How long to drain a MLT cooler

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red999

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I converted a 5 gallon cooler to a MLT using flyguy's instructions and when I used it yesterday it took forever to drain. Couldn't find anything searching through the forums so I was wondering if anyone else has this problem or atleast how long does it usually take them to drain their MLT?

I'm using a SS braided hose with a plastic hose inside (just like in Flyguy's instructions). I mixed in 4.55 quarts of water with 3.25lbs. of grain and barely got 3 cups of wort out of it before it just started to drip out.
 
I converted a 5 gallon cooler to a MLT using flyguy's instructions and when I used it yesterday it took forever to drain. Couldn't find anything searching through the forums so I was wondering if anyone else has this problem or atleast how long does it usually take them to drain their MLT?

I'm using a SS braided hose with a plastic hose inside (just like in Flyguy's instructions). I mixed in 4.55 quarts of water with 3.25lbs. of grain and barely got 3 cups of wort out of it before it just started to drip out.

So how many holes did you put in the inner hose?

You did test it with water first, right?

When I did mine, I used a fairly large bit and made it look like the barrel of a machine gun...also stretch and compress the braid a bit to open up the SS mesh some, it may be too tight as well....

Mine drains fairly rapidly will the ball valve wide open.
 
I tried two different braids. They both worked great for their first uses, but did not work as well on subsequent brew days. It was taking 30 min to drain the MLT. I ended up changing to a copper manifold and it drains much faster. I need to vorlaugh a little longer with the manifold, but sparging is much faster overall.
 
What about the grain bed getting too compacted? Sometimes if you open the valve too fast, or don't have any rice hull with a fine crush the grain bed turns into cement pretty quickly.
 
So how many holes did you put in the inner hose?

You did test it with water first, right?

When I did mine, I used a fairly large bit and made it look like the barrel of a machine gun...also stretch and compress the braid a bit to open up the SS mesh some, it may be too tight as well....

Mine drains fairly rapidly will the ball valve wide open.

The holes were probably spaced out 3/4" to 1" apart from each other, both top and bottom(so every 1/2" there is a hole somewhere). The total length of the hose is about 10". I didn't stretch the braid out though.

I did a water test before using it and ran great.

What about the grain bed getting too compacted? Sometimes if you open the valve too fast, or don't have any rice hull with a fine crush the grain bed turns into cement pretty quickly.

I was thinking that might have been the issue. I added the water first then added the grain to that. And I did just open the valve up. Didn't have any rice hull in the grain bed. It poured great when I first opened the valve then quickly turned to a trickle.
 
what was the grain bill? You may have just had a stuck sparge. I never have had a problem with my MLT draining I also have the SS braid but with no hose inside. maybe the braid is wrapped to tight on the hose ?
 
I'm totally confused here. Why are you adding holes to the inner hose? You should remove the inner hose.
 
I'm totally confused here. Why are you adding holes to the inner hose? You should remove the inner hose.


It prevents the braid from collapsing with large grain bills....It's mentioned in Flyguy's thread.

Some people use vinyl, some even use holed copper...I just took out the original hose...put a bunch of holes in it, boiled it to clear the drill scraps, and put it back in...
 
yeah - just pull the inner hose out. It is not needed. It will work like a charm.


I betcha didn't read the whole thread....Like some of us...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/253344-post62.html

7346-new-braid.jpg


You especially need it if you are going like this

10-gal_MLT_inside_small.jpg
 
Well I definitely missed that part of the thread. My experience thus far has been no collapsing of the braid - as far as I can tell. I've been using the same braid from my 2 gallon mini mash tun to my new 70 quart tun that I just mashed 22 lbs of grain in.
 
I've yet to have the braid collapse even with close to 25lbs of grain and the 10 gallon tun filled to the lid. I really feel that most if not all damage is done while stirring the mash
 
Dumb question, but bear with me! You had tubing from the barb into the kettle, right? I ask because one guy had all sorts of problems, but when he showed a picture, he just opened the valve and didn't have any tubing hooked up to it. Having the tubing makes more of a siphon effect and "pulls" the wort out. If you have that already, then I dunno!
 
I don't mind it Yooper, Ive done plenty of dumb things before but that atleast wasn't one of them. The SS braid has to be hooked up to the valve pretty good, since after I decided the valve wasn't working good enough, I just dump grain and all onto a colander and strainer sitting on the top of my pot. the braid didn't fall out with the grain so I can only assume its on there pretty good. Also after I cleaned out my MLT, I ran water through the valve and it came out fine so it doesn't look like anything got stuck in the piping anywhere.

I think I'm going to try and stretch the SS braid out a little more. Maybe the thickness of the liquid prevented a good flow? Thanks for the help everyone.
 
I don't mind it Yooper, Ive done plenty of dumb things before but that atleast wasn't one of them. The SS braid has to be hooked up to the valve pretty good, since after I decided the valve wasn't working good enough, I just dump grain and all onto a colander and strainer sitting on the top of my pot. the braid didn't fall out with the grain so I can only assume its on there pretty good. Also after I cleaned out my MLT, I ran water through the valve and it came out fine so it doesn't look like anything got stuck in the piping anywhere.

I think I'm going to try and stretch the SS braid out a little more. Maybe the thickness of the liquid prevented a good flow? Thanks for the help everyone.

Yeah, I'm thinking stuck sparge and nothing more...I've used my setup (with the hose inside) over a dozen times, and with some mighty thick water/grain ratios and not had a problem.
 
I The SS braid has to be hooked up to the valve pretty good, since after I decided the valve wasn't working good enough, I just dump grain and all onto a colander and strainer sitting on the top of my pot. the braid didn't fall out with the grain so I can only assume its on there pretty good.

I think what she meant was that there was a hose on the outside of the MLT, not that the braid was well attached to the valve :) Having a hose attached to the other side creates a nice siphon action. Stuck sparge is a possibility, as already mentioned - when you dumped it out, was there any really gooey, doughy looking stuff?
 
I think what she meant was that there was a hose on the outside of the MLT, not that the braid was well attached to the valve :) Having a hose attached to the other side creates a nice siphon action. Stuck sparge is a possibility, as already mentioned - when you dumped it out, was there any really gooey, doughy looking stuff?

Ahh ... well then I guess I am an idiot. I didn't have a hose on the outside of the MLT. Didn't even think it was necessary. I was pouring the wort into a measuring cup and then putting it into the pot.

Thanks for figuring out my stupid mistake. Atleast the solution is easy.
 
Ahh ... well then I guess I am an idiot. I didn't have a hose on the outside of the MLT. Didn't even think it was necessary. I was pouring the wort into a measuring cup and then putting it into the pot.

Thanks for figuring out my stupid mistake. Atleast the solution is easy.

Nah - not a stupid mistake at all. It should work the way you did it, it would probably just work better with the hose. Stuck sparge is still the likeliest candidate - one thing you can do when that happens is to shut the valve, stir it all up, and re-vorlauf and see if it drains better.

:mug:
 
Do you have your lid screwed on tight while you are trying to drain? That will slow your drain down considerably. Try giving the lid a half turn or so counter clockwise to relaese the vacuum. I bet you will get a much better flow.
 
As I was reading through the thread I thought of three possible "gotchas". First was to make sure your braid is actually stainless and not some plastic/vinyl stuff. More than 10 people on here thought they had it right but no... If you didn't prick your finger messing with the braid, you probably got the wrong one. Second, no tubing on the outside of the tun and no gravity drop. Yooper nailed that one and it's a huge deal. Last, you might have reduced your open area down too much by not making enough holes in your inner tubing. I personally don't feel the insert is necessary at all. I've never crushed it under any grain load before, but what size holes did you drill every 1 inch?
 
apparatus - The top of the MLT was completely off when I tried.

Bobby M - It was a stainless steel braid. Just to make sure I kept the tag and checked it. Also I dont remember the size of the holes I cut in the inner plastic tube. I want to say I butchered that thing just like in Flyguys tutorial ... probably 3/8" wide by 1/2" long. I notched it using a box cutter so it was 3/8" at its widest and then tappered.

I think you guys nailed it in that I probably had a stuck sparge and should have used a hose on the outside of the MLT. Will try that for next time.
 
Update -

Attached some tubing to the outside of my MLT and it drained like a charm. First all grain and it turned out great.
 
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