Urn Sight Tube Disaster - Oh The Humanity!

[Bribie G]

So I had 34l of RO water in the Crown urn, ready to bring up to strike temperature. And I gave the sight tube a flick with the fingernail to release some trapped bubbles - and the sight tube snapped off at the base.

Like the statue of the little boy pissing, a neat fountain of water rose from the sight tube hole. I collected it in buckets until the level was below the ST hole. Took off the fitting (nut inside the urn) - scraped the remains of the bottom of the tube out of the hole and borrowed the sight tube off the Birko. The bottom of a sight tube is threaded so the Crown one is fcucked.

Done deal.

OOps, the Birko is shorter and squatter than the Crown, and the ST is considerably shorter, so if I dough in to normal volume (BIAB) in the Crown, it would be too high for the ST and would run out of the top. :mellow:



Solution, do a thicker mash with less liquor, sparge in a bucket, and boil the spargings separately in a stockpot on my Kambrook hotplate in the brewery. Towards the end of the boil combine the two boils for the final hop addition: still below the level of the Birko ST.



Shit the things we gotta do.

I'm thinking of taking both urns to my local SS guy wherever that may be and get two plates welded over where the sight tube fitting was. The ST is only for little old girls at Church halls who want to see how many cups of tea are left in the Birko or Crown anyway, and Roo's dip stick software calcs that he posted this week are all I need.

Edit: couldn't switch to the Birko for the brew as the tap is stuffed, need to get a new one from the dealers on Friday when I'm in the Valley. Between the two of them the lovely lads have done over 150 brews so running repairs quite understandable. :wub:

 

[Silo Ted]

I have been considering the removal of my sight tube, installing a thermo through the bottom hole, and plugging the top hole with a nut & bolt assembly combined with silicone washers to seal the holes. Might be worth consideration - a lot cheaper than getting plates welded in.

Or you could get it replaced under warranty - unless of course the Crown specifically says its for water use only (I know that the Birko doesnt say any such thing in the manual).

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

Hey Bribie.

Not sure if you've seen it already. Craft Brewer stock replacement sight tubes for the crown here.

cheers

 

[schooey]

So I had 34l of RO water in the Crown urn, ready to bring up to strike temperature. And I gave the sight tube a flick with the fingernail to release some trapped bubbles - and the sight tube snapped off at the base.

Nowadays, if something like that happens to me straight up, I turn everything off and go back upstairs; The brewing Gods are pissed off and it's a sign that the day is only going to get worse. Only return when a suitable offering has been made and the Gods are appeased.

 

[raven19]

Nowadays, if something like that happens to me straight up, I turn everything off and go back upstairs; The brewing Gods are pissed off and it's a sign that the day is only going to get worse. Only return when a suitable offering has been made and the Gods are appeased.

Quitter! :lol:

Bugger about the sight tube Bribie!

 

[Bribie G]

Yup I'll order a couple from Ross. I guess the tubes aren't up to a hundred or so hard boils with wort, normally they would just sit sedately at coffee temperature. I'll ask around for a mechanic guy anyway in the meantime.

 

[Pollux]

I have had to replace mine once, similar circumstances lead to it's death.

I'm tempted to remove mine and fit a probe for a temp controller instead.

 

[shadders]

I have had to replace mine once, similar circumstances lead to it's death.

I'm tempted to remove mine and fit a probe for a temp controller instead.

My urn didn't come with a site tube so had to install myself. Was a bit put off by stories of polycarb tubes cracking so I used a length of silicone hose instead. It's a bit harder to see clearly through but no worries about it ever cracking. I will replace soon with the thin walled silicone tube for better visibility.

 

[mason]

I had the same thing happen today on my Crown urn. I was all doughed in when I noticed the sight glass had a small
drip forming every few seconds, so I tried tightening it a little and SNAP! I had a wort fountain going on. I had to get
the wife to block the hole while I tore the shed apart looking for the perfect screw to put in place of the site tube.
Turns out an air bleed screw from KTM fork leg fits the inside of the plastic dip tube perfectly, and it even had a rubber
o-ring to make it seal well. Disaster averted.

 

[leiothrix]

you don't need to get the hole welded up, just put in an s/s nut & bolt. it'll seal well, and it's both cheap and easy.

 

[Tony]

its only funny cause it happened to someone else

 

[Paul H]

So that's another problem with BIAB

Cheers

Paul

 

[leiothrix]

Not really a problem with BIAB, plenty of people use urns for an HLT with a 3V system.

 

[Pollux]

I use mine as a HLT now that I am running a 3V system, and for a while it was my HLT and also kettle while I was in upgrade mode.

 

[Bribie G]

Not really a problem with BIAB, plenty of people use urns for an HLT with a 3V system.

And some brewers use the urn as a HLT and then as the kettle with an eski as mash tun as the middle step - haven't woken up to the obvious yet