Building a Spinning Sparge Arm

[@jackcole4688]

I really like this design it works great, I used a 3/8 shark bite T this lets me turn the holes to maximize the spin, let's me take it a part for cleaning and shortens the length. I drilled a hole in the lid and screw it to a quick disconnect cam, I also soldered caps on the ends. Tim thank you so much for sharing.

[@TimTrabold]

Great idea about the shark bite. It does hang a little lower than is usable on large batches.

[@Dismayhem1]

Nice job, thanks for sharing this info. I could not for the life of me figure out how to make a water tight swivel.

[@TimTrabold]

After 5 months of usage the arm still works great. I do have some observations. First you have to have a good false bottom on your kettle. Little pieces of grain do have a tendency to plug the sprinkle holes. I have widened the hole at the crimp on the ends of the arms to help with this some. Second, while it isn't a problem with regular batches it does hang down into the kettle about 3-4 inches. I did a barleywine with a large grain bill and the arm just barely fit above the grain. I couldn't of really hung it any higher, so I couldn't use it for that. I was able to screw a drilled out lawn sprinkler head that worked OK, until grain clogged it. I then just left the pipe open.

[@vincentesquilin]

well done. saving this to my project list.

[@bfrieske]

Well done, congrats.

[@utdnut]

great job well thought out works great

[@tzzler44]

Is that "Arrow" on in the background? lol. Nice build!

[@TimTrabold]

Yep..

[@StoneyardVineyards]

Nice setup we home brew also ..

[@jackcole4688]

Do you notice any pitting or corrosion in the pot, with copper and stainless in contact i would worry about galvanic corrosion

[@TimTrabold]

I have not noticed any issues. I do typically disconnect most things when I clean and don't re-connect until the next brew day, with a few exceptions. So, it doesn't really have any time for any corrosion to happen. On my Boil kettle and HTL I have a copper dip tubes and copper fittings on the sight gauges that have been connected for probably a couple years. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Maybe the stainless steel helps with this.

[@MACLADILLY]

thanyou so much - really useful and clear information. planning to make a spinning sparge arm now.

[@TimTrabold]

You are very welcome. It was a good project and kinda cool to watch work.

[@briannielsen7176]

What is that noise in the background?

[@TimTrabold]

That is a good question, I am not sure. The TV is muted. it sounds like sh, sh,sh,sh..... Thankfully, it stops after the first scene.

[@scottthibodeau9818]

This doesn't work. It does not turn, the water just comes through the holes in the arm with no spin. It spins nice and free but the water does not make it turn. What am I doing wrong?

[@TimTrabold]

I am not sure why it wouldn't spin. It should work like a lawn sprinkler. I would check that there is plenty of play in the spinning hole, that the flare above it is wide enough to cover the hole and that the sprinkler holes themselves are angled sideways to generate the spinning force.