bendavanza
Well-Known Member
I did my first AG batch using the gott 10g cooler and a SS braid. I used a long one, thinking it might help with flow, prevent stuck sparge, etc. What I found was the thing was so long it would lift up during stirring. I did some reading and in a book called "How To Brew" by John Palmer, there is a braided line that loops into a tee. This made a lot of sense to me. I also read here somewhere about the braid collapsing from the weight of the grain. This got me to thinking, and I decided to make a spring out of stainless wire, and pack it into the braid. This supports the braid immensely, and helps it keep it's shape. I got a 1/2 ss ball valve kit from Bargain Brew Fitting Home Page and was trying to figure out how I could best adapt a tee and tube into this. Wandering around Elliots Hardware, I came across some copper threaded to 1/2 tube adapters, a 45˚ elbow, some all stainless clamps, and a 1/2" tee. To make a nice fit I had to sand some of the 45˚ fitting to size. I coiled the stainless wire around a extra fine point sharpie, and then stretched it to size. It was difficult to feed the coil into the braid, but with some additional hands on the job, compressing the braid, I was able to stuff 1/2 the spring in from each side. If I were using a new braid that hadn't gotten dented from my first couple AG batches, it would have fed in much easier. Make sure to bend in the tip of your wire so it does not catch. The braid is bound to puncture your fingers so beware. It also makes a hell of a chinese fingercuff so keep your digits out of them. On my first attempt the coil was way too long and I had to cut it down.
Here are some pics, the valve and fittings work really well, leaving very little water in the cooler.
Here are some pics, the valve and fittings work really well, leaving very little water in the cooler.