Just making sure.

I'm going to cut slots in my manifold this weekend. DO the slots go on the top or on the bottom?

I bought a metal cutting blade for my jigsaw, will that create a wide enough slot?

I don't know what you are talking about, but you can always bend the metal up or down to make the slot bigger...

It's debatable.
Some say top, some say bottom.
I do both.
You'll not get a syphon effect because the slots go to the half way point so no reason for them to be on the bottom. They wont block if they are on the top due to the slot going to the middle so they also drain from the side.



Yes the slots will be wide enough. Use a fine blade to reduce the swarf and rough edges.

I've heard that you put them on the bottom so you can get the last of the wort out of the tun. I would also thing that this would prevent the grain bed from compacting into your slots.
All in all I'm thinking it wouldn't make a huge difference either way.

FWIW, Palmer says face down.

FWIW, my efficiency went up a little when I put them face up.

I did the bottom thinking like Rich stated but I can install it either way. I cut my slots with a hack saw (tedious!) but if you're looking like Orfy's your fine.

Dude said:

FWIW, Palmer says face down.

FWIW, my efficiency went up a little when I put them face up.

Click to expand...

Is that directly related to the facing of the slots? What about staggering them - 1" apart on top and 1" apart on the bottom? Would that weaken my manifold?

How about on the sides?

Every time I've seen a manifold (and no, I haven't used one myself), the slots have always been on the bottom. Short a compelling reason to be different, I think I'd stick with the crowd this time.

Cheesefood said:

Is that directly related to the facing of the slots? What about staggering them - 1" apart on top and 1" apart on the bottom? Would that weaken my manifold?

Click to expand...

It is copper, right? If you did slots on both sides alternating spaces, it would hold up structurally, no problem. That might be a good idea!

I cut my slots on the bottom... basically following Palmer's directions. I built my manifold so that the two end pieces and the 3 long pipes with slots all come apart... definately makes it easy to clean, and now I can experiment with turning the slots up or sideways.

I made my manifold out of CPVC. Cheap and comes apart for easy cleaning. I mounted it with the holes on the bottom and it worked out fine but like bobbyc, I can rotate the tubes so that the holes are on top if I like. I acheived 70% efficiency the first time I used it last weekend. It would be interesting to see if that goes up by just moving the holes to the top.

Mine's made of copper and I didn't sweat it together either. It's a tight fit and I'd probably have a heck of a time getting it apart. FWIW in case you thought you should sweat it cheese.

Slots on top & bottom wouldn't hurt, that's for sure.

desertBrew said:

Mine's made of copper and I didn't sweat it together either. It's a tight fit and I'd probably have a heck of a time getting it apart. FWIW in case you thought you should sweat it cheese.

Slots on top & bottom wouldn't hurt, that's for sure.

Click to expand...

It's all assembled. RDWJ did a fine job of fabricating one for me and sweating together only a few of the joints. I just need to cut the slots in it.

Cheesefood said:

It's all assembled. RDWJ did a fine job of fabricating one for me and sweating together only a few of the joints. I just need to cut the slots in it.

Click to expand...

Did you get a 10g cooler? If you ever get a chance to take a pic of your manifold, post it on up here. I want to get out of my 5g cooler someday and was contemplating a keg for my 3 tier mash but I really like the insulation factor of using a cooler. More I think of the slots, I'd do top and bottom...

desertBrew said:

Did you get a 10g cooler? If you ever get a chance to take a pic of your manifold, post it on up here. I want to get out of my 5g cooler someday and was contemplating a keg for my 3 tier mash but I really like the insulation factor of using a cooler. More I think of the slots, I'd do top and bottom...

Click to expand...

I got the 10 gallon round cooler. I'll post pics soon.

FWIW, my slots are all on the bottom.

the_bird said:

Every time I've seen a manifold (and no, I haven't used one myself), the slots have always been on the bottom. Short a compelling reason to be different, I think I'd stick with the crowd this time.

Click to expand...

Then you haven't seen mine.

South by southwest.

You guys are such a bad influence.

I went out and bought a Dremmel today. The 400 series. I was thinking about getting the cordless, but thought that it might be handy to have the extra power only available from a corded.

Cheesefood said:

You guys are such a bad influence.

I went out and bought a Dremmel today. The 400 series. I was thinking about getting the cordless, but thought that it might be handy to have the extra power only available from a corded.

Click to expand...

I almost bought one the other night, but I had *just* purchased a new corded drill, so I thought better of it...