Blocked drain port

Comments

• grim

  22 February 2017 10:21AM edited February 2017

  What kind of pump are you using to pull off? We use a lobe pump and it works well to pull off the stillage, even in situations where the grain is heavy and coarse, and wants to self-lauter and stay behind. Nice thing about the lobe is it has no problem pumping the equivalent of mud.

  If you don't already, run the agitator while you drain, at least until it's fully exposed, this keeps everything fairly well mixed, which is key. Once you have no agitator, use your mash paddle, and make sure you keep everything mixed. The minute the grain starts to settle and pile up (especially if you drain slow), it's going to keep building on itself while the liquid drains through.

  We mashed in the still a few times in the beginning when we had steam issues with the mash tun - you may find you need to pump back some liquid to the top of the still to keep the heavier grain wet enough to flow.

  I find that stillage drains much easier than mash does, mostly because the grain/particle sizes are much smaller after fermentation and going through a protracted boil. Hot stillage is also significantly less viscous than mash, and a whole lot less sticky.

  Sometimes still, after distillation - we sometimes need the hose to spray down the stillage to keep it wet and flowing. When we do oats, for example, it's a bear as the oat husk is absolutely huge and blooms open like a flower. Pretty sure this would get stuck regardless of the drain size.
• jbierling

  22 February 2017 12:20PM

  I've had 2" drains become blocked several times, sometimes in fermenters with no mixing paddle. The solution is to use a 2"->3" short reducer and use a 3" valve. Imho, the tanks would better off with a 3" drain.
• grim

  22 February 2017 12:31PM

  Good point, we have a tank with a 1.5" TC drain - trying to drain it with a 1.5" TC butterfly is impossible, we need to step to 2" as the valve is way too restrictive.
• Unsensibel

  22 February 2017 06:57PM

  Have you tried pushing some clean water in before pumping out?
• lumpany

  22 February 2017 10:54PM

  Thanks for the replies all. I empty the boiler using gravity only. It's only a 150L hobby use boiler.
• crozdog

  22 February 2017 11:08PM

  Combine the ideas from @grim & @Unsensibel. Firstly connect a water hose up to the drain port and blast some fresh water into the drain port before turning the agittator on, disconnecting the hose and starting to drain
• lumpany

  23 February 2017 01:45AM

  @crozdog said: Combine the ideas from grim & Unsensibel. Firstly connect a water hose up to the drain port and blast some fresh water into the drain port before turning the agittator on, disconnecting the hose and starting to drain

  What a great idea. I like it and will give it a go.
• Kill_Devil_Spirit_Co

  24 February 2017 11:17PM

  Quite glad I opted for a 4" drain.