My coleman 70 quart extreme copper mash tun

LuciferSam said:

I don't have a valve setup yet??? Do I need a 2in long 1/2in nipple made of brass, stainless, galvanized??? Does my valve need to be stainless, brass?
Already failed once at Home Depot...

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It appears that I used a 1 1/2" long threaded on each end pipe. I also reused the cooler's plastic seal. looks a little dirty in the picture. Note the 4 washers needed for standing off the cooler. If I recall, those are SS washers, and I bought them at Fastenal because they are the only ones who sell SS with the correct inside diameter. The rest is brass or copper in my setup.

I've stood for many hours in that HD isle. I know what you're talking about, but that's why it's called DIY.

Thanks for the info/ help I'll try this sometime next week when I can make time...


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Manifold is done and leak tested.
Should I put slits in the tubing or holes?
How far apart should the slits/ holes be and on the top or bottom?
If I sodder some parts is that safe for the beer?


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Most folks use slits in the tubing, facing the bottom of the cooler.
Yes you can solder, but only with lead free solder.
However, there is probably enough "inteference fit" on the fittings, so that you may need no solder.
Leave it where you can get it apart for thorough cleaning.

As for the slits, I think I read that .030-.032 is a good width.

1/2 inch apart should do nicely.
Envision the tubing in the sections when looking down the "bore" of the tubing, and keep the slits to the bottom third ideally, which would lessen the mash left behind when draining.

I like it!

On mine the manifold outlet swivels as to align with the spigot.

I was thinking of doing slits and holes to maintain more integrity of the structure of the pipe? I was also thinking of drilling some holes in the t's and 90's? Thoughts? Slits and holes facing down toward the bottom? Right?


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LuciferSam,
If you limit the slit cut to less than half the diameter, the copper tubing should hold up pretty well. I believe I cut mine to 60-70% as seen on the cross-sectional drawing I'm providing. I actually created a jig to control the depth of the cut and the spacing between cuts.

As for drilling holes into the tees and elbows, that's up to you, most likely your probably going to do batch sparging, so there is nothing to gain by doing so.

The slits do face down when used.

LuciferSam said:

I was thinking of doing slits and holes to maintain more integrity of the structure of the pipe? I was also thinking of drilling some holes in the t's and 90's? Thoughts? Slits and holes facing down toward the bottom? Right?


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I've used this for years with a cpvc manifold. Just ordered a piece of perforated stainless steel from amazon for <$40 and have a braided SS line going to the same shutoff valve as everyone else. I recirculate now and these changes have increase my efficiency a full hundredth.

Disregard the beer siphon outer casing.

Frechetn
How do you clean the inside of the 1/2 in copper after cutting slits?


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You can use something rigid, of the appropriate length and material, (think bicycle spoke material), some emery cloth folded over, so that only abrasive is showing, and a drill, spun not too fast, to de-burr the inside.
Crimp the spoke over the emry cloth with some pliers to hold it in place.

CAUTION: don't pull it out of the tube whilst it's spun up fast.
You'll be sayin' "Damn, that hurt my arms, and my fingers", and anything else close by!

LuciferSam said:

Frechetn
How do you clean the inside of the 1/2 in copper after cutting slits?

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Nice Job LuciferSam. To remove the burrs, I used a rounded file through it several times. Check it then repeat if necessary.

A few more questions...
Could I get a straining bag to put the grains in big enough to fit in/out of the cooler for easy discard? Or is this stupid since the manifold will be straining my grain?
How often should I stir?
How many times should I crush my grain?
Is there a link to a DIY thermometer install on this cooler?
What is the purpose of the manifold on the lid of the cooler ???


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???


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Hey LuciferSam,
Sorry I didn't get back earlier. Haven't been checking email lately.

1. I would not use a mesh or straining bag for two reasons.
   • The gain bed and manifold work together to act as a strainer.
   • You run the risk of creating a stuck sparge.
   
   
2. Stir the mash thoroughly, check the temp of the mash in several spots (see #4), once the proper temp is achieved, close the lid and allow it to mash until the conversion process is done. Following the conversion process you will then begin by recirculating the first few gallons of wort back into the mash/tun using a pitcher. This is to set the grain bed to allow you to extract that sweet wert. Once you no longer see particles of grain coming from the manifold, you drain the mash/tun into your brew kettle. Most likely you will need to repeat this again to achieve your boil volume and to rinse the remaining sugars from the mash.
   Note: When recirculating, it's important to not disturb the grain bed. Try to disperse the wert evenly back into the mash/tun using the back side of a spoon/paddle.
   
   
3. You should only need to crush the grain once. Your homebrew store should have a crusher that is set correctly. You only want to crack the grain open, not pulverize it.
   
   
4. As for thermometer, you need to take temp measurements throughout the mash bed. No need to set it in one spot, since the idea is to ensure even temperature throughout the mash for the conversion process.
   
   
5. The upper lid manifold is a sparging arm. It's not needed unless you attempting to do a continuous sparge.

Thanks I will brew soon
Cheers


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I'm gearing up to do 15 gallon batch with maybe 35-40 lbs of gain. Is 70 quart big enough? Ive seen several threads on the topic, some say 70 quart is good, some say go with 100 quart cooler. What is your feeling? What size batches are you doing?

TIA
Scott

Can someone here tell me how long it takes them to drain the full 70Qt mash tun with such a manifold? I have a 50Qt with a stainless braid, and since I upgraded to 12 gallon batches it takes me well over an hour to drain the tun after the mash.

If these manifolds work much faster I'll be making one when I upgrade to the 70qt cooler this weekend!

Thanks!

It takes me about maybe 20 minutes or so, give or take. Much faster with a pump, too, and the manifold handles that just fine on most beers. (Prolly wouldn't do it with a wheat unless I have plenty of rice hulls in the batch.) Overall, batch sparging, I spend maybe 45 minutes to an hour with three total drains of 15 gallons hot liquor, minus absorption and dead space. So yeah, much faster, I would say.

Hey guys. I'm looking into building my first mash tun in the near future. I work for an environmental drilling company and we have 1" CPVC pipes that have numerous .1" slits cut into it. Only problem is that the slits are cut on what would be the top and the bottom of the manifold and the smallest diameter I could get is 1". I'm thinking if I put in a false bottom and/or found a way to cover the top slits that would help, but is 1" diameter too big for a manifold?

thomajt said:

Hey guys. I'm looking into building my first mash tun in the near future. I work for an environmental drilling company and we have 1" CPVC pipes that have numerous .1" slits cut into it. Only problem is that the slits are cut on what would be the top and the bottom of the manifold and the smallest diameter I could get is 1". I'm thinking if I put in a false bottom and/or found a way to cover the top slits that would help, but is 1" diameter too big for a manifold?

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Yeah, I'd say 1" is too large. I use 1/2" in a similarly built but 52qt cooler. And you don't want the extra slots on the top, although they will plug up after lautering for a while.

The total cost for the 1/2" cpvc manifold was under $8. I'd say you need 1 more length of pipe, to cover the extra distance. All the turns remain the same. $11 will get it done. Plus a few hours of handywork.

False bottoms of any kind for a rectangular cooler are hard to come by and can't be had for $11.

I run the same cooler and have/had a SS braid. Never liked it.

I sewed up a BIAB bag for it this past weekend hope to try it out real soon. I will mash and batch sparge like I always have. I can tighten up my mill gap and leave it since I also do small batch BIAB on my kitchen stove. Hoping this is a solution and a good option for others if they choose.

Subbed. Looking to make a bigger mash tun. I'm eye'ing the Coleman Xtreme 70QT and going with Copper manifold this time. Thanks for the ideas. I'll be working on this soon.

Looking at next build...

I know this is a old thread but I just used design ideas for my new manifold.
Here is a pic of what I ended up with minus the drain slits and 1 tee..
Does this look like it should be ok?
Also should I slit the 2 pipes that go to the drain? or just stick with the 4 main pipes?

crashtest22 said:

I know this is a old thread but I just used design ideas for my new manifold.
Here is a pic of what I ended up with minus the drain slits and 1 tee..
Does this look like it should be ok?
Also should I slit the 2 pipes that go to the drain? or just stick with the 4 main pipes?

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looks awesome.

slit the 4 main ones, then, if you're not in an "aw, EFFIN EFF, more slits" mood, do the remaining 2, but I don't think it would matter much

looks great, wish you many happy brews in it

Thanks for the quick reply GrogNerd,
I have a vertical band saw and was just going to use that...should go kinda fast.
Here is a test slit to see how wide it is.

Main reason I was thinking of not doing the drain line was due to the spacing...
Reading here and Palmers how to would make the spacing off if I slot the middle

not 100% sure, but I seem to recall the spacing is not much a concern if you batch sparge, it is if you're fly sparging, when you're more prone to channeling

Got it.
I usually fly but maybe I will batch a few times and see how it goes

Just built a fly sparge setup and tested
seems to be working fine.
Had 1/2 gallon dead space though which I thought should be less.
At least I can account for it
second pic is just in re-circulation with star san
also no connections are soldered so able to fully disassemble

just a quick update on this...I have brewed 3 batches in the new tun and its working great. my effency has gone up to measured 79% from lower 70's.
one thing I need to fix/change is the sparge setup. it flows too much if I have it flowing out of all the tubes.
if I turn it down to the run off speed it only comes out of the middle tube. I was playing around and turned the outside tubes to the side and that helped

I batch sparge, so the cheap stainless branded hose works great for me.

tloveland said:

I batch sparge, so the cheap stainless branded hose works great for me.

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that's exactly the setup I have! lots of draining area an very narrow openings, which drains great but avoids stuck sparges. However, the hose will collapse in a few spots eventually, under the weight of all the grain. Especially if you brew large volume or big beers (like 10 Gallons of 10ABV beer - 30+ lbs of grain). I inserted a stainless steel wire coil inside the hose to keep it from collapsing.

Not to take away from the joy of a DIY project, but does anyone sell a premade manifold?

Either the copper or stainless brake?

Thanks