Mash Tun w/ Manifold

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Kojack84

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After looking long and hard before going to all-grain, I decided that the false-bottoms seem to be pretty hit or miss depending on the quality of the bottom, as well as the cooler itself.

So I decided to build a manifold! I ran to Home Depot and built this thing out of some copper pipe/fittings. Took my dremel to it, and this is the end result!

Here's my MT:
P1020530.jpg


My manifold:
P1020527.jpg


Underside:
P1020529.jpg


All hooked up:
P1020532.jpg



This thing flows great, as I have used it for only fly-sparging without issue. After several batches, it does not appear to channel at all, lets very little to no grains into the pot, and is easy to clean. I have so far been getting >70% efficiency with it, and am sure I can do better once I get my process nailed down.
 
looks nice! i have all the parts sitting at home to ready to assemble but i went with the braided hose.. i have a feeling i might be making one of those puppy's tho.. will see how the braided hose works.. bro's a plumber so i could get all the parts free.
 
Kojack84 said:
After looking long and hard before going to all-grain, I decided that the false-bottoms seem to be pretty hit or miss depending on the quality of the bottom, as well as the cooler itself.

So I decided to build a manifold! I ran to Home Depot and built this thing out of some copper pipe/fittings. Took my dremel to it, and this is the end result!

Manifold looks great. Can you tell me how you installed the digital thermometer? I see what looks to be a stopper inside the cooler but I am guessing there is more to it than that?
 
Manifold looks great. Can you tell me how you installed the digital thermometer? I see what looks to be a stopper inside the cooler but I am guessing there is more to it than that?

Nope. #5.5 stopper, drill a hole slightly smaller than the stopper, shove in the stopper from the inside, drill a hole through the stopper, insert thermometer.

I will say to push the thermometer most of the way through before inserting the stopper. When it's squeezed in the hole it isn't easy to push the thermometer through, and you can break one (I did).
 
Good thinking. I'm gonna have to try that on my MT. By the way, harbor freight has digital thermometers (like that) on sale for $5.50 - I bought two yesterday.
 
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