recirculating water for sparge

PMowdes
Posts: 489
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 4:29 pm
Location: Bristol

Re: recirculating water for sparge

Post by PMowdes »

Biggest problem with using a tea urn is that they often won't give you a rolling boil because of the thermostat. Fine for a HLT but can be troublesome for a boiler. I had one and it pissed me off so much I conceded defeat and brought a proper one from MrLard.
60 percent of the time it works every time.
KevinS
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: recirculating water for sparge

Post by KevinS »

Was this a buffalo that kept cutting out? As it's the one thing that seems to effect a number of buffalo owners. Fortunately though, it seems solveable by replacing the thermal fuse within the boiler.

On a buffalo, I believe it has a 120 degree thermal fuse, but many have upgraded to a 167 degree thermal fuse (available in maplins for under a pound) and this has solved their problems. Otherwise the rolling boil was causing the thermal fuse to get too hot for some brews/Brewers. Basic instructions on how to find and change this are here:
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/view ... 5&start=15

Regarding the tap - I have seen some people try and fit a standard tap which requires a slightly larger hole to be cut. Otherwise, you can use this guide to fit a tap and hop strainer on the existing hole for the tap:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showt ... hp?t=30639

Hope this helps with the new toy!
KevinS
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:38 pm

Re: recirculating water for sparge

Post by KevinS »

I should add to that sorry - many buffalo owners make no changes to the boiler and report no problems whatsoever. So changing the thermal fuse is by no means essential! Just have to see how it goes!
monty1
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:47 pm
Location: BS3

Re: recirculating water for sparge

Post by monty1 »

...they often won't give you a rolling boil
This is a problem I considered but there seem to be several reviews on Amazon of homebrewers who seem to say it maintains a rolling boil quite nicely, so hopefully it will work! If not, with the price I paid, I shouldn't make much of a loss if Ebay it.

KevinsS - thanks for that - that's really helpful advice. Will try that fuse first if I have any issues, and changing the tap is high on the list - hopefully with out any hole cutting!
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