Removing Sight Tube From Crown 40 Litre Urn

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Truman42

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I would like to remove my sight tube from my Crown 40 litre urn to clean it but I dont want to risk breaking it.

Are they threaded and screwed in or just a push fit?

I can take the top cap off but dont want to force it until I know which way to take it out?

Thanks.
 
It's screw threaded but my advice is not to touch it. They can break just by giving them a dirty look. And replacements are hard to get, CraftBrewer seem to be permanently out of them.

I would suggest making up a strong Sodium Percarbonate solution to partly fill the urn, and tip almost flat to make it run up the tube.
You'll never get the tube looking as pretty as the day you took it out of the box, but it's unlikely to give you any infections.
 
Screws out of the elbow but be careful, its breaks easily as mine did, i'm replacing it with a temp probe for a PID controller as it will soon be the HLT in a 3V herms instead of my BIAB vessel.
 
i just use napisan in mine and blow bubbles (with my mouth) down the tube to make sure the napisan gets right up inside.

you will notice when making beer that the sight tube stays much more watery than the inside.
 
The sight glass on my 30L birko urn has broken just recently. It took a superficial knock, I think while I was cleaning up after last brewday. It seems to have been just inserted into the elbow piece and sealed with a bead of silicone. I don't plan to replace it and will use the hole for some planned upgrades. In the meantime I'll be on the hunt for a cap piece of some kind.

I generally prefer the dipstick approach to having sight glasses. What a bugger to clean they are!
 
Yup, Crusty pm'd me about the same subject. If mine breaks again I'll go to a local SS guy and just get the hole welded up.
 
Thanks gents.

Think I will attempt a CIP rather than risk breaking it.
 
After taking off the top and bottom covers off my sight tube I could see that it was fairly thick walled tubing.

I was able to unscrew it no problems. It's quite strong and flexible so maybe the original owner upgraded it to a more robust tube.
 
My sight tube on my Crown Urn doesn't have a top cover. When I wash it after a brew day I pour some hot water down the tube which seems to keep it clean for me. When I need to, I haven't as yet, I will just fill the urn with Napisan and leave it sit over night.
 

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