly if I have to and will keep an eye on it.

a good beer weekend planned.. just hoping the hops turn up


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## Screwtop (10/5/12)

dicko said:


> I have tried sparge arms with holes and I have found that invariably they block up when recirculating.



Yep had three types over the years and they do!

Been using this for the past 3 years, inspired by the Blichmann Sparger, no float valve, just the silicon hose with a fishing net float at the end to hold the hose at water level. No channeling 90%+ mash eff.




Screwy


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## bradsbrew (10/5/12)

Screwtop said:


> Yep had three types over the years and they do!
> 
> Been using this for the past 3 years:
> 
> ...



Screwy are you using that for fly?


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## Kingbrownbrewing (10/5/12)

I use the same thing screwy but I am getting some fierce channeling going on....

I'm thinking of lashing out on a beer belly wort return dish.


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## bradsbrew (10/5/12)

King Brown Brewing said:


> I'm thinking of lashing out on a beer belly wort return dish.



I'm thinking the same except mine will consist of a SS camping cup and some silicon tube. Shouldnt cost anymore than $7.



Cheers


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## razz (10/5/12)

King Brown Brewing said:


> I use the same thing screwy but I am getting some fierce channeling going on....
> 
> I'm thinking of lashing out on a beer belly wort return dish.


I use to use a BB wort return dish KBB, I now use a piece of silicon hose same as Screwy (see post #19) If you want a second hand BB unit you can have mine at a fair price.


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## Screwtop (10/5/12)

bradsbrew said:


> Screwy are you using that for fly?



Natch..............real brewing :lol:




King Brown Brewing said:


> I use the same thing screwy but I am getting some fierce channeling going on....




If you're recirculating...................... stop fcuking stirring. All the flour and small particulate matter ends up forming an impervious layer accross the top of your grist.

Like this mud 



Belongs to some slack brewer, can't remember who  

Screwy


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## NickB (10/5/12)

Slow your flow down dan, and make sure the outlet hose is sitting flat on the surface if possible. You saw how much channeling I got (not much) and lets face it, if you're batch sparging it's not really an issue.

Cheers


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## MaltyHops (10/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> ...
> sits in there nicely, very stable and happy with the position in the MT


Is the sparge arm going to sit well below the top of the grain ...?


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## Wolfy (10/5/12)

King Brown Brewing said:


> I'm thinking of lashing out on a beer belly wort return dish.





bradsbrew said:


> I'm thinking the same except mine will consist of a SS camping cup and some silicon tube. Shouldnt cost anymore than $7.


Mine was $7.99 from Ikea: http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/30165971/


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## bignath (11/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> righty ho...
> 
> all set for 2 things this weekend... spacTAPular tmoz night  and to use me bad boy Mk IV on sat. planned a double, probably back to back as it's the first use for a fair bit of the kit.
> 
> ...



that looks good yob, how much space have you got underneath that arm, and how far into the mash would it sit?

cheers,

BN


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## Yob (11/5/12)

Wont really know for sure till tmoz, but i think it will sit just under the liquor right near the top of the bed for a single batch and probably within the bed for a double... Im going to use a bit of voille over the manifold.. Its a little bit of suck it and see at this stage but from the dry run it seems promising.

Its all a bit temporary as im planning to go to a keg MT in the near future so ill have to start again.. 

How did your return work out Nath? No blockages?


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## bignath (11/5/12)

iamozziyob said:


> How did your return work out Nath? No blockages?



The return worked really well, but experiments still continue.

Blew one of the elements last weekend in my rig and trying to work out if it was just a dud element or some other issue.
Volume level seemed to fluctuate in the sightglass, so im wondering if the pump drew the wort out, back in through the return, but maybe the return liquor wasn't able to penetrate the mash as fast as what the pump was returning it. I may have ended up with the elements partially out of the wort hence blowing one up. Need to experiment with flow rates, and might try the original manifold again as this literally dumped all the water at a pretty feirce rate right to the bottom of the mash where i reckon it would have no problems making itself available for the pump again.........

Temp seemed to maintain very well though so i'm stoked with your idea of the holes - cheers mate!


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## pb unleaded (18/2/13)

After numerous contraptions here is mine latest one. Adjustable, works OK.


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## TidalPete (18/2/13)

May have posted this before?
A home-made version of the BarleyBelly Wort Return. Adjustable by moving up/down the ss threaded rod at rear.


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