Vossy1
Landlord.
This is my 40ltr HDPE conical conversion.
Pictures below from left, The conical completed, the lid from above, the lid assembly
Pictures below from left,The lid seating seal, the custom made washers
I got rid of the lid that comes with the conical as it didn't seem that easy to sanitise to me, shearing compression force leads to 'chafing' in my experience, though I know others use it with no issues. I also wanted to see the yeast head without removing the lid. The lid is a disc of 10mm polycarbonate from a The One Stop Plastics Shop. It has 2 John Guest 1/2"bulk head fittings which go through the lid. Pushed into these fittings under the lid is the heat exchanger, this was custom made for me by Manu, you could just as easily use a product coil from a beer cooler, or copper tube coiled, it's up to you. I chose not to use a product coil in my 40ltr conicals due to the way yeast holds on the horizontal surfaces of the tubes, as it 'wicks' slowly into the beer when racking off...not an issue really, but designing for myself I chose to get rid of it. I will still be using a product coil in my 110ltr conical to keep costs down.
The other fitting in the lid is for the blow off tube and is simply a stainless bulk head connector with a male cam lock fitting screwed onto it. To this a female cam lock fitting will be attached with silicone hose to bottle of sanitising solution, making a blow off tube set up.
The lid is compressed onto a Food grade silicone U seal on the conical body by the use of custom made 'spacers' as pictured above. The 'spacers' are slanted on one edge to âtake upâ the angled surface of the conical body allowing straight compression of the lid. Those familiar with these conicals will know they come with 8 mounting screws, I have âblankedâ off 4 of these with food grade silicone sealant as it was simply too expensive to use the washer combos for all 8, and above all, it wasnât required as the lid âsealsâ without them. The lid fits over the spacers then a washer/wing nut combo compress the lid to the seal/body.
The picture above shows I've chosen to locate the Stainlesss 3 piece 1/2" 'take off' ball valve, BES part 10397 at a height 0.75/tr above the base of the bottom of the conical, and have used another a stainless bulk head connector for mounting it to the conical body. I've not chosen to fit a racking arm as I intend to dump the yeast a day or so before racking (if required), and will 'write off' this volume to losses. I've maintained the bottom Stainless 3 piece ball valve, BES part 7752 at 1" to aid dumping of the yeast, using a 1" equal hex nipple, BES part 14410 to connect valve to conical.
Unfortunately I have no intention of using these conicals in 'action' for the foreseeable future but whilst I had the chance (Mrs V1 out working on the Olympic torch Leeds launch) I thought it was about time I posted :lol:
Pictures below from left, The conical completed, the lid from above, the lid assembly
Pictures below from left,The lid seating seal, the custom made washers
I got rid of the lid that comes with the conical as it didn't seem that easy to sanitise to me, shearing compression force leads to 'chafing' in my experience, though I know others use it with no issues. I also wanted to see the yeast head without removing the lid. The lid is a disc of 10mm polycarbonate from a The One Stop Plastics Shop. It has 2 John Guest 1/2"bulk head fittings which go through the lid. Pushed into these fittings under the lid is the heat exchanger, this was custom made for me by Manu, you could just as easily use a product coil from a beer cooler, or copper tube coiled, it's up to you. I chose not to use a product coil in my 40ltr conicals due to the way yeast holds on the horizontal surfaces of the tubes, as it 'wicks' slowly into the beer when racking off...not an issue really, but designing for myself I chose to get rid of it. I will still be using a product coil in my 110ltr conical to keep costs down.
The other fitting in the lid is for the blow off tube and is simply a stainless bulk head connector with a male cam lock fitting screwed onto it. To this a female cam lock fitting will be attached with silicone hose to bottle of sanitising solution, making a blow off tube set up.
The lid is compressed onto a Food grade silicone U seal on the conical body by the use of custom made 'spacers' as pictured above. The 'spacers' are slanted on one edge to âtake upâ the angled surface of the conical body allowing straight compression of the lid. Those familiar with these conicals will know they come with 8 mounting screws, I have âblankedâ off 4 of these with food grade silicone sealant as it was simply too expensive to use the washer combos for all 8, and above all, it wasnât required as the lid âsealsâ without them. The lid fits over the spacers then a washer/wing nut combo compress the lid to the seal/body.
The picture above shows I've chosen to locate the Stainlesss 3 piece 1/2" 'take off' ball valve, BES part 10397 at a height 0.75/tr above the base of the bottom of the conical, and have used another a stainless bulk head connector for mounting it to the conical body. I've not chosen to fit a racking arm as I intend to dump the yeast a day or so before racking (if required), and will 'write off' this volume to losses. I've maintained the bottom Stainless 3 piece ball valve, BES part 7752 at 1" to aid dumping of the yeast, using a 1" equal hex nipple, BES part 14410 to connect valve to conical.
Unfortunately I have no intention of using these conicals in 'action' for the foreseeable future but whilst I had the chance (Mrs V1 out working on the Olympic torch Leeds launch) I thought it was about time I posted :lol:
....one day...
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