Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

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It sounds like you used the correct braid then. That's a real mystery why they work so well for so many people, but you got it stuck. I still suspect something is amiss, because I have done 50% wheat recipes and 40% rye recipes with no problems, even without rice hulls. Typically, a good stainless braid is one of the toughest lautering devices to get stuck. Personally, I would give it another try if you think it is constructed properly.
 
I will give it another try. Maybe add a 1/2 lb of rice hulls? The recipe I made was BierMunchers Cream of Three Crops Cream Ale. 7 lbs 2 row, 2 lbs flaked corn, 1/2 lb Minute rice.

Did the flaked corn screw me? I don't know how it behaves in a mash, this was the first AG recipe I have ever done.
 
I will give it another try. Maybe add a 1/2 lb of rice hulls? The recipe I made was BierMunchers Cream of Three Crops Cream Ale. 7 lbs 2 row, 2 lbs flaked corn, 1/2 lb Minute rice.

Did the flaked corn screw me? I don't know how it behaves in a mash, this was the first AG recipe I have ever done.

Yes, I would throw in a good handful of rice hulls with a recipe that has a lot of adjuncts in it. Once you get the feel of lautering, you can probably do it without the rice hulls, especially with the braid. But for now they can't hurt.
 
Anyone try this with a 1/2" ball valve setup instead of a 3/8"? Would drilling out the hole where the stock spigot is mess up the cooler?

Thanks,
 
1/2" components work fine in the factory hole.

Question, is the braid more likely to get a stuck sparge than a false bottom? More prone to channeling?
 
Just finished mine, piece of cake thanks to these amazing instructions! Now I'm one more step closer to having my very own AG system, wooooo! :D

(cost me about $64 at Home Depot, not including the SS braid setup, I'll be buying a false bottom. Prices sure have gone up in the last 2 years! :p )

(also, the HD in Beaverton off Murray has 8 of these things left in the Garden Center, if you're in Portland and looking for one. The Jantzen Beach HD has none, even though their inventory says they have 3. :) )
 
Has anyone had problems with coolers cracking? I used my about 4 times and it cracked.

Do you have the rubbermaid 10G ? That's what i have (the orange one). I have done 6 batches with no issues so far, but if it cracked i would probably cry!! Did you put boiling or above 180 water in it?? I have tried to avoid anything above 180.
 
Yes it was the 10G rubbermaid. I'm always around 170. The first time I used it it was popping and cracking it scared the crap out of me but nothing was actually cracked. This weekend no sounds but it cracked.

BTW I called rubbermaid about it and it was a complete waste of my time. ( I told them I was cleaning it with hot water and it cracked) I'm still waiting for someone who can explain how a material with a working temperature of 212-220 can crack at 120. I called Home Hardware and told them the same thing and they told me to bring it back and they would give me a new one. They have a one year over the counter replacement warranty the store manager took one look at it and declared it a manufacturing defect.

I hope I have better luck with the new one. I'm thinking I might perheat it to about 120 just to reduce the shock on it.
 
The cracking noise is the insulation "breaking". It happened to mine and now I have a small ripple in the interior lining. No harm done. Still works like a charm.
 
OK i finally went and got the parts and put em together, only thing im missing is not only the stainless steel 5/8" fender washer but ANY 5/8" fender washer... they somehow dont exist at Lowes or a local hardware store. I ordered off fastenal as was proposed in the start of the thread. I had them ship to a local fastenal store, I hope it doesnt take a month. I called that store and the numbers disconnected... pain in the balls. Anyone order from fastenal?
 
I picked up a pack of 10 at my local Fastenal... the other 9 are great for weighing down hop and grain bags :).
 
just completed my build tonite with a gatorade cooler

as far as 5/8" ss washers- i found them in a $3.78 pack with a some nuts and bolts. didnt find them indivudually... but i will use the other ones for the spigot i plan to put on my kettle. the MLT has been full of 10g water for 30 min without leaking a drop. i maybe would have put 2 5/8" o rings around the outside spigot fitting, but like i said, its not leaking a drop so it must be fine...

thanks for an awesome tutorial.. because of this post- i will be doing my first AG batch on 5/2 and am probably done with extract and partial mash FOREVER..

thanks FlyGuy
 
as far as 5/8" ss washers- i found them in a $3.78 pack with a some nuts and bolts. didnt find them indivudually...

Was it "build a bolt" or something like that? I read it on here before, couldnt find them. What was your package called and where did u buy it?
 
Whew, just read all 74 pages. Going to pick up the parts on the way home from work.

Update: Picked up all the parts, went with 1\2" inch fittings and what not. Picked up the 10g Rubbermaid at Home Despot for $37, and a 48", 1/2" braided SS hose for $8. Already assembled and being leak tested.

On thing I found was that Lowes was selling 1-1/8od X 23/32ID rubber grommets that fit into the hole left when you remove the spigot and seal, the 1/2” MIP x 1-1/2” fits tightly into this and appeared to make a great seal, before adding the washers. Lowes also had packs of 2 5/8" washers, I ended up getting the 3/4" due to the 1/2" fittings.
 
Was it "build a bolt" or something like that? I read it on here before, couldnt find them. What was your package called and where did u buy it?

yeah, i just got back from Home Depot with my parts tonight and purchased the same "Build a Bolt" kit to get the 5/8" SS Washer:

Crown Bolt Inc. "Create-A-Bolt" part # 00692
Bar Code: 0 30699 00692 2
$3.77
 
ok a question that may be obvious to you but I havent heard or read of it. I realized that some people use 2 coolers, one is basically to hold water because once you drain some runnings into your kettle you have no more kettle to transport water to the mash tun for a second running, is this correct? Cant I just use a 5 gallon cooler to fill my 10 gallon mash tun? Or even a kitchen kettle? Is 5 gallons TOO little to hold second runnings water?
 
ok a question that may be obvious to you but I havent heard or read of it. I realized that some people use 2 coolers, one is basically to hold water because once you drain some runnings into your kettle you have no more kettle to transport water to the mash tun for a second running, is this correct? Cant I just use a 5 gallon cooler to fill my 10 gallon mash tun? Or even a kitchen kettle? Is 5 gallons TOO little to hold second runnings water?

before I got a second kettle/burner, I used to do it this way.

I'd heat my mash water....mash in.
then 30mins into the mash I heated up a full 5 gallons to around 200F.
dump all that into the 5Gal cooler and let it soak up some heat.
I double batch sparge, so I need hotter sparge water than single batch sparge due to the decreased water volume.


Sparging with water like this means I gotta aim high for temp and adjust in the 5Gal cooler. If you go too low, you're out of luck...I would keep about 1 Gal hot on the stove in the house, just in case.

a little fitness, and it worked fine every time.
 
Ok, I think I must be doing something wrong, because for the life of me, after about a turn or two putting the brass parts together (3/8 ball valve to barbs), I cannot get them to tighten. Anyone want to shed some light on this for me?
 
They dont tighten all the way down you will still see some threads... get two cresent wrenches, or 2 wrenches that fit and hold one inside while cranking the other outside... tighten all at the same time... until you cant go anymore or see the inside seal pressed very tight to the cooler.
 
Just finished building my MT from these instructions. I bought all the parts at HD except the 3/8" ball valve and the SS hose, both at Lowe's.

I didn't find a food grade, high temp 7/16 tubing so the SS hose is zip tied to both brass fittings. The SS hose just feels like it could collapse and cause a stuck sparge, I'm hoping it won't, not like the plastic hose wouldn't keep it open anyhow.

The outside, I had to use 3 washers and a lock washer (it was in the 5/8" make a bolt kit so I could get SS washers). The ball valve has a little wiggle, I could probably still twist it but it's not leaking so I will leave it alone. I tried to get the threads from the nipple seated all the way into the valve, it just wouldn't tighten any further necessitating the need for the included lock washer (tough to get on).

Can't wait till I have free time to mash and AG, my first, but much thanks for the parts list and instruction on how to build this! :rockin:


EDIT: All night and not a single drop leaked. Yes, the ball valve will easily spin on the axis of the direction of water flow, I did not tighten to the point it will not and works great.
 
yeah they will rotate if valve lever is pushed DOWN a bit hard but it need only be pulled out to open and in to close, not up or down. and yeah they dont tighten any further when they reach a certain point even when you still see half of the thread.
 
Does anyone know how to install a thermometer in one of these? Not like a hole with a rubber stopper for a cheapy thermometer, but like one that permanently installed
 
Does anyone know how to install a thermometer in one of these? Not like a hole with a rubber stopper for a cheapy thermometer, but like one that permanently installed

I used a "Thermothingy" kit. I've installed two of these things...they can be tricky to get to seal, but work OK.

thermo.jpg
 
I need to change up my game! Need to go AG, this extract stuff is pissing me off, not to mention the goop that accumulates on my high $ range hood and slate backsplash. I gots the turkey fryer stuff etc. I also have access to a crap load of those gatorade drink coolers for well, free. Could I use this same system to convert one of those?
 
So anyone know an easy way to figure out if a washer is stainless or zinc. I accidentally got my 4 stainless and 3 zinc thrown together and they are all mixed up.
 
So anyone know an easy way to figure out if a washer is stainless or zinc. I accidentally got my 4 stainless and 3 zinc thrown together and they are all mixed up.
Found a solution, used a magnet :)
 
Is a braided stainless steel faucet connector the same as what everyone is using?
This may seem dumb but I don't see how liquid is going to get inside this thing...
048643062054.jpg
 
Is a braided stainless steel faucet connector the same as what everyone is using?
This may seem dumb but I don't see how liquid is going to get inside this thing...
048643062054.jpg

Have you been back & read the conversion instructions? You don't put the faucet (or washer, etc.) adapter directly in the cooler. The idea is to just use the SS braid on the outside of the line as a filter for your grain bed. Cut off the ends, and treat it like a Chinese finger puzzle getting it off the rubber line, then follow directions per the beginning of this thread. My son & I just did a batch of big ESB yesterday, using this very conversion....worked like a charm. 73% efficiency, made a 1.060 SG.
 
That's great! - very similar to mine, but mine leaks a bit when I turn open or close the ball valve. I'll add a few washers to tighten the seal. Thanks
 
Finished up a 5 gallon version last night. I used WAY more than 3 washers on the outside, about 6-7, AND 2 on the inside. Maybe my washers were thinner? Got them from McMaster in a 50 pack, so if anyone needs any, I might sell you some :) All the other parts were exactly what was used in the original post, thanks to the OP for all the part numbers!

Did a temp test and lost 2 degrees in an hour with just hot water (117F -> 115F), so I'm happy. Also left it full overnight, came back and the water was still warm!. No leaks to be seen, so everything should be good to go this weekend for it's maiden brew :D
 
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