Copper Manifold - Help

Hello,

I would appreciate any advice on the slot cutting portion of constructing a copper manifold for a cooler.

I have the cooler, and will measure, etc..but from most posts and other sites,
I have seen a hacksaw used...very time consuming.

Any other suggestions (dremmel rotary tool?) to cut dozens of small slots?

Or should I just start hackin' away?

Signed,

Lazy.

I used both methods. The rotary tool is definitly easier, but be sure to have ton of extra disks on hand since they tend to break (or atleast mine do).

Get a sawzall and a vise, if that's not too impractical or expensive. Use the fine tooth blades. If you don't have one you will be surprised just how many things you will use it for.

John

Well..i almost competed the manifold.
I used a hacksaw after finding that a jig saw was a little tricky..and bounced around too much.
My words of wisdom...use a hacksaw blade that is 32 T...24s are too jittery.
I also made a jig....My copper pipe was 5/8"..so i drilled a 5/8" hole in a small piece of 2x4....and clamped the 2x4 to the bench..and feed the pipe through the drilled hole as a stabilizer when cutting ...not too bad when i swithced to 32 T.
I bought the Coleman exteme cooler..and found parts that could be modified (valve, compression fittitings,ect...)
Basiclaly, I just gotta fit the newly constructed manifold to the threaded compression fittings and valve...and do a test with hot water.

Cheers.

The cooler I have is a Coleman extreme....I am trying to figure out how to run
the tube downwards along the grove to the slotted channel for the drainhole.
Its really tight...and the 90 degree fittings i have won't work.
I was thinking of using a stainless steel pipe clamp on the ends of the clear tube..one on the manifold..and the other on the pipe top the drain....I think it should be fine if it is heavy duty reinforced syphon hose...and the manifold fits as not to move around.

Any thoughts....?

I have the same cooler and was supposed to share pics of it months ago...I'll really try to remember to do it. It's a little bit convoluted, but not too bad. The key to easing into the channel is to use two 45's instead of 90's. Just join them flush with a small section of pipe.

If you do have pics, I'd love to see.
I am trying to visualize how yours was done with two 45's...
Did you make the feed to the drain strarting from the end furthest away from
the drain?
i was trying to do mine with 2 slotted channels, where the T fitting is going underneath into the drain hole...but can't seem to connect it.

Cheers.

Mine is actually three pipes...it'd be impossible to describe how it looks at the business end, but if I don't post pics by tomorrow evening gently remind me. It seems to drain the tun pretty effectively.

Thanks!
That would be great.

Cheers.

Guess what...forgot to clean out my grains from Saturday night! Blech. Let me hose it down and get some pics transferred at work, and then I can post them from home (complicated because I'll use my cameraphone and I don't have IrDA at home).

Groovy !

Cheers

I've got the photos now (and a clean cooler tun). I'll get them transferred within 24hrs.

Thanks so much !

I look forward to seeing how you used the drain groove to your advantage.

Cheers

Got home last night, so here they are now (the crud is because I had just dug it out of a two day old mash):

This is the business end that connects to the drain. Notice how I used two t's connected with a short piece of pipe to bring the lateral pipes down to drain level.

Here are the two 45's which take the middle pipe down into the sump channel:

Here's the whole enchilada:

Great work !
I really appreciate the pics...that has solved the groove questions that has been
reducing my productivity whilst at work !

Cheers,

I finally buit my copper mainfold.
I used 4 length pieces instead. The 2 middle length pieces meet into perpendicular Tee intersection at a 45 degree angle, and have another 45 degree fitting that brings the drain into the outlet slot. All my Tee's had to be cut ..lucky I had the dremmel tool. I used the Palmer idea of having equal spaced length tubes, with the out sides being 1/2 the distance of he spacing from the wall.
Leak tested..and worked good after some adjustments! I may need a bit of teflon tape when "hot" testing, but the cold test was ok (after some work).

Thanks for all the info.

I have been thinking on how I am going to construct a manifold for my MLT. I read alot on cutting slots in tubing, and read a few posts on SS braids.... What would happen if you used SS braids from the copper "T"s instead of pipes with holes slotted in them and affix the braids to the "T"s with a SS hose clamp? Has anyone tried this? I am going to run them 1" apart from each other in a square or rectangle cooler.

Grimsawyer said:

I have been thinking on how I am going to construct a manifold for my MLT. I read alot on cutting slots in tubing, and read a few posts on SS braids.... What would happen if you used SS braids from the copper "T"s instead of pipes with holes slotted in them and affix the braids to the "T"s with a SS hose clamp? Has anyone tried this? I am going to run them 1" apart from each other in a square or rectangle cooler.

Click to expand...

That's essentially what the 'bazooka' fittings are so it should work fine. Just note that it will be easy to stir them up when you are stirring your mash. As long as you're careful it seems like it would be okay. Maybe a spring inside the stainless braid to help with rigidity?

Baron von BeeGee said:

Maybe a spring inside the stainless braid to help with rigidity?

Click to expand...

HEY!!! Good idea! Where would you get a spring tho?

Home Depot / Lowes / Ace I would think. I imagine they have some around the cables/chains.