Copper Manifold in Mash Tun Question

I'm considering making a mashtun out of a 60 or so qt. cooler (I already have a Gott Cooler mash tun that I will continue to use for lower gravity beers and smaller batches).

I have seen several set ups that make a copper manifold out of something like 1 inch diameter copper pipe, then slotted. I don't necessarily want to do that b/c I have no experience with brazing and I want to avoid dead space at the bottom of the cooler, if possible.

I recently found something on the internet where a guy made one out of 3/8" or so copper tubing, like the kind you would use hooking up an ice maker or for a wort chiller. The pros seem to be that it would be quite flexible and I could therefore avoid dead space as much as possible and would avoid brazing by snaking the tubing around the bottom of the cooler and then crimping the end.

Can anyone think of cons or reasons it wouldn't work or efficiency issues, etc.?

The only real issues I can think of off the top of my head would be low flow rate (might not bother you) and difficult to clean. I can pop my 1" manifold apart in a few seconds and wash it thoroughly of any grains/husks that got into it.

Hi

If you look at the book BWER WARE By Lutzen and Stevens, they suggest CPVC pipe. It's easy to cot and work with and very inexpesive.

Regards

David

cowain said:

I have seen several set ups that make a copper manifold out of something like 1 inch diameter copper pipe, then slotted. I don't necessarily want to do that b/c I have no experience with brazing and I want to avoid dead space at the bottom of the cooler, if possible.

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I've never used one of these but from what I know there shouldn't be any dead space in the Mash/Lauter Tun. The slots are cut in the bottom of the tubes so they pick up from the base of the cooler. Is this correct?

Check out HowToBrew.com and look at "Appendix D". You'll find that the wort entering your tube near the crimped end would have to travel the entire length, while wort entering futher down the line would travel much less, possibly lowering your efficiency.

The copper isn't bad to work with, and most of it should be left unsoldered anyway so you can clean it out.

I was able to build mine so that the outside lines pressed against the sides nice and snug to prevent it from wiggling. Then I used "t's" to run 3 parallel lines down the middle. And use 1/2' copper, not 1".