Mash tun problem

Hi all.
I have recently just brought a 35 litre cooler which I plan to convert into a mash tun. I have a problem, I brought this cooler off ebay and didn't notice that it has ribbed edges around the bottom of the cooler. I'm not able to drill my hole right at the bottom but about 3 inches up. I've got a picture here to show you what I mean.

Anyway, do you guys think this will be fine or is their any other way I can get around this problem? I have a 35 litre cooler as I only do 3.5 gal batches.





Any help would be great full.

You should be fine. Just figure out how many gallons will occupy the dead space. Once you figure that then you will add that volume to the water added when mashing so you get the total volume for your boil. E.G. let's say the dead space is = 2 gallons. Normally you need 8 gallons of total water in the mash tun to make a 5.5 gallon batch. Now, instead of 8 gallons you would need 10 gallons because 2 gallons will stay in the bottom of your mashtun. Also, this will mess with your effeciency. You may need to brew 2 or 3 times to get your system dialed back in.

Make sure when you sparge you tip the cooler to drain that "dead space." discarding that wort would leave you with a very low efficiency.

I think you could drill lower if you used a large washer on the outside....With a weldless fitting you seal from the inside and just need the support from the outside to tighten against. Even a metal strip to span the ridges and drilled to allow a coupler/nipple should work.

Just put a couple of 45s or a hi temp flex hose in to drop your manifold down. If you use a hose make sure it is secure so that you don't rip it off when you are stirring in your grain. Don't worry about a 3 inch incline the siphon action will take care of that. You won't have any more deadspace than you would with your spigot any lower on the cooler.

schittbreff said:

Just put a couple of 45s or a hi temp flex hose in to drop your manifold down. If you use a hose make sure it is secure so that you don't rip it off when you are stirring in your grain. Don't worry about a 3 inch incline the siphon action will take care of that. You won't have any more deadspace than you would with your spigot any lower on the cooler.

Click to expand...

^This. You really shouldn't have a problem as long as you have a proper seal. If whatever kind of dip tube you choose goes down to the bottom of the cooler and you have a hose hooked up to the outside draining into the kettle without any leaks the suction will take care of the rest. It's physics or something....

inhousebrew said:

^This. You really shouldn't have a problem as long as you have a proper seal. If whatever kind of dip tube you choose goes down to the bottom of the cooler and you have a hose hooked up to the outside draining into the kettle without any leaks the suction will take care of the rest. It's physics or something....

Click to expand...

Wait... when did science get into homebrewing? Is nothing sacred!

Cheers for the help people.

A drilled rubber stopper inserted from the inside of the cooler makes a simple and effective bulk head fitting. Even if it's ribbed on the inside, it should still make a good seal.

I've improvised and come up with this. It seems to work well