Do You Have A Completly Dry Brewery

[fergi]

after brewing today i realised that my brew rig has a few leaks, its mainly on the ballcocks, it seems that when i have drilled the s/s vessels and 50 liter esky and installed the ballcocks with silicon washers , they were all water tight but now they have minor leaks, only a drip every 5 seconds or so but at the end of the day there is a bit of a puddle, not any real hassle but would like to get it all dry.tried tightening them but didnt make any real difference. how does your rig stand up to leaks/drips etc. any ideas about installing the ballcocks.
fergi

 

[Wolfy]

From Wiki:
A ballcock (also balltap or float valve) is a mechanism or machine for filling water tanks, such as those found in flush toilets:

Unless you have a really interesting brewery setup, i assume you mean ball valve:

Assuming you mean ball valves and that you are using weldless fittings, where is it actually leaking?
Is the leak along the thread where it screws into another fitting.
From the valve itself.
Or on the bulkhead where the fitting goes through the wall of the vessels.

If it's leaking where the fittings go through the vessel, what fittings and washers are you using and how are they configured?

 

[bignath]

after brewing today i realised that my brew rig has a few leaks, its mainly on the ballcocks, it seems that when i have drilled the s/s vessels and 50 liter esky and installed the ballcocks with silicon washers , they were all water tight but now they have minor leaks, only a drip every 5 seconds or so but at the end of the day there is a bit of a puddle, not any real hassle but would like to get it all dry.tried tightening them but didnt make any real difference. how does your rig stand up to leaks/drips etc. any ideas about installing the ballcocks.
fergi

My 3V rig is completely leak free, with the exception of me losing a small sprinkle out of hoses when transferring from one vessel to the next.

IE: The HLT is pumped to the Mash Tun. This same hose is also used to recirculate the HLT, so when it's time to dough in, i have to close the inline tap in the hose, disconnect it (make a small spillage of everything after the inline tap) and reconnect it to the Mash Tun. Repeat process (including spillage) for the sparge process.

But actual leaks from valves, sightglasses, hoses etc? Nope, i'm as dry as a (insert comical one liner here).

My new single vessel has a very small leak on the wort return line as it goes through the inline valve because one of the hose clamps is ******. Need to replace it. Probably end up with 20ml sitting on the lid by the end of the mash.

 

[Adam Howard]

Two words. Teflon tape.

 

[felten]

teflon and keg lube

oh and a single silicon washer on the inside of the vessel

 

[Fish13]

and a nut that is recessed for the silicon ring. I dont like using flat washers on the silicon washer

 

[Muggus]

Dry brewery?

No, i'm guilty for having the odd beer on the job.

 

[fergi]

From Wiki:
A ballcock (also balltap or float valve) is a mechanism or machine for filling water tanks, such as those found in flush toilets:

Unless you have a really interesting brewery setup, i assume you mean ball valve:

Assuming you mean ball valves and that you are using weldless fittings, where is it actually leaking?
Is the leak along the thread where it screws into another fitting.
From the valve itself.
Or on the bulkhead where the fitting goes through the wall of the vessels.

If it's leaking where the fittings go through the vessel, what fittings and washers are you using and how are they configured?

sorry wolfy my brew rig is not that interesting.

you are right though ,ball valve, thats what i meant.
i have the main problem with the mash tun, its an esky with a hole drilled through one end, then i have a threaded stainless pipe screwed into my "ball .valve" then through the hole in the esky, this then screws into my manifold, inside the m/t i have a silicon washer and fibre washer with a stainles washer same on the outside of the m/t.it seems that the esky is a bit concave around the hole, i am thinking i might try a slightly larger tube or pipe through the esky wall and fix that permanantly , then put the stainless pipe through that , it should lock up tighter without deforming.
have tried plumbers tape but still has drips.

 

[Yob]

The pink temp rated teflon tape is the bomb, it's thicker than the regular stuff amd works a treat..

On the recent HEX build i didnt even use a lock nut on the inside, just screwed the barbs in with a healthy wrapping of the pink tape and sealed like a charm.

My HLT has a very slight leak when cold but seems to seal when at temp so never worried about fixing it

MT is dry, i confess i didnt make this part of the rig, I bought it off a fellow member, it has a collar on the inside amd hasnt leaked a drop.

I dont even lose anything to the HEX as when im finished with recirc I can lift it to a shelf above the mt and gravity empties it for me, anything left in the hose goes right into the kettle.

All in all, dry as a nuns c*nt, i really dont like the idea of puddles of wort laying about inviting wild yeasties into the brewery, if i do get some leakage, like from a dodgy tap on my cube recently, i flame the **** out of it with a little pen torch thingy just to be safe.

Yob

Edit: phucking phone...

 

[Truman42]

Im leak free at my ball valves and fittings and use the pink teflon like Yob does. But I make up for it when connecting and disconnecting my hoses.

@ Big Nath..What sort of inline tap do ou use on your hoses? I need to do soemthing like that because when I open the mash valve to purge the line of air I end up with wort everywhere as Im trying to re connect to the pump.

I was thinking of using one of those Y brass garden fittings and have one side in from the HLT and the other side in from the mash so I can just switch between the two.

Like this but obviously in brass.

 

[barls]

Dry brewery?

No, i'm guilty for having the odd beer on the job.

im with muggus, theres no fun unless theres beer involved.

 

[kymba]

can you cut away some of the outer skin of the esky & foam and install something hard for you to screw against? i have used a hdpe chopping board with success

 

[stux]

I thought PVC pipe wasnt food grade?

 

[hsb]

Looks like it might be CPVC, rather than PVC?

Agree about getting Pink Plumbers tape if using the white stuff, it is far far better.
You can always go crazy with the Silicon if it just won't seal and is a permanent addition to the Esky.

 

[Wolfy]

you are right though ,ball valve, thats what i meant.
i have the main problem with the mash tun, its an esky with a hole drilled through one end, then i have a threaded stainless pipe screwed into my "ball .valve" then through the hole in the esky, this then screws into my manifold, inside the m/t i have a silicon washer and fibre washer with a stainles washer same on the outside of the m/t.it seems that the esky is a bit concave around the hole

If I understand correctly, you could be having a similar problem to what I did.
The nuts/washers are on the internal and external walls of the esky wall, however between those two surfaces there is nothing to hold in place, so as you tighten the nuts the esky walls deform and get pushed closer together. I 'fixed' it by widening the hole in the outer layer and screwing the connection only through the inner skin, however that did make it a little less secure.

 

[bignath]

@ Big Nath..What sort of inline tap do ou use on your hoses? I need to do soemthing like that because when I open the mash valve to purge the line of air I end up with wort everywhere as Im trying to re connect to the pump.

Truman, i basically use something very similar to this but it's green and black instead of red and black. Hose clips on either side using hose clamps.

Can be viewed in the single vessel rig build link in my sig. It's the green and black valve in the lid's wort return...

Garden section at Bunnies....

 

[fergi]

If I understand correctly, you could be having a similar problem to what I did.
The nuts/washers are on the internal and external walls of the esky wall, however between those two surfaces there is nothing to hold in place, so as you tighten the nuts the esky walls deform and get pushed closer together. I 'fixed' it by widening the hole in the outer layer and screwing the connection only through the inner skin, however that did make it a little less secure.

yes wolfy thats the same problem i have, might try and put a solid 2 inch stainless or brass tube permanently into the esky , then have something to tighten both ballvalve and manifold onto,
so need a solid fitting through the esky wall.

fergi

 

[pk.sax]

Can't you just inject some resin or silicone in between the esky walls to firm it up before you tighten the nuts?

 

[fergi]

Can't you just inject some resin or silicone in between the esky walls to firm it up before you tighten the nuts?

yes thought about that, it is certainly reasonably soft in between the walls. might look at that idea too.
fergi