Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

Clanchief said:

Thanks for that info. What it basically seems to say is that I might have problems with the lining in a couple of years and need to replace the cooler, or so it seems. Obviously not ideal as that's the single most expensive piece, but if I can get 5 years out of it, I'll be happy. I suppose it depends on how much it's used.

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My cooler lining warped, but DID NOT crack, on my first batch. It has a raised 1" lump from the bottom to the top, about 1.5" wide. I've done about a dozen batches with it since, and it works fine. It may be giving me cancer, but it makes some good beer, so it's a bit of a trade off.

I have a friend who has had some warping of the inner liner on the rubbermaid cooler. I'm not sure why or how it happened. Maybe higher temp. mash out? But I do know that it can happen. I haven't had a problem with my own cooler conversion yet.

My ball valve wiggles pretty substantially when I close the valve, would the inclusion of washers stop this problem? Has anyone else had this problem and solved it?

grimstuff said:

If anything, you might see some deformation of the cooler's inner liner (bulging on the sidewall), but if I were to add tubing inside the SS braid, I'd probably recommend silicone hose, since it pretty much has the highest temp range you can find.

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I coiled a SS wire onto a round rod and then pulled the coils out lengthwise to form an open and elongated coil spring. I then inserted this into the SS braid. Works perfectly supporting the braid and is uneffected by heat.

By the way, my 5 gallon Rubbermaid cooler has seen 6-7 batches without any sign of warping.

V1king said:

I have a friend who has had some warping of the inner liner on the rubbermaid cooler. I'm not sure why or how it happened. Maybe higher temp. mash out? But I do know that it can happen. I haven't had a problem with my own cooler conversion yet.

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Mine warped on the first batch right after I poured the strike water in (~170 F). There were creaks and cracking sounds coming from the cooler, so I assume the inner liner was expanding and just started popping out with no where else to go. Now its a permanent feature of the cooler. But like i said, no problems whatsoever. If it lasts a few years, I'd say that's pretty good for a $40 investment. I can just pop out the valve and braid and start with a new cooler when the time comes.

JayMac said:

My ball valve wiggles pretty substantially when I close the valve, would the inclusion of washers stop this problem? Has anyone else had this problem and solved it?

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Yes, you may need more outside ss washers than the OP needed in the original build. The ball valve should be tight against the cooler wall.

Pie_Man said:

Yes, you may need more outside ss washers than the OP needed in the original build. The ball valve should be tight against the cooler wall.

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Thanks. Do you know if the plastic washer the rubermaid cooler comes with is high temperature? I'm thinking of replacing it with a 1/2" silicone gasket but its OD is barely larger than the hole in the cooler. This results in the gasket getting pulled through once the locknut is tightened.

I was going to put on washers anyways, as my SS ball valve handle can't be closed completely (that awkward square cut out near the spigot blocks it from closing all the way). It seems like once the handle hits, the ball valve is completely closed, but I'd like to be safe and space the ball valve out far enough for the handle to lie horizontally, for precaution and aesthetics.

grimstuff said:

Mine warped on the first batch right after I poured the strike water in (~170 F). There were creaks and cracking sounds coming from the cooler, so I assume the inner liner was expanding and just started popping out with no where else to go. Now its a permanent feature of the cooler. But like i said, no problems whatsoever. If it lasts a few years, I'd say that's pretty good for a $40 investment. I can just pop out the valve and braid and start with a new cooler when the time comes.

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+1
I used round coolers before I went to keggles and experianced the same thing. both were deformed on the inside after starting to use them but they both lasted years and would still be in use if I didn't build a stand and upgrade my equipment.

Here's what the bulge looks like:

JayMac said:

My ball valve wiggles pretty substantially when I close the valve, would the inclusion of washers stop this problem? Has anyone else had this problem and solved it?

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e w

Mine wiggles a little but the ss washers help.

Question on the updated hose: is anyone else having trouble getting the brass square head plug to stay in the tube inside the SS braid? As soon as hot water gets on that hose, it becomes malleable and the plug slips right out. I've only been able to get the square part into the tubing, but are other people able to shove the whole thing (threading and all) into it?

I thought about going down to the next size plug, but it seems to be 1/8" and that's too small.

Bonjourmate said:

Question on the updated hose: is anyone else having trouble getting the brass square head plug to stay in the tube inside the SS braid? As soon as hot water gets on that hose, it becomes malleable and the plug slips right out. I've only been able to get the square part into the tubing, but are other people able to shove the whole thing (threading and all) into it?

I thought about going down to the next size plug, but it seems to be 1/8" and that's too small.

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Unless I missed something recently, what you're supposed to do is remove the inner tubing and only use the SS braid. It's easy to clamp that to the square plug.

If you're worried about crushing the braid you can pick up a SS spring or coil some copper wire to help the braid keep its shape.

bovineblitz said:

Unless I missed something recently, what you're supposed to do is remove the inner tubing and only use the SS braid. It's easy to clamp that to the square plug.

If you're worried about crushing the braid you can pick up a SS spring or coil some copper wire to help the braid keep its shape.

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There's an update where he took new tubing and cut small slits along it and put it inside the SS hose. If you read the initial instructions, it's updated with a link in Step 4.

Bonjourmate said:

There's an update where he took new tubing and cut small slits along it and put it inside the SS hose. If you read the initial instructions, it's updated with a link in Step 4.

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I seem to recall later on that he abandoned that idea because it didn't work out that well.

bovineblitz said:

I seem to recall later on that he abandoned that idea because it didn't work out that well.

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Really? I didn't read all 200 something pages of the thread.

Built a 5g rubbermaid version today finally! Took 1 washer on the inside, 3 on the outside. The o ring seems pointless but I used it. Filled it up with 5 gallons of cold water for an hour and not a drop leaked. Now I just need some tubing and possibly a stainless coil. The idea of a stuck spare terrifies me.

verbhertz said:

Built a 5g rubbermaid version today finally! Took 1 washer on the inside, 3 on the outside. The o ring seems pointless but I used it. Filled it up with 5 gallons of cold water for an hour and not a drop leaked. Now I just need some tubing and possibly a stainless coil. The idea of a stuck spare terrifies me.

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I've never had one, and if you read around, others have done hundreds of batches and never had one either. I think it's one of those rare occurrences that is overblown.

verbhertz said:

Built a 5g rubbermaid version today finally! Took 1 washer on the inside, 3 on the outside. The o ring seems pointless but I used it. Filled it up with 5 gallons of cold water for an hour and not a drop leaked. Now I just need some tubing and possibly a stainless coil. The idea of a stuck spare terrifies me.

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Stuck sparges shouldn't scare ya too much...I had 2 on my first two AG batches. I was able to clear them by blowing into the drain tube and letting the bed settle again. I started out the sparge too quickly...since then I start sloooooowly until the bed is good and settled...no problems since. BTW I use a 10 gal cooler with the SS braid and it works great! Happy brewin'!

Thanks for this build ... made this awhile ago and its still holding strong. It did get slightly warped due to the heat , but hasn't caused any issues yet.

Hmm... The Watts 786 nipple seems to be a bit too angular thread-wise to really allow the items to be fastened, and mine seems to require about 9 washers. This is very strange given I used the exact parts listed. Does anyone have any idea, as the assembly is a bit too wiggly for my liking?

Bonjourmate said:

There's an update where he took new tubing and cut small slits along it and put it inside the SS hose. If you read the initial instructions, it's updated with a link in Step 4.

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I tried that. It didn't work.

I started out by using a bigger SS braid and got a couple of stuck sparges. Then I decided to go with the same size as the OP, but out thought myself and cut slits in the tube and re-inserted it. Got a stuck sparge again. Next I went with the original design and haven't had a problem since.

My recommendation (FWIW) is to follow the directions for the original build. It works.

What kind of cooler are you using?

V1king said:

What kind of cooler are you using?

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10 gallon garage sale Igloo.

CGVT said:

I tried that. It didn't work.

I started out by using a bigger SS braid and got a couple of stuck sparges. Then I decided to go with the same size as the OP, but out thought myself and cut slits in the tube and re-inserted it. Got a stuck sparge again. Next I went with the original design and haven't had a problem since.

My recommendation (FWIW) is to follow the directions for the original build. It works.

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I switched to a false bottom. Better efficiency, easy to clean, and only cost $30

Bonjour, where did you get the false bottom?

V1king said:

Bonjour, where did you get the false bottom?

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Amazon. Search false bottom 12

Should this same thing work for a brew kettle?

gent1987 said:

Should this same thing work for a brew kettle?

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Yup. Make sure you use a silicone o-ring for outside the kettle.

Has anyone ran into a problem when installing this set up to a Coleman five gal. It has a weird shape for spigot and washer don't seat well

V1king said:

Bonjour, where did you get the false bottom?

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Amazon

Does anyone have a link for instructions that are this detailed ( part lists and step instructions) for a coppers manifold as described in " how to brew" instead of a braid, I don't feel like reading all these pages to try to find out

hoops_hops said:

Does anyone have a link for instructions that are this detailed ( part lists and step instructions) for a coppers manifold as described in " how to brew" instead of a braid, I don't feel like reading all these pages to try to find out

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Go to a HW store or Home Depot and talk to someone who seems like they have a clue. Tell them you want to make a copper manifold. In general plumbing they use manifolds, too, they just don't cut holes or slits in the pipe.

Its just pipe, couplers, and a threaded piece to go on the bulkhead. There are hundreds of pictures, threads,etc here. Sometimes you just gotta jump in with both feet.

tre9er said:

Go to a HW store or Home Depot and talk to someone who seems like they have a clue. Tell them you want to make a copper manifold. In general plumbing they use manifolds, too, they just don't cut holes or slits in the pipe.

Its just pipe, couplers, and a threaded piece to go on the bulkhead. There are hundreds of pictures, threads,etc here. Sometimes you just gotta jump in with both feet.

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You could even take your cooler with you and explain that the manifold needs to be edge-to-edge and also have center sections, all connected.

Buying everything from home depot would have this run 125 dollars for me.

I guess thats still cheaper than any of the sites you can get em from.

I just built another one for about $50. My local Lowe's had the 10 gal Rubbermaid on clearance for $28. The braid and hardware ran about $20. I built my first one for a lot less. I found a 10 Igloo cooler at a garage sale that had a crack in it. I got if for a buck and fiberglassed the crack and added the hardware.

If you are patient and look for deals you can do this really cheaply.

Wow Idk why my home depot has everything so expensive. All I did was use the list on the original post and looked up the prices online. I did find a 10 gallon cooler at home depot for 44 which cut the cost by 20. But thats still 100 dollars :/

I built my 10 gal with the braid hose and apparently I was too vigorous with the mash paddle. I crushed my hose and my mash kept getting stuck. I dumped it into my old 5 gal to finish it off. I replaced it today with another hose do I could brew today but I guess I'm going to pick up a false bottom. Anyone using the jaybird for a 10 gal?

socalbrewer1796 said:

Has anyone ran into a problem when installing this set up to a Coleman five gal. It has a weird shape for spigot and washer don't seat well

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Yes, does your valve screw out leaving an insert through the cooler wall? Mine did. I left that piece installed and sanded the inside of it smooth until a pipe would fit snugly through it.

What's the deadspace on this?

jonpalmer925 said:

What's the deadspace on this?

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On my 5 gallon with the bottom pull manifold, nearly zero.