Fly Sparge Editor

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mgmt250
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Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 10:59 pm

Fly Sparge Editor

Post by mgmt250 »

I am a fly sparger and I am having a really hard time understanding how the fields in the fly sparge editor at linked together. I don't know why the available field goes negative when I lock in my collected field and then my sparge volume goes sky rockets up.

I feel like I am missing something here. Any help is appreciated.
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slothrob
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fly sparge editor

Post by slothrob »

I don't fly sparge, but it looks like the Available amount goes negative if you force the Sparge Volume below what's needed to meet the predicted Collected volume, when that field is Locked.

It also looks like the Collected volume is initially calculated, right after you check the Lock box, to include enough volume to keep the grain submerged during the sparge, which is a common method for fly sparging.

If you leave the Sparge Volume box alone and edit the Available amount to "0", BTP will calculate just the amount of water you need to hit your Kettle and Final Volumes with no water remaining in the mash tun, plus a little extra to account for thermal expansion.
BTP v2.0.* Windows XP
mgmt250
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Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 10:59 pm

Post by mgmt250 »

So how does it come up with the collected volume? I have my total volume in the kettle set to 14 gallons but when I click lock in my sparge editor it comes up with 13.75 gallons.
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slothrob
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kettle volume

Post by slothrob »

The Kettle Volume is the volume at 212°F, whereas the Collected volume is the volume at runoff temperature. The difference in the two volumes is the result of thermal expansion from the rise in temperature.

Apparently it takes 13.75 gallons at your collection temperature to have 14 gallons at the start of the boil. If you know, from experience, that you need 14 gallons of runoff to hit your Final Volume, you'll probably need to set your Kettle Volume to around 14.25 gallons.

You will find that the Kettle Volume minus the Evaporation doesn't equal the Final Volume, either. This is also due to the fact that the Kettle Volume is measured hot while the Final Volume is measured after chilling.
BTP v2.0.* Windows XP
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