Pick Up Tube - Some Help Needed Please

[zarniwoop]

Hi All,

After wasting the afternoon searching online I'm struggling a little with the whys/how to for a pick up tube. I am installing a stainless steel weldless ball valve in my 60L flat bottomed aluminium pot. Question is do I need to install a pick up tube or can I just mount the valve at the base of the pot? If I do need to install a tube what is the recommended method? It seems that a 1/2 inch compression fitting with copper pipe is the way to go, unfortunately Craft Brewer is out of 1/2 inch compression fitting so does anyone have an alternate source or better suggestion.

Thanks in advance.

Zarniwoop

 

[browndog]

You could mount it at the base of the pot as close to the bottom as you can get but you have to consider that the flow will stop when the level of the wort reached the top of the fitting (letting air in the line) Will you end up loosing too much wort by this? By mounting your tap higher and having a pick up tube cut close to the base of the pot you will minimise your loses. I'm not sure what a weldless ball valve looks like from the inside so I can't comment on what to do. but I found after experimenting with a 1/2 dozen different pick up configurations, I settled on a 90 degree elbow turned down to face the bottom of the kettle.

cheers

Browndog

 

[geneabovill]

From the outside in: barbed nipple > elbow > ball valve > nut > washer > silicon/PVC seal > shank > wall of pot > silicon/PVC seal > washer > nut > compression fitting > pick up tube.

I'll post pics when I get home.

 

[bigandhairy]

Hi All,

After wasting the afternoon searching online I'm struggling a little with the whys/how to for a pick up tube. I am installing a stainless steel weldless ball valve in my 60L flat bottomed aluminium pot. Question is do I need to install a pick up tube or can I just mount the valve at the base of the pot? If I do need to install a tube what is the recommended method? It seems that a 1/2 inch compression fitting with copper pipe is the way to go, unfortunately Craft Brewer is out of 1/2 inch compression fitting so does anyone have an alternate source or better suggestion.

Thanks in advance.

Zarniwoop

I got my 90deg SS elbow compression fitting from Nev at Gryphon Brewing. Great product and service.

bah

 

[Spiesy]

I got my compression fitting and pickup ss tube from BeerBelly - very nice.

 

[Arghonaut]

You can not use a pickup tube, but depending on the width of your pot you will lose 2-4 liters of wort.

I bought a 90 deg ss elbow off eBay for a couple of dollars, mounted the ball valve so this sits 1mm off the bottom of the pot, now I can suck out all but a few hundred mls.

 

[Tex083]

Bunnings has heaps of 1/2 fittings. I used a flaired end and some copper tube, bent it to almost 90 and flaired the end, screwed it onto the threaded fitting inside the pot.
On my smaller 19L pot I don't have a pick up tube as loss is minimal. Your choice to pick up or not.
Beer belly do a nice SS one if you need