CPVC manifold efficiency in square cooler

So as I am getting ready to start building and piping my manifold I start to think what would be the best way to pipe build it. I began thinking that if there's more grids on the manifold I will be increasing the ratio of fittings to pipes, in which fittings provide no drainage/filtration to the overall manifold. So I was thinking if by some chance, and I do mean by some slight chance, someone has figured out or can figure out the best ratio of pipe(CPVC) to fittings. Here's just a picture of my idea. I'm getting the feeling that I'm being a little bit neurotic. :cross: Sorry for the graininess, didn't feel I needed the big boy camera for this.

Look in John Palmer's book (How to Brew) about this. There is a free online version of the book. He goes into some pretty good detail about designing the best manifold.

But unless you're fly sparging, it really doesn't matter that much.

LandoLincoln said:

Look in John Palmer's book (How to Brew) about this. There is a free online version of the book. He goes into some pretty good detail about designing the best manifold.

But unless you're fly sparging, it really doesn't matter that much.

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+1 on How To Brew. Palmer already did all the math.

besides my cooler being square that is what mine looks like. I fly sparge and get decent efficiency, i think the crush i get from the brew shop is hurting it more than anything else. I will test that theory when I get my mill.

So from what I read about manifolds from Palmer's How to Brew, I'm assuming that making my pipes point downwards would be detrimental to my efficiency. So in order to correct this, the majority of the pipe should be in the same direction as my outflow pipe, longitudinal?

This is my take from the book.

Assuming the drains is in the middle of the right side of the rectangular cooler

zosomeone said:

So from what I read about manifolds from Palmer's How to Brew, I'm assuming that making my pipes point downwards would be detrimental to my efficiency. So in order to correct this, the majority of the pipe should be in the same direction as my outflow pipe, longitudinal?

Click to expand...

From Palmer's book:

Here are the summary guidelines for designing efficient manifolds and lauter tuns:

Have the straight line distance to the drain be as short as possible. In other words, orient the pipes longitudinally with respect to the drain.
Deeper grainbeds have more uniform rinsing, all else being equal.
The closer the pipe spacing, the more uniform the flow, all else being equal. A spacing of 6 inches is the maximum in my opinion. A spacing of 2-4 inches is preferred.
The spacing of the pipes from the wall of the cooler should be S/2 or slightly greater to avoid preferential flow down the smooth walls.