Manifold Slot Sizing

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
B

Brewtus

Active Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Worth TX
I've read Palmer's book and seen discussions about converting coolers into mash tuns but can't find one final piece of info that's bugging me.

How big should the slots be in the manifold pipe? Palmer goes into much detail about pipe placement and spacing and says slots should face the bottom. But how big are the slots???
 
As small as you can reasonably can make them.

Are you planning on fly sparging or batch sparging? I batch sparge with the stainless steal mesh from a hot water hose as my maifold and works fairly well.
 
I just made one about two months ago. I just cut the slots with a hacksaw, cutting the copper tubing about 1/3 to 1/2 way though the pipe about 3/8'' apart. Seems to work fine. I was going to check my efficiency on the last batch, but broke my hydrometer...
 
I agree that using a hacksaw was John's intent. He probably didn't consider all of us that have jewlers' or jig saws. Use a 32 tooth blade for ease of cutting. It's easier if you cut after soldering the manifold (if it's flat). The tubes don't roll and you can do all of them at once.
 
I just stuck mine in a vice without clamping too hard and started cutting. I didn't solder the tubes so I could clean them. I only soldered the elbows and other small parts.
 
It is really simple. And if you do screw it up you're only out a couple of inches, or feet depending on the size, of copper pipe. Mine are only about six inches long to fit in the bottom of a round 5 gallon cooler.
 
Using a hack saw, I got a thin piece of wood about eight inches long and an inch wide and used a couple of small c clamps to clamp the wood to the side of the blade. Using this, I could control the depth of every cut and I went through several dozen slots very quickly. You don't have to continously monitor the cut depth with this method. The saw simply stops cutting when the set depth is reached.
 
A rotary tool (Dremel) makes this job amazingly easy. Just pick up a couple of the grinding/cutting disks and you should be able to make your slits in no time. If I had to use a hack saw it would've take many hours. With the dremel, I knocked it out in a matter of 15-20 min.
 

Similar threads

Ashv1
Turning my smaller kettle into a malt pipe
Replies
15
Views
1K
IslandLizard
IslandLizard
Clint Yeastwood
Sewer Pipe to Hold CO2 Tank at Proper Height
Replies
8
Views
1K
Clint Yeastwood
Clint Yeastwood
Tommydee
Fridgidaire Gallery French Door Refrigerator Kegerator Build - 5 taps, 2.75” spacing
Replies
9
Views
924
Bassman2003
B
Deadalus
American Chestnut Keezer with Iron Pipe Tower
Replies
1
Views
818
Deadalus
Deadalus
Up.meinzs
Brewing Water Chemistry
Replies
13
Views
2K
BrewnWKopperKat
BrewnWKopperKat
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top