I cant get my mash tun to drain on mash out

Help, I am on my 2nd all grain batch and both batches I could not get the wert to drain. I am using a 10 gallon rubbermaid beverage cooler with 3/4 inch braided SS. At first I get a decent flow but then it tapers off to just a few drips. I can blow through the valve and the flow is great for 10 sec then with in 45 seconds it is just drips.
My first batch did this but when I batch sparged it drained fine.
Any ideas or suggestions? I am trying to drain it now.

Are you slammin' the valve wide open when you turn it on? Might be compacting the grain bed

Also....how fine is your crush?

Quite possible your braid is collapsing.

What is your grain bill for your last 2 batches?

StoneFan said:

Are you slammin' the valve wide open when you turn it on? Might be compacting the grain bed

Also....how fine is your crush?

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I think they are on the right path. You need to lauter slowly as to not compact the grain bed.

Thank you for your quick replies. I slowly opened the valve about 1/3 of the way to vorlof and slowly opening it more. My braid has a copper spring in it to prevent the collapse.
Could the braid be too fine? If I rub my spoon against it the flow gets stronger.
I am not sure about the crush. I used the mill at my LHS and we can not adjust the mill.

E-Mursed said:

Quite possible your braid is collapsing.

What is your grain bill for your last 2 batches?

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My grain bill was 10 LBs for the first and 11.5 for this one.

Sounds like you are vorlaufing to fast.

BrewingReverend said:

My grain bill was 10 LBs for the first and 11.5 for this one.

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X lbs of what? Wheat or rye included in this? If yes- what percentage. It sound like a stuck sparge. Are performing a mash out?

mux said:

X lbs of what? Wheat or rye included in this? If yes- what percentage. It sound like a stuck sparge. Are performing a mash out?

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This batch is 9 lbs of Golden Promise Malt, 1.5 LBs of Gambrinus ESB malt and 1 LBs of British Crystal. No rye or wheat in either batches.
Any suggestions on how to get it unstuck? I have tried stirring it, blowing in the tube and scraping the braid with my spoon.

Gotta let it drain slowly. If it gets stuck, whip out your giant spoon and scrape the spoon gently along where the braid is on the bottom. My braid gets a bit smoooshed toward the end of mash out, I just close the valve, stir a bit, then open again. It's just something you have to get a "feel" for... The more I try to rush it, the more irritated I get when the draining gets stuck.