2nd all grain batch and still a few questions

I hit the required strike temp in the cooler added grains and it still came out 5 degrees cooler then I needed. The temperature was supposed to be 150 and it came in about 145. I heated up about a gallon of water to 170 and it got me up the the 150. it took about 10 minutes to heat up the water.

The added gallon to the mash thinned it out significantly. Is there any issue with this? What about the drop in temp and the time it sat at this temp? What temperature do you no longer get conversion?

Is there a greater jump in efficiency with breaking the total sparge amount into 2 seperate amounts?

What numbers do I need to figure out efficiency?

The recipe I used is as follows:

****5 Gallon Batch****

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (55 min)
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (35 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (20 min)
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min)
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) (Hydrated)

The recipe was @ 70% efficency for a SG of 1.039

I used an extra 2 lbs of Pale malt. My SG was 1.050

I appreciate all the help and I'm slowly getting more comfortable with my brew process. I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions.

The added gallon to the mash thinned it out significantly. Is there any issue with this? What about the drop in temp and the time it sat at this temp? What temperature do you no longer get conversion?

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Brewers get good results with mashes from 1 qt/lb through 2 qt/lb. As long as you are in that range, probably not much difference. I don't use a cooler, but I've seen it often said on here that they need to be pre-heated. But I guess, once you get to know your cooler, you could just raise your strike temp 1-3 deg. The temp drop to 145 will just give you a short time at a normal mash temp. Temps under 150 give more fermentable (thinner and drier) worts, those above 154 give less fermentable (more body and sweet) worts.

Is there a greater jump in efficiency with breaking the total sparge amount into 2 seperate amounts?

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Are you batch or fly sparging? Or are you collecting two different worts? The more water you put through the grains, the greater efficiency you will get. However, collecting more than can fit in your boil pot is tough and really low SG runnings can be astringent.

What numbers do I need to figure out efficiency?

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Volume collected, SG of the collected wort, and lbs of grain. Of course, you also need predicted SG and predicted volume.

Add your strike water 15 - 20 degrees hotter than strike temp, let sit for 15 - 20 minutes to preheat the cooler, then carefully adjust temp down to strike by either stirring or adding cool water or even a few ice cubes. Mash in and let sit at least 5 min for the temp to stabilize. After a couple times,hitting strike temp becomes routine. Sorry, can't help you on efficiency calc's. maybe a search?

I'm currently using a cooler as a mash tun.I Boil a quart of water and put that in my cooler 15 minutes before mashing in...Then right before i mash in,I empty the qt of water down the drain and mash in...this heats the cooler and really helps in reducing temp loss in my tun...

thanks for the help. I overshot the temp for the cooler by 15 degrees to allow for the cold MLT. The temperature when I added the grain was where I needed it. Maybe I needed it to warm up for a longer period of time. I think i'm going to do the method of preheating prior to mashing next time to see if my results improve. Thanks for the help.

Is efficiency lost with lower mash temps?

If you brew in the garage like I do you may want to store the mash tun in the house. the temps are more constant there. In the garage it may be 40F or 90F so you would have to change the strike temp maybe even every time.