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DIY 5 gallon bucket "vortex" brewer
- Thread starter Weird Jimmy
- Start date
Thanks I just sealed them up...
Great call! I have some adjustments on my 55 gal unit it seems. Thank you for the answer and advice.
MM forgive me if this has been addressed on your site. How Are you cleaning out the inside of your air lift? Do you have a large pipe cleaner like tool or just soap and water. Thanks in advance. Also I read that you noticed the pressurised pump sprayer was rough on bacterial populations during your testing, do you only use the hand held spray bottles.
Thanx HL45
Thanx HL45
They make Uniseals small enough for 1/4in tubing also 1/4in top hat grommets work.
High life - I have a small pressure washer that does a fantastic job on my larger brewers. My 5 gal I just use elbow grease, soap and water. I clean after every use, most people only rinse in between, and soap every other time or so.
I was able to find the right size drill bit for the tubing from petco(7/32 drill bit).. I have built another one with all the right size pieces and couplings. My only question left is the center hole. Do you add anything to that? it just makes it to the uni-seals other end. I was going to remove that lip on the bottom of the bucket to make it flush. this would add another 1/4"..Here is the new manifold not glued. The air works in the tubing nothing is blocking it and no leaks the tubing fits the hole perfectly now.
The sprayer which caused microbial damage was the sort one squeezes for each spray, like a windex bottle. The ones you pump up with air are fine.
We use plain water and pipe brushes to clean up right after a brew and use peroxide every few months or as needed.
I have the bucket running now with some tea brewing. the water is no longer making the vortex its just spinning slow. I have checked everything is working as it should be. What if the hole at the bottom is larger. With plain water it works. when I add the Extreme tea bags and activator it doesnt create the vortex and spins slow. I took the bags out after 5hrs of brewing. this did clog the hole at first. Now there's noting but tea water..Any Idea's whay it's not spinning anymore?
Do you have that pipe running up the center? You should take that out if you do. You just want the uniseal and the 5-way at the bottom.... What size air pump are you using? Maybe it's a bit too small? ... Foam collection on the surface can also slow the spin way down as well. If you add 3 or 4 small drops of some sort of natural oil (olive oil, fish oil, etc.), it will break the surface tension of the water and won't allow the foam to gather.
Thnaks nothing in the center hole.. The pump im using is a Active Aqua 20W...I will try a bit of oil
I use an 80 watt for my teas 5gal up to 15, then double it for my 55gal. Maybe the problem is too small a pump? I have found products like Bountea tend to clog up vortex brewers. Try another tea with MM's recipe's and it should be better if the material itself is your problem.
I just ordered a
Ecoplus Commercial Air 5 Pump 80 Watt .. thats 4x more powerful then the one I have now. I think this should be plenty big enough..Thats a huge hole to plug? I would not think the hole is plugged . Im going with the pump not strong enough..
Description PSI Watt Use Tube Size Liter / Min
Ecoplus 4.2 80 3/8 ID 88
Ecoplus Commercial Air 5 Pump 80 Watt .. thats 4x more powerful then the one I have now. I think this should be plenty big enough..Thats a huge hole to plug? I would not think the hole is plugged . Im going with the pump not strong enough..
Description PSI Watt Use Tube Size Liter / Min
Ecoplus 4.2 80 3/8 ID 88
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linear pumps or commercial style? Linear is what Current Culture uses. SLS just got en also(Air Force). What is better? Thanks
I have this pump and (knock on wood) no problems in over a year.
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydro...363869027&sr=8-15&keywords=hydrofarm+air+pump
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydro...363869027&sr=8-15&keywords=hydrofarm+air+pump
SpicySativa
Member
That EcoPlus Air 5 will suit you well. That's what I use for my airlift/vortex brewer. Check it out in my "Dropping Science" thread if you're interested.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=255613
yeah, I use an air 3 and it works great; stepping up to an air 5 would be awesome.
SpicySativa
Member
The step up from the 18 watt (Eco 1) to the Eco 5 was night and day. That Eco 1 was head and shoulders above my old "high powered" aquarium pump, then I got the Eco 5 and the Eco 1 didn't seem so fantastic anymore.
The first unit is a hydrofarm Active Aqua 20w.. I got this with the first Tea brewer the Titan flo-n-brew. It worked great but was a mess and did not make enough..
Now If I get a 15g tank the pump will be big enough to Handel it.
Now If I get a 15g tank the pump will be big enough to Handel it.
Like I said, Bountea will clog my 15 gal vortex (1 1/4'' pvc) with only 5 gal worth of material. It is amazing how much material they add. They also have lots of ground rocks that they don't sift out. I wasn't sure about the product you mentioned, that is the only reason I brought it up and it doesn't sound like your problem.
I have the Ecco Commercial 5 also, and it works great. I believe MM said it will do a brew up to 50gal. I bought two for my 55 gal, but one is strong enough for a good airlift at that volume. You will have to take a picture or two of your brewer in action when your new pump gets here. Good luck.
Also, MM recommends taking out the brass fitting at the outlet of the air pump, and buy tubing that will go around the outlet. He said that the brass fitting chokes down the output. When I changed mine I noticed a fairly big difference.
I hate trying to repeat what MM says, because he is on a whole notha level, but I think that is what my remedial ass can remember.
Edit: you need a hose clamp if your going to remove the brass fitting. I use hose clamps on all my hose ends anyways, cuts down on air leaks.
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