Noob mash question

So this is my attempt at building a mash tun. It is 3/4" copper pipe The problem is I did a trial run with just water and had about a gallon left in the chest. Is this because there was no grain? Should I proceed with a batch? My thought is that there was no grain in the bottom to take up the space but I just wasn't sure. Any advice is appreciated!

What did you use to cut the slits in the pipe?

A band saw

Did you put a siphon hose on the ball valve outside of the cooler? If not the liquid won't siphon out below the drain level..

@stauffbier nope didn't even think of that I bet that was it thanks!

The gallon of water left is your dead space. Just figure that into your water volume for mashing and sparging and go for it. Even if you have grain in the cooler, you will have some water left over when you drain it.

Scottanooga said:

The gallon of water left is your dead space. Just figure that into your water volume for mashing and sparging and go for it. Even if you have grain in the cooler, you will have some water left over when you drain it.

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A gallon of dead space is a lot in my opinion. Since the OP didn't use a siphon hose I'm betting that was the problem.

dbeer22 said:

@stauffbier nope didn't even think of that I bet that was it thanks!

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Let us know if the siphon hose helps!

Looking at that, I'm not surprised you have a 1 gallon dead space. When I used copper tubing, I had the pickup point right near the drain/bulkhead fitting. That way, I could tilt the tun and get more out. I now use the stainless plumbing hose and seem to lose 0.5 gals during my brewing (which seems high).

But not a big deal; you can just factor it into your calcs. It won't hurt your efficiency much. Personally, I'd redo the plumbing at some point, but that's just me.

@stauffbier yep the siphon hose was the issue once I put that on I only had about 1/2 quart left. Thanks guys!