False Bottom deadspace

If you set your false bottom on a flat surface, at its highest point (the middle I hope) how much space is under it. Mine only has between 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch and i'm wondering if this is normal, since I'm having some issues.

P.S it is a 10 gallon round cooler type false bottom.

sounds normal to me. sounds like we have the same false bottom in the same type of cooler. i've got 2qt of dead space. i somtimes use a 2x4 to prop up the back of the cooler to help drain. what's your issue?

SenorWanderer said:

sounds normal to me. sounds like we have the same false bottom in the same type of cooler. i've got 2qt of dead space. i somtimes use a 2x4 to prop up the back of the cooler to help drain. what's your issue?

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See this thread for an explanation of my issue. A bit long, here I was just trying to narrow the problem down a bit. My friend seemed to think the FB was not domed enough. I thought it was normal and that there is a problem with some other piece. Like I said this will explain a little more.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/first-all-grain-brew-day-nightmare-93071/

Is your FB somehow connected to the elbow leading back to the ball valve, or does the tension of the tubing kind of pin it down. This will all become more clear if you read the other thread.

the elbow on my FB attaches with a hex nut that screws into from the bottom. i attach mine to the valve with a short length of vinyl hose. both ends of the hose attach to nipples. i thought that's how all FBs were setup. does you elbow have threads on the down side and a nipple on the up side?

SenorWanderer said:

the elbow on my FB attaches with a hex nut that screws into from the bottom. i attach mine to the valve with a short length of vinyl hose. both ends of the hose attach to nipples. i thought that's how all FBs were setup. does you elbow have threads on the down side and a nipple on the up side?

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Yes, it has threads on the down side and a nipple on the up side, but there is no room under the FB for any nut or even all of the threaded side of the elbow, If I got a nut and tightened it up the edges of the FB would be up off the cooler floor by a 3/8 of an inch or so. I thought about cutting the threaded part down some, but I still not sure a nut would fit on the bottom. Check these pics out to see if it clears things up a bit. The bottom is how it fits now, the top is what I was thinking of. But like I said I'm not sure a nut would fit on the bottom. I have contacted the outfit I bought this from and he said he had had some complaints about stuck sparges and now I think I'm beginning to understand why. I sent another email to him, we will see if I hear anything else back.

I hope this make sense.




And also for reference

i read in the post you linked to that the bottom of your cooler has a bump in the middle? i think that's your problem. mine is flat and has plenty of clearance. the two things i can think of to fix this is:

1. try and flatten the cooler bottom. the plastic it's made of becomes pretty pliable with a little heat. if you can get in there with a blow torch and GENTLY heat the plastic until it's pliable you could then smash it down with something hard and flat. a stainless steel mixing bowl comes to mind. now you should have the clearance for a nut.

2. you could saw off the bottom of the threaded plastic elbow, fit it through the hole in the FB so that about 1/8"-1/4" is still protruding, then heat that until it's pliable and flare the plastic over the edge of FB so that it stays in place. if you do a good job it'll be very secure. you might end up using a little epoxy to seal it up real good.

3. buy a new cooler that doesn't have a dome in the middle.

was the cooler domed in the middle when you bought it? the walls of my cooler have bulged from the hot water. it's a pain to get the FB out if i have to, but i don't have to very often. if it wasn't domed then there is probably just air under there and pressing it down again would probably be the best bet.

The bump is there by design (at least as far as the cooler goes) and is not a deformity. That may very well be part of the problem. But even if it wasn't there then the elbow would still sit flush on the bottom of the cooler, and I cannot imagine this would be good. As it is I'm pretty sure it isn't going to work.

I'm going to attempt to attach the elbow and connect is somehow semi permanently to to the false bottom and see what kind of clearance I can maintain after I remove all the excess. I'm going to do some measuring tonight too, maybe the clearances are not as tight as I think.

Any way thanks for the help and I will be sure to update when and if I find a solution.

Bobby_M answered your question in the original thread. Raise the false bottom to an acceptable level, ~3/8 quoted from Bobby. he knows what he is talking about. You ask for answers but ignore them when they're given.

IrregularPulse said:

Bobby_M answered your question in the original thread. Raise the false bottom to an acceptable level, ~3/8 quoted from Bobby. he knows what he is talking about. You ask for answers but ignore them when they're given.

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I decided to rethink that last post and edit it. I don't doubt that you and BobbyM know what you are talking about, but either I'm doing a bad job of explaining it or your not comprehending it. I will leave it at that. I have an action plan, thanks for all the suggestions.

IrregularPulse said:

Bobby_M answered your question in the original thread. Raise the false bottom to an acceptable level, ~3/8 quoted from Bobby. he knows what he is talking about. You ask for answers but ignore them when they're given.

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WOW.....just WOW!

There is more of a problem than just the clearance. One of the big problems is that there is a hump on the bottom of the cooler, PLUS the fact that the elbow isn't staying attached to the FB.

I assume you are batch sparging. If you are fly sparging the dead space under the false bottom really doesn't matter because it'll just be very dilute wort anyway.

robumba said:

I assume you are batch sparging. If you are fly sparging the dead space under the false bottom really doesn't matter because it'll just be very dilute wort anyway.

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Yes batch sparging. I still might have a chance to return this one because it looks like no one has ever seen a commercial acquired MLT that is built like mine, and I figure that is a bad sign. The guy is local and if he doesn't come up with some pretty good solution I'm gonna press to just send it back and pick one up on more beer maybe. I was going for a FB so I could upgrade to fly sparging at a later date possibly.

E

Ok, if returning it is an option, I'd do it. The first problem that I didn't mention earlier is that the amount of open space in that design seems really low (something like 25%) due to the large amounts of space between slots. The perforated (round hole) style would be better. In any case however, you don't need a false bottom to batch sparge. It's more trouble than it's worth when a simple stainless braid or manifold would work wonders.

evandam said:

If you set your false bottom on a flat surface, at its highest point (the middle I hope) how much space is under it. Mine only has between 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch and i'm wondering if this is normal, since I'm having some issues.

P.S it is a 10 gallon round cooler type false bottom.

Click to expand...

23/32 " measured from the upper surface of the false bottom or 21/32 " measured from the lower surface.

-a.

Bobby_M said:

Ok, if returning it is an option, I'd do it. The first problem that I didn't mention earlier is that the amount of open space in that design seems really low (something like 25%) due to the large amounts of space between slots. The perforated (round hole) style would be better. In any case however, you don't need a false bottom to batch sparge. It's more trouble than it's worth when a simple stainless braid or manifold would work wonders.

Click to expand...

I was trying to think ahead for fly sparging. You guys have helped alot. I'm going to look into returning the whole setup. Looks like I went local and got local to save 10 bucks. I don't want to get down on the guys yet, we will see what they say.

I have the same false bottom as the OP, I bought it from my LHBS but it came with a rigid SS pickup tube compression fittings and elbows that go from the ball valve to the false bottom.

I was having trouble getting a siphon from below the false bottom. The pickup tube elbow connection to the false bottom is the problem area. My elbow at the FB is threaded and goes just below the FB. There is a nut that is used to apply pressure, but not actually attach to the FB. I got it right and had great suction from the slots, it is not perminataly mounted and I can remove it easily for cleaning and drying.

I and the OP could mount it permanent-ly but do folks actually just leave the false bottom in all the time?

here is a link to my LHBS and the description on why the slots are used
12" Stainless Steel Domed False Bottom

Our 12 " Stainless Steel domed False Bottom is commonly used in 10 Gallon Igloo Coolers.
The 16% open design contributes to better efficiency and a clearer sparge.

Add-on our false bottom assembly which includes all fittings from the false bottom through to the ball valve.

Our compression fitting design incorporate a stainless steel tube which essentiaslly "Hard Plumbs" the false bottom into place. The false bottom will NOT float.

If you are mashing in a cooler, this is the premier false bottom for you