fasle bottom in cooler questions

Hey guys,

I just purchased and installed a 12" domed false bottom for my cooler MLT and swapped out my bazooka screen for it. It doesnt span the full diameter of the cooler and also the elbow for the pickup is noticeably higher than the barb on my bulkhead. I feel like i will lose a lot of wort due to the greater distance from the bottom of the cooler to the pickup hole. Have other people experienced this? Would there be any downsides to me flattening it a little to fit the cooler better and also lower the pick up?

Instead of flattening the false bottom, consider putting a pick up tube cut at an angle (sort of like a slurpee straw) that can reach to the bottom of the cooler (without plugging the tube). I wouldn't try to flatten out the false bottom, because once it is flattened, it might lose its strength, and end up just flat on the bottom of the cooler, not allowing the necessary dead space to do what it is intended to do.

You are probably going to lose an insignificant (yes I know any amount of beer is significant) of wort due to this, and that is going to have little affect on your gravities. I wouldn't sweat it, but that's just my 2 cents.

I was thinking of buying a 1/2" coupler and using that with a washer instead of the nut it came with which would definitely give me a pickup closer to the bottom, thoughts?