Yummy's Manometer

[Yummyrum]

Can't have enough Manometer designs .
Here's mine .Not claiming its any better or worse than any other's.

It's basically a 100mm ( 4") PVC pipe stuck to a block of wood filled with colored water . It acts as a Manometer and blow off tube in one .

Being of PVC , it obviously isn't going to handle hours of sustained blow off ...but lets be real , if the pressure is suddenly building , a bright spark ( who is obviously watching his still ..and manometer ) would shut down and see what the hell the problem was .

So heres all the bits ..well most of them

Drilled out the end of a wall mount tap fitting

Soldered it to a piece of Annealed copper plate ( so I could easily bend it to the contours of the 4" PVC Pipe ) that was siliconed and screwed to the PVC pipe

This is the lower assembly

Siliconed over the nuts on the inside of the pipe so no leaks .

The tube sits in a piece of Electrical casing ( normally has a clip on cover ) .I fitted a piece of painted wood inside so the tube fitted nicely ...just a bit of wank factor really
The Electrical Casing is stuck to the PVC with a bit of silicone .

Laying the tube ...I found if I rolled it in against the natural curl it stayed in nice

Cobbled a few bits and pieces so that the hose fitted the tap fitting ...bit of cut and soldering ...well actually I think I brazed these ...but soldering would have worked .

Top section similar to bottom but this is where the pipe from the boiler connects

The groove in the Electrical casing made a convenient place to slide a piece of bent wire into so I could slide it up or down . Mark the water level at start of run so can see if rises or falls .

[Yummyrum]

So here's the finished Manometer

At the time , all my thumper and steam stripping stuff was connected via 2" tri-clamp pipes so I fitted a 3/4" BSP to the Boiler outlet to connect to the Manometer .

And just like a piece of Gym Equipment you only drag out once in a while, it folds away for easy storage

And there you have it .

[Saltbush Bill]

Getting worried about you Yummy ..I can see parts of the floor again

[Yummyrum]

Getting worried about you Yummy ..I can see parts of the floor again

Hmmm must have had the inlaws coming for a visit

[Zubehor]

Nice design, maybe thats the way to go instead of the solenoid valve, money wise its a lot cheaper.

Is it mandatory to be that big?
The pvc acts like a venting cantainer so in case of over pressure it will vent into a safe place right?

[zach]

Nice job Yummy. I've been thinking along the same lines, but a 6' tall unit. The depth of the slop will likely be 2.5' max.

Have you used it yet? Is there a way to open the boiler to atmosphere when you turn off the heat so you avoid sucking the red water back into the boiler? I've added a ball valve to atmosphere on my boiler to allow shutdown without breaking the connection to the manometer.

[Yummyrum]

I made it that big for a couple of reasons .
The height of water dictates the maximum pressure before blow off .
I initially figured the level in the Tube would have to be at least as high as the level in my Thumper .

In reality when using it on a thumper with say wash in the boiler and water / dunder in the Thumper , I get an Inch of displacement .

A safe blow off can simply be made by having a pipe go to the bottom of a 44gal drum of water or similar so long as its got more height of water in it than the thumper , then it will vent if the thumper line gets blocked . It will also suck water back into the boiler if power is cut yo the boiler .

Yes , I’ve used it several times Zach .When steam stripping Rice , the displacement is in the order of 9-15” depending on where in the run .

Also worth mentioning that a foot of water is roughly equal to 0.43PSI so it wouldn’t be hard to add a scale .

Zach , I don’t have a releif valve to stop suck back .I just loosen the connection to the boiler when I see the red rising up the pipe , Not ideal , but it works .

[Jack C]

Yummy
Isn’t the pressure calculated as the difference in height between the water level in the pipe and the tube? So if you measure a 12 inch rise in the tube on the out side that would mean the water has also moved in the inside. So you total offset in water levels between the two would be more that the single measurement of the outside tube rise. This would mean your pressures are slightly higher I think. Just pondering.

[bluefish_dist]

Nice build. I think it could be useful for controlling vapor speed in a column as well. One side to the bottom and one to the top then the difference could be related to vapor speed?

[Jack C]

I agree that it is a great build. I plan on stealing it. It offers pressure measuring, a pressure dump, and a thermal buffer to cool the steam before it exits the discharge pipe. All the things we need for a safe steam run. .

[Dancing4dan]

I Like the design. After looking at the photos and write up I have some questions to help me understand how this works.

This design appears to apply boiler pressure to the top of the small column and displaces that column through the common base into the large column / reservoir. Pressure readings are determined by the displacement/ lowering of the fluid in the small column. The large column / reservoir is intended to contain a steam blow off by allowing this process.

Am I correct?

The clear column looks to be made from clear vinyl flex tubing. Is the (?) vinyl tubing capable of withstanding the temperature and pressure potential of steam? A steam over pressure would displace the liquid from the small column into the large column by channeling hot stream through the clear flex tubing. Could that result in a ruptured clear tubing?

If the clear tubing is a high temperature product, what is it and where can it be sourced?

If the clear tubing is not high temperature the design could possibly be changed to use rigid polycarbonate tubing capable of higher temperatures. Polycarbonate can take 250 deg F.

[Dancing4dan]

[fzbwfk9r]

a few more pics and an explanation would surely help me understand...

or a graphic.

Thanks

[Saltbush Bill]

The 13 photos supplied and the explanation of the build isn't enough?

[RC Al]

Dancingfordan summed it up eloquently a couple of posts up.

The pressure comes in from the copper line to the clear tube.

As more pressure is applied, the liquid level in the clear tube will go down as it pushes the water in the white pipe higher, with some measuring and math you can generate a real psi reading.

When the pressure applied exceeds the pressure resistance of the water depth used (something upstream is blocked), the hot steam will bypass the water and escape from the top.

[tiramisu]

Is a Manometer just a secondary safety valve for your ball valve when you are using a thumper/pressurized system?

Add an electric switch and you could have triple redundancy.

[Butch27]

.... When steam stripping Rice , the displacement is in the order of 9-15” depending on where in the run .

Also worth mentioning that a foot of water is roughly equal to 0.43PSI so it wouldn’t be hard to add a scale ....

Have you stripped any thick grain mashes with it? If so, what was the displacement with that?

[Yummyrum]

No sorry Butch rice is the thickest I’ve used

[RC Al]

I had a half full 50l keg of thick flour angel grains and a 3 1/2 ft 200l drum wasnt enough, jumped up to 2m of 4" (copper spool lols) and things worked great. Mine is just a 1" tube in through the top all the way to the bottom, No manometer so no idea on actual depth needed

[fzbwfk9r]

The 13 photos supplied and the explanation of the build isn't enough?

hahahaaa.... Nope

I look at RC Al's picture and I get that

but Yummy's pics show the top enter to be open at two locations, so pressure would act on both ends of the column AND be open to the atmosphere... The top entry into the PVC is what I don't understand


AHA!

I was looking at it upsidedown

so the TOP assembly is NOT vented into the PVC, ONLY into the clear vinyl tube!
pressure goes from boiler to the top, down through the clear, into the pvc and if exceeds limit, out the top pvc vent!
The bottom assembly also has an external drain to clear the whole system

I "THINK" I have that correct

[Yummyrum]

I "THINK" I have that correct

Yes , that's right .Sirry I should have included a diagram as you are correct that it is a bit hard to work out just from the pics .
Thanks RC Al .

If the clear tubing is not high temperature the design could possibly be changed to use rigid polycarbonate tubing capable of higher temperatures. Polycarbonate can take 250 deg F.

Dancing4dan , I like your Polycarbonate suggestion . I think it would be a much better idea .It would also be easier to make as it could just go direct into compression fittings negating the need for the copper pipe to hose barb Adaptor I had to make .

I like it .