Cooler fill question

I am planning out my pump system for my all grain brewing rig. Well, rig is a loose term. Its coolers on a table. But I want to be able to pump from my kettle to the MLT cooler to fill it with water, and the same with the HLT cooler. Would I be best served by just drilling through the lid and adding a fill port that way in each cooler? Or through the side? I am going to be outfiting the kettle, cooler valves, pump, and chiller with camlock fittings. The only part I can't think of a good idea for is filling the coolers.

Eventually this will be a one-pump electric kettle system, with coolers for the MLT and HLT so I can make an easy control panel and keep costs low.

 

Why not pump it in from the out port just to fill? If you use quick connects and ball valves, that should be no problem.

 

True, I didn't really consider that as an option. That would actually work perfectly for my planned system!

 

When filling through the "out" port, are the any concerns from back pressure? I assume you just close the valve when desired level is reached. There would still be the liquid left that was in the hose. Is this a dumb question?

 

I put the fitting though the side of the cooler:



Using a cooler bulkhead:

Bulkhead

and a whirlpool fitting with 90 degree elbow inside:

Whirlpool Fitting

Elbow

 

Chris, that is exactly the cooler I have. I am going to put that same whirlpool fitting in my kettle, looks like I need to order another one for my mlt. Any issues with leaking? And do you just install the 90 degree fitting on the inside as opposed to the coupling it comes with?

 

I haven't had any issues with leaking, but I haven't had the cooler filled to the volume of the port yet during a mash. It's around the 7 1/2 gallon mark. When I did a test fill with water it didn't leak. My thermo port did leak during the first mash and think it had to do with not drilling the hole straight enough. As a fix I took it apart and used Aquarium safe silicone (Silicone) on the outside of the inner cooler wall and on the cooler foam. The service temperature of the silicon is up to 350F.

The 90 degree is used with all the supplied couplings as the 90 is female on both sides. I'm thinking I may have to aim the fitting a bit different to get it higher for bigger mashes, but I haven't run in to that issue yet.



I also had to stack a bunch of washers for the camlock: