Hard to see, but that is a 45 elbow with a piece just long enough that it is actually setting on the bottom. So when I put in the IC it will not be able to deflect any joints.

i like shiny.

Having it pickup from that location will end up sucking up most of the trub from the kettle. Its better to go 90deg down at that elbow and trim the tube at an angle to match the kettle bottom. You wont leave much actual wort behind, but you will leave most of the break and hop materials.

chandlerbang said:

Yeah I've always been a throw it all in the bucket and let God sort it out kind of guy. But I suppose there cant be much dead space at the bottom from what I've done and what you're suggesting. Maybe I'll change it sometime.

i'd add a filtery type of deal if you're using whole hops and not bagging. like a copper scrubby or a bit of steel mesh. other than that, i'm a dump it all into the bucket guy myself.

i've whirl-pooled, siphoned, dumped, and a few in between and there isn't a discernible difference in the finished beer.

ARG.

Well the wet run when I was cleaning the keggle was a resounding failure. I thought that maybe the output was too close in height to the input, thus hampering a full siphon. Then I noticed it sucking bubbles at the bottom of the bulkhead weld on the inside. How does this happen? Must have been a two pieces welded together to make one solid bulkhead.
In my haste I grabbed my second keggle (I only use one currently as I don't have a rig or a second burner) and tried just putting the dip tubes in that and going. Well of course the bulkhead in that one is a little lower so the inlet wouldn't fit. So I reworked both sides to get the pick up out next to the wall so I can whirlpool (manually), and get the output coming directly out of the valve and heading down on a 45* angle. That seemed appropriate...
Then put it all back together. Now it works like a champ and I'm not sure if it was the weld or possibly I didn't have the pickup threaded in tight enough. Either way I'm a little cranky and kind of tired. I'll post some new pics tomorrow.

I don't like the idea of having to thread and unthread the output every time I brew. I need a sanitary clamp fitting there....

The new output.

The new inlet.

chandlerbang said:

As it turns out, with the keggle tilted slightly there is only about a quart of deadspace. That is a little more workable.

You should have more than a quart worth of crap you dont need in the fermenter at the end of the boil...