Silicon Tubing for Fly Sparging?

Just popped into my head...Any reason that you couldn't use silicon tubing as a sparge ring type setup mounted in the lid of a cooler? It seems like a very cost effective solution. For that matter couldn't you use another piece in the floor of you mlt as your manifold solution as well? I'm picturing scoring it gently with a razor knife or buying larger diameter tubing and either drilling or puncturing small holes into it and then securing it to the lid of the cooler with small mounts...possibly splitting into two inputs on the exterior of the cooler, depending on how reliable the pressure distribution would be. Would most likely need to use the reinforced as the non-reinforced only seems to hold 5 PSI, unless I'm reading the specs wrong.
So many good ideas flying around this place it's almost impossible for me not to come up with something....

I batch sparge, but I use a piece of silcone tubing inside my cooler for the return of my herms. I have yet to put any holes in it i just let it coil and drain out the end( I know for Fly sparging you woudl not want to do this). I find it very effective as it will auto adjust to the level of the mash.

Mike

I wouldn't use it as a separation medium but I will be using it as an auto-height-adjusting RIMS return (and possible sparge ring if I ever fly sparge). I'll put a bunch of 1/2" long slits with a razor so that they'll become as large as necessary due to pump pressure and plug the end to stop it from just pouring out.

I'd think the hole-poking would be the most tricky part. A drill will just separate the material and create holes that close back up. Slits may be okay - as mentioned, they'll open up. But, my gut feeling is that they may not open up as evenly as you might like - not sure.

What you could do is get a small-diameter hole punch (like mcmaster 3424A12, which is about $6), which are designed to punch round holes in soft materials like rubber, and should leave you with nice clean holes in the tubing.

TerapinChef said:

Would most likely need to use the reinforced as the non-reinforced only seems to hold 5 PSI, unless I'm reading the specs wrong.

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I really doubt that you'd possibly build up enough pressure to burst a tube with a ton of holes in it...

Bobby_M said:

I will be using it as an auto-height-adjusting RIMS return (and possible sparge ring if I ever fly sparge).

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I have no idea what that is but it sounds great.

I use a piece of silcone tubing inside my cooler for the return of my herms. I have yet to put any holes in it i just let it coil and drain out the end( I know for Fly sparging you woudl not want to do this). I find it very effective as it will auto adjust to the level of the mash.

Click to expand...

again, no clue, but glad it is working well for you.

So it sounds like this is very viable as a sparge ring option, and a much cheaper one that copper manifold or CPVC tubing.

You can see here the way I use the tubing here. As the grain bed gets higher the tube just moves right up. Nice and easy.