Braumeister NEXTGEN Build

[Robbo2234]

oh yeah!
knew I was missing somthing!

 

[ArnieW]

You would remove the locking arms so gravity would hold them in place and create the seal.

Yeah, what Keifer33 said.

 

[Yorg]

I am struggling to find a good seal for the malt pipe. I have not been able to find anything suitable for the task at all.

The closest that I can think of (untested) would be the original BM MP seal gasket. The hole in the base of my MP is about 270mm so it's roughly the same size as the actual BM malt pipe, although I would have to modify the gasket because my hole has a horizontal edge rather than a vertical edge.

I thought I might use some silicone tube like matho but The only suitable tube I can find (which is food grade and slightly squishy) is the standard 12mm ID tube from Keg King. This is huge and will probably be unsuitable due to the fact that it will trap a lot of liquid. I don't even know for sure whether this is a large concern but I would be happier not to have to deal with a loose seal.

AARGH! This thing is doing my head in! Any other suggestions?

EDIT: And by the way those spears were perfect, they look schmick when holding down the MP and the other will perform well as a handle for picking up the MP. I just need to bend some of that threaded rod but have no idea how I will do that with the tools that I own..

Either Arnie's approach, or you may find post 575 of this thread interesting. Worked a charm for me just with the weight of the pipe. You need a flat bottom as opposed to the lip of the BM though.

 

[dkaos]

I might be An *****, but the photos you provided didnt make any sense at all, and the drawings were hard to understand too. Picures of the actual vessel would be good.
Thanks!

 

[MastersBrewery]

I might be An *****, but the photos you provided didnt make any sense at all, and the drawings were hard to understand too. Picures of the actual vessel would be good.
Thanks!

which build clint?

 

[dkaos]

which build clint?

Yorgs build, sorry I should have quoted but was on my phone.

 

[MastersBrewery]

oh ok well I've seen yorgs build on another forum, a while back, but basically he built up a line of silicone around the bottom opening of the Malt pipe in the shape of an upsidedown V, to do this he used some ply wood as form work. As with all simple ideas it sounds simple but he probably would have had to use some thing like petroleum jelly on the form so it didnt stick to that as well. Once done it would probably last a good while, and redoing it shouldn't be too much of a chore(could be wrong there though).

Edit:typo

 

[angus_grant]

Hi,

Am looking at picking up next bits and pieces for my build

Cam locks:
Female cam lock for base of main vessel

Male cam lock for malt pipe base

Would these be the correct type of camlocks? I wonder about the amount of thread sticking up into the malt pipe. May cause some issues with the bottom filter.

Is the bottom filter even necessary because I am using the cam-locks? Maybe one of those hop bazookas to stop grain getting back down the cam locks into the pump during a pump rest? Or do I need to some space between the malt pipe inlet and the grain to allow it to flow up through the whole grain bill?

And then is it a matter of removing the arms from the female cam lock so it doesn't lock when placing the malt pipe on. I've never worked with cam-locks so not quite sure how they work.

And that should leave enough thread below the main vessel to attach an elbow to then attach the silicon pipe to the pump. Bottom of my pot is about 4mm as a guess. I am wondering about using quick-disconnects for the pipe to pump to allow me to remove it during the boil

Off topic for Brau-clones: I noticed the same website have these bulk heads for plastic fermentors. I'm going to order two of those for my fermentors. I wonder if they would withstand keg pressures to get a temp straight from the beer. Pretty nifty. And can get rid of the glass of water sitting in the bottom of my fermentation fridge.

 

[stux]

Off topic for Brau-clones: I noticed the same website have these bulk heads for plastic fermentors. I'm going to order two of those for my fermentors. I wonder if they would withstand keg pressures to get a temp straight from the beer. Pretty nifty. And can get rid of the glass of water sitting in the bottom of my fermentation fridge.

I use a beerbelly fermenter thermowell
http://www.beerbelly.com.au/ferment.html (bottom of page)

Just fits through a standard airlock oring in the fermenter lid and you can measure the actual wort temp

 

[angus_grant]

My fermentation fridge is a normal bar fridge with freezer section and I had to chop a small section out of the freezer (not through the coils though) so my airlock would fit. I wonder whether your thermowell would present the same problems.

With regards to the thermowell I posted, I wonder about catching it on something and ripping it out of the fermentor??

 

[keifer33]

On the thread inside the malt pipe with the fitting u could add a few washers as spacers on the thread before it goes into the malt pipe and leave just enough for the nut to go on the inside leaving minimal areas.

 

[seamad]

If you just have the cam fitting in your MP channeling is going to be a major issue, efficiency will be very low.

I understand that Arnie has a false bottom in his to break up the flow ( please correct if incorrect), and his efficiency is still under what I or other systems are getting ( 10-15% lower).

Those camlocks look fine, just remove arms and they will fit but not lock. You may still get a small amount of leakage from them unless the MP is forced down, ifn so probably no concern anyway.

If I was going this way I would try an elbow on the camlock in the maltpipe with a nipple fitting, attach a length of silicone hose with a ss stopper in it to weigh it down and drill lots of holes in it.
Probably would work and wouldn't need any sort of bottom screen. Downside is that drainage would be very slow without some sort of falsie over it.
cheers
sean

 

[stux]

My fermentation fridge is a normal bar fridge with freezer section and I had to chop a small section out of the freezer (not through the coils though) so my airlock would fit. I wonder whether your thermowell would present the same problems.

With regards to the thermowell I posted, I wonder about catching it on something and ripping it out of the fermentor??

Have you got a cm or two clearance above your fermenter lid? As long as the fermenter is deep enough to take the rest of the thermowell you don't need much clearance

On my 60L fermenter I lower the thermowell so that about 2cm is clear. On my 25L pails I keep 5 cm clear, but I try to position the bottom of the thermowell a little bit off the bottom of the fermenter

 

[angus_grant]

yeh, I figured as much with just using the cam-lock or bazooka-type device.

So if I am using cam locks, and still then using a false bottom/bottom filter, then the cam-locks just seem to be a great way to complicate the issue, restrict flow of mash, extra thingies to clean, something else to go wrong, and more expense. Scratched.

So back to seal on bottom and clamping malt pipe down. So what fittings are people using in main vessel to hook up to pump. I think Steve had some nice looking rounded fittings. And I will have to order a heating element next up so I can fit that as everything else will have to fit around it.

Slow progress is better than no progress. he he

Stux: not much gap when using heating pad, which will be getting more use as we get into winter here in Brisbane. Yes, it does get a bit cold here. Once a year.

 

[bonj]

Skin fittings, I think you're thinking of. Here's a link as an example. Probably cheaper to find a local supplier, but they have a good picture: http://www.cassellmarine.com.au/p/608179/s...n-fittings.html

 

[matho]

If I was going to use camlocks then I would use skin fittings on the bottom of the malt pipe and trim down the thread so that 'TYPE D' camlock could be screwed up on to the skin fitting thread and then use a 'TYPE F' fitting on the bottom of the urn.

I think that if you had a bottom filter plate then channelling would not be an issue because it would be about the same as a real BM, using camlocks would leave a little bit of wort in the bottom of the malt pipe just because the skin fittings are raised a bit.

cheers steve

edit LINKY

 

[MastersBrewery]

I think Arnies low efficiency is partly due to no sparge, now I haven't read his blog for probably a year so, relying on memory

 

[angus_grant]

Bingo, thanks Bonj.

Thanks for the link Steve. That place has quite a few connections and bits and pieces that look interesting. The actuated ball valves caught my eye, but I can't imagine they are all that cheap. And they can be something for version 4....

So I will be grabbing 2 * 3 piece ball valve (main vessel and pump outlet to slow flow if required), two skin fittings for pump inlet and outlet, 2 stainless elbows for bottom of skin, quick disconnects for pump, and heavy duty silicon tubing. That's about all I can afford to spend o beer stuff this month. Probably total around $200 or so.

Pump will be next month as it is a big ticket item. Still haven't decided whether I go all out and get a march pump. One of these has caught my eye as it is around 1/2 March pump price. But Craftbrewer have it listed but no stock, same as the heating element they have as well so makes me a bit wary. Has anyone used one of those pumps and any opinions?

 

[Edak]

I used the skin fittings which I bought from JustBoating for about $19 each.
I found the Linky for you

I cut them down to a suitable length, used one elbow and barb to connect hose to the pump inlet and, one barb and a ball valve (to control flow) on the pump outlet. All hoses are high temp (softie) 12mm silicon. All fittings and hose except for the skins were from Keg King and weren't too expensive. The pump doesn't have screw connections so I had to use hose and clamps.

EDIT: clarified my comment a bit

 

[angus_grant]

Cool, sound like I am on the right track. Or at least a track which has been trodden before. he he.

One thing I just realised. A 2400W element draws bang on 10A, but adding a pump in as well puts me over the 10A level of standard wiring. That cheaper pump I linked to before draws 1.1A and the March 809 pump draws 1.4A.

What are other people doing with regards to amp draw?