Thermopot Bottom Drain Options

[Jocky]

I have a thermometer in my MT, mainly because all those dials look cool, but it does have its uses.

It's one on a flexible arm so the hole was quite small. I find it mainly useful as a quick eyeball check that my mash is all ok, but it also works well for keeping track of the temperature when warming my tun, seeing if there has been a temperature drop post mash in and seeing the temperature change during infusions.

The downside is that it only measures one point in the mash and actually the probe on it gets in the way of mixing in the mash. It looks cool, but if I were to do it again I'd stick the money against a rapid read thermometer like a thermapen.

I find the dials on my HLT and boiler way more useful.

[JamesF]

I'm not going to bother fitting a well for a temperature probe to mine. It's just one more thing to get in the way when cleaning. It might be useful to have one by the time I get to a recirculating mash system, but until then I'll check the temperature with a probe at the start and end of the mash and leave it there.

James

[ciderhead]

I have a centre drain in my thermopot MT and side drain in thermopot boiler, the side drain was tricky, the centre was achieved with some 1/2 inch silicone tubing and cable ties around elbow joints, iI did it to avoid potential channelling

[Eclipse9101]

Have any of you guys that have converted thermopot centre drains got a few pictures to share of the underside itself?

I've got a 50 litre thermopot on order and would like to convert it but I don't know what parts I need to do it.

Does anyone have a parts list for a centre drain on a 50 litre thermopot? Including all washers o rings etc?

Cheers guys

[YeastFace Brew Co.]

This seems like a good deal - https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/mash-tun- ... p-kit.html

[Fil]

fwiw i went for an offset drain, less work and materials.

the hardest part of the job is sanding down (belt sander is the tool to use) the thru skin fitting and the elbow into which it will screw to a) seal the drain, and b) point the drain tube centrally thru the side wall so the valve fitted will sit above the base level..

some pics of my build and how it was sorted..



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hope thats useful

[Eclipse9101]

cheers fil! thats very useful. Im considering purchasing the bottom drain kit that mrLard sells. However Im not sure if this will come "ready to fit" or if i would need to mess around cutting threads off the deck drain! Another think i cant figure out is hoe the ball valve attaches to the side of the thermopot. Do you need a hex nut screwed onto the inside face of the pot on the length of stainless pipe? So as to stop the ball valve pulling on the bottom drain fitting as it is tightened?

[Andy]

fwiw i went for an offset drain, less work and materials.

the hardest part of the job is sanding down (belt sander is the tool to use) the thru skin fitting and the elbow into which it will screw to a) seal the drain, and b) point the drain tube centrally thru the side wall so the valve fitted will sit above the base level..

You don't need to sand/cut down the fittings IMO. Built two tuns now and we didn't need to do this in both cases.

[Andy]

cheers fil! thats very useful. Im considering purchasing the bottom drain kit that mrLard sells. However Im not sure if this will come "ready to fit" or if i would need to mess around cutting threads off the deck drain!

No, I've built a tun using the MrL fitting and no cutting of fittings was required.

[JamesF]

cheers fil! thats very useful. Im considering purchasing the bottom drain kit that mrLard sells. However Im not sure if this will come "ready to fit" or if i would need to mess around cutting threads off the deck drain! Another think i cant figure out is hoe the ball valve attaches to the side of the thermopot. Do you need a hex nut screwed onto the inside face of the pot on the length of stainless pipe? So as to stop the ball valve pulling on the bottom drain fitting as it is tightened?

I've not done this yet, obviously, but I suspect you're thinking that the tap is tight up against the outer skin of the pot? I'm not sure that's how everyone does it. I think the drain is positioned such that the barrel extends through the side and allows a gap between the side of the pot and the body of the tap.

It would be a faff to get the placement exactly right, but I do quite like the idea of having a backnut inside the skin of the pot and the tap clamp up against it as it would increase the rigidity of the entire fitting. I can see myself deciding that the benefit isn't worth the pain though

James

[Eclipse9101]

Thanks for the info guys. James, that makes sense about the tap not clamping right up against the body of the tun. However I don't recall ever seeing pics of peoples conversions with gaps between the tap and the pot....

If anyone who has used the mrlard bottom drain kit in their thermopot could upload some pics of the underside fitting and close ups of the inside back of tap and inside bottom drain it would be appreciated!

[Andy]

Here's mine. Not using the MrLard kit though but pretty much the same bits and pieces.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_uy0w ... wxZzQ/view

The tap fits onto the male end of the running nipple which protudes through a hole cut in the skirt of the tun. A few stainless washers on the outside of the skirt are fitted to space things out and give a nice surface area for the tap to seat against.

[Fil]

yes the nipple with a male thread pokes thru the side skin and the ball valve just simply screws onto that.. Fill the void containing the drain with decorators caulk (its cheap) to support and hold everything in place

Good to hear no grinding/sanding needed with Mrl;ards new kit for the job.. tho its not difficult just a bit time consuming..

[Eclipse9101]

that pic of your conversion looks brill Andy!

very neat indeed!

I'm torn between ordering the mrLard bottom drain kit or doing a side drain similar to yours.

I was wondering if I went for the centre bottom drain would it be possible to drill say 2 60mm holes (1 centre and 1 at the edge) and thread the stainless pipe through from the tap hole cut into the rim?

Is there a locknut on the underside of the deck drain? Or does the 90 degree elbow screw right up to the underside of the inner skin to seal the deck drain from the inside via a silicone o ring?

[Andy]

Is there a locknut on the underside of the deck drain? Or does the 90 degree elbow screw right up to the underside of the inner skin to seal the deck drain from the inside via a silicone o ring?

The MrLard deck drain screws straight into the 90 degree elbow, no locknut. There is a cork washer on the inside of the tun between the drain and the tun base though!

(As I didn't use the MrL deck drain and mine didn't have the threads running all the way up to the top of the drain then I had to use a "buffer" washer between the 90 deg elbow and the underside of the tun as you can see in the picture, with the MrL deck drain you don't need this though but it might help with getting the alignment of the tap correct, you need to measure up and see)