The Conical Thread

[RubberToe]

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I need to build a stand, even a temporary one. Ideally I'd like to be able to fit a 5 gallon bucket underneath for easy Clean In Place. Those legs are a bit too close together.

Ideas?

Originally I was going to extend the legs with 4x4 posts and a piece of plywood on the bottom but I'd need a bucket with a 10" diameter here. The height would also make transfering to a keg without pressure a snap.

[ottiscan]

Hi Rob,

Looks like there's a perfectly good fridge sitting beside the conical. Why not put a temp controller on that and put your conical in a plywood base in the fridge. Great for temp control of your fermentation and also great for cold crashing prior to going in your kegs.
Just a thought.
Lew

[RubberToe]

Hi Rob,

Looks like there's a perfectly good fridge sitting beside the conical. Why not put a temp controller on that and put your conical in a plywood base in the fridge. Great for temp control of your fermentation and also great for cold crashing prior to going in your kegs.
Just a thought.
Lew

Hey Lew, there's too much stuff (beer, yeast, etc) in the fridge and the freezer is being used for hops and peppers. I'm still on the lookout for a full fridge or freezer but kind of spent too much money recently. I've seen some on kijiji last week for a decent price though. Once I figure our what height I want this and how much room I need I'll pick something up for sure. My first brew will be without, but it will be ok since my basement is nice and cool.

[Jimmy]

Hey Rob,

Do you think the CIP will be necessary? I was wondering about that for my own setup.

[RubberToe]

Hey Rob,

Do you think the CIP will be necessary? I was wondering about that for my own setup.

Maybe not, I just cleaned it by hand and sprayed it with starsan a couple of times. It would be nice to drain into a bucket though. I have an idea now to put the legs on a horizontal V facing out, with posts under that, the front two being wide enough apart to fit a 5 gallon HDPE paint bucket.

[Jimmy]

I was thinking about hooking the pump up to the bottom and just recirculating PBW through it while giving it a scrub. Once you're done, just take the outlet hose and empty it down the drain with the pump. Then you can fill it up a decent amount with water, flick the pump on (with the outlet once again running to the drain) and start spraying it to rinse it out...maybe that's wishful thinking?

[Tony L]

I am sure you guys are taking apart the valves between each brew session to clean and sanitize as you should and just doing a CIP with the bare conical.
There is a lot of gunk that gets caught inside the valves that needs to be cleaned between fermentations.

That was the biggest pain I found with using them... the cleaning of the valves, and to be honest, the reason I got rid of them.

[mr x]

I've never taken a ball valve apart in my life. Everything gets heat and that's enough for me. The reason I want a butterfly for the bottom is the ball will hold wort when closed. Don't like that on a fermenter, even though it should remain sanitized.

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[RubberToe]

I think I may use the top TC port for blow off and thermowell at the same time. I'm still not sure a thermowell is worth the hasle vs taping my probe to the side.

For the thermowell idea I'd get a 16 or 20" thermowell from BH and attach it with a TC MPT adapter, 1/2" T (sideways), compression fitting on the top to hold the thermowell, and hose barb on the side for blow off tube.

Thoughts?

[CorneliusAlphonse]

You could use an 11L ice cream bucket it would fit underneath probably

[mr x]

I think that will work rob. I have lots of compression fittings.

[jeffsmith]

Rather than finding a fridge to fit my fermenter in for temperature control, I'm strongly considering this since I don't have the means to machine aluminum myself: http://conical-fermenter.com/Peltier-Kit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. It doesn't include the peltier chips or a temp controller, but I think it would suit my needs perfectly and occupy a lot less space and power than a fridge. Looks like the chips can be had on ebay for $12-$20.

[mr x]

I will be wrapping the conical with 1/4" tubing and insulating it. Run it off a PID and solenoid.

[Tony L]

I've never taken a ball valve apart in my life. Everything gets heat and that's enough for me.

That's all right for a kettle, but what about a conical... that's what I thought everyone was talking about. I haven't taken apart my kettle valve since it was installed either, but when I had the conical, I did it after every use.

[mr x]

I'll be using it as an hlt, so I'll be covered there, although I'll have a butterfly on on the dump.

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[Tony L]

I'll be using it as an hlt, so I'll be covered there, although I'll have a butterfly on on the dump.

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Ah, gotcha now. I was thinking it was going to be used as a fermenter.

[Jimmy]

I'll be using it as an hlt, so I'll be covered there, although I'll have a butterfly on on the dump.

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Ah, gotcha now. I was thinking it was going to be used as a fermenter.

He's using it as both. Dropping a heat stick in to heat, and then fermenting in it at the end.

[Tony L]

[quote="Jimmy"

Ah, gotcha now. I was thinking it was going to be used as a fermenter.[/quote]

He's using it as both. Dropping a heat stick in to heat, and then fermenting in it at the end.[/quote]


It might not be now, but I think later on he will have issues with his beer due to not taking apart the valves to clean.
Each time I did so when I had my conical, I always found a bit of yeast behind the ball and seals on the valves. If left there, I feel, that pasteurizing the valve might not always work.

[RubberToe]

Regarding a stand, an interesting thing about these conicals is that the fermenter comes out of the stand. When I get a fridge for it I was thinking of making a custom shelf with a hole cut into it like those with the plastic induction tanks do (Ottiscan).

[RubberToe]

After taking apart your valves for cleaning, then reassembling, make sure you do a leak test on your fermenter. I had to reassemble one of my valves a few times before it would stop dripping. It would suck to discover this after filling it with wort and not having a TC end cap around.

[mr x]

And that's one of the issues with valves. The more you take them apart, the greater the chance of them not going back together properly. I bought extra endcaps anyway just for this reason. Any valve can leak, and usually at the worst moment. Looking forward to getting my hands on this thing...

[mr x]

Element beta. May go to a triclamp at the top instead of the square block.

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[LiverDance]

So x, i'm guessing you're making something like Jimmy is buying? Looks like a pretty cool project.

[mr x]

Not going quite that far. But I will be using this as a hlt for sure.

[mr x]

Inside.

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