Is My Shiny False Bottom Rubbish?

[Highlander]

I did have a similar issue.I fitted a mesh sheet to the top of the FB, forget what mesh size it was,but all good now.

[barneey]

The only other thing mate (apart from the beer line on the bottom) & if you have a spare afternoon is to get the hand file out and reduce the diameter to fit a beer line, permanent marker the cut and file to that. A little bit of heavy metal playing nice an loudly in the background your be well away.

[barneey]

Just one other thing do you crush your own grains?

[dean_wales]

If it has 1mm holes it surely isn't getting through. General wisdom is to use more like 2mm holes.

I would definitely suspect a gap or movement somewhere.

Or a crush which is too fine.

[darkonnis]

Definitely try beer line as a first solution. I have no problems with mine and I have larger holes in it than yours.

MrLards suggestion about putting a ring of tubing beneath the false bottom is a good one. it will compress and form a seal, it'll just be a bit more fragile and less prone to being moved.

Yeah I'd consider crush quality next, if its getting through a 1mm hole to the point of being a problem then itll be worth dialling it back a bit.

Failing this, what about that meshed voile cloth formed into a "cover" for the FB, that'd certainly help and would be machine washable for absolute convenience!

[stevetk189]

My grain is ordered just in time for each batch, freshly crushed by the vendor. Never had an issue with my old copper slotted manifold job. I hoped the SS false bottom would save on hassle, instead it's created a lot more. All tips taken on board.

[awfullybored]

There's a leg missing at the top left, about the 11 o'clock position

[barneey]

There's a leg missing at the top left, about the 11 o'clock position

Well spotted, I dont know if it make too much difference Steve but on all my previous build I`ve used more supports, on the last 80ltr Ive used 18 in total M4 bolts with dome nuts.

[Martin G]

Do you think it may deform at the edge in use, under the weight of the wet grain?

[stevetk189]

Ahh I'd forgotten about the missing and should have mentioned that sooner. The missing leg was only at the time the photo was taken. I didn't realise until I got home but the bags of stainless bolts only contained 9 bolts... I had to go back the following day to get another bag.

I suppose the edge may be distorting although I have the outer legs fairly near the edge and the edge does jam tight against the curved area as the wall meets the base of the pot.

[barneey]

Steve,

I dont think there would be any harm in adding a few extra bolts, even the one I`ve just installed I might be adding a few more (4), note I also use the "U" bolts with dome nuts for extra support.

[Kev888]

I've a 2mm perforated False bottom, it does let some bits through until they're cleared out by recirculating, and the grain bed (rather than the FB) is then really filtering the smaller bits.

but the bits are all less than my 2mm perforations; if yours are bigger than the holes they must be getting through around the edge, possibly by it becoming distorted. Support is surprisingly important - my FB is not especially thin yet has become a concave plate shaped thing, sagging down from the central leg and the rim where its supported; its actually been stretched by the weight of the grain. If the rim isn't sitting on some sort of ring or shoulder then closer spaced legs could well help to stop the edge flexing.

Cheers
Kev

[stevetk189]

Thanks guys, it's pointing more to distortion of the perforated steel once the grain is in and the FB is no longer visible. Very surprising as it feels so solid. I'll try a combination of hose around the edge under the FB and adding a few more legs.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks everyone for your input.

[stevetk189]

I've summoned the courage to attack my shiny false bottom with a grinder and taken about 1.5mm off the edge. I've slit some 6mm (1mm wall) crystal tubing and fitted that to the edge of the FB. Belt and braces I've also fitted a coil of 16mm, reinforced beerline into the base of the MT around the edge. The FB is still a really tight fit, I might have been better taking 2mm off but it sits low enough to seal with the 16mm beerline and, as a bonus, has given me an additional litre of volume above the FB.

Brewday on Monday, so fingers crossed that's fixed that issue. I think I'll keep the underback though as it allows me to drain the MT by gravity rather than pumping it out allowing me to use the pump to pump from the underback to the copper or back to the MT, depending. No grain into the pump. I suppose I could go as far as fitting my spare float switch to the underback to cut the pump as the level drops but for now it's easy enough just setting the valves and balancing the outflow of the MT to the pumped output from the underback. The joy of mag coupled pumps and a cheap valve.

Oh well, i'll update after Monday with hopefully good news.

Cheers.

Steve.

[JabbA]

*Holy thread resurrection Batman!*

Hi Steve, did you improve the performance of your FB? I purchased a dome type made from perforated stainless and had issues with grain getting through. I added a ring of silicone to the edge but that hasn't helped.

I'm looking into having a slotted one made.

Cheers,
Jamie