Mashing

I have the home depot 10 gal round cooler that I have been using as my mash tun. The drain tube has been working ok, but last brew it clogged and was a pain. Does anyone use, and how well does the false bottom work that is made for these types of mash tuns? It seems odd to me that the drain tube comes out of the top of the false bottom.

 

I use a manifold. I read quite a bit about false bottoms for these, and my conclusion was that the cooler expands/contracts too much with the heat changes for me to be satisfied with the FB. I was too worried about channeling down the side, or having the FB get stuck in there. I built a copper manifold and it works like a CHAMP. Aside for never wanting to use a hacksaw again, very glad I did it.

Drain coming out the top works b/c of siphon...downward pressure of liquid draining into BK creates a vacuum and "sucks" the liquid in the tun up.

EDIT: Also, the manifold was much cheaper. I'm sure if the FB were cheaper I'd be on here telling you how great it works.

 

can you send me a picture of what you built?

 

Sure:

 

All 1/2" copper:
4x Elbow 90°
5x Tee
1x 45° Street
1x female adapter
1x 5' pipe

 

Are the sides of your cooler deformed or is that just an illusion from the camera?

 

Deformed from the drastic changes in temp. The pic definitely makes it look worse than it is though.

 

I need a false bottom for my mas tun as well. kegcowboy has them for $42 i think for a 12 inch diameter. How many slits did you cut down each piece of copper and did you put them on the bottom? does this ever get clogged or stuck? thanks.
-C

Edit: Also can i just cut the slits with an angle grinder? how did you connect it to the valve? I just ordered a cooler conversion valve from bargainfittings and its got a regular 1/2 inch coupling that goes in the cooler. Was this cheaper to make than 42 dollars?

 

I have the NB false bottom in my ten gallon cooler, and it works great.

 

Is it this one?
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/12-s-s-false-bottom.html

Has anyone used this one?
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/12-STAINLESS-LARGE-COOLER-FALSE-BOTTOM-P2944C285.aspx

They look very similar.

 

Yup, that's the one. I was originally going to do the stainless tube manifold, but I wanted the option to fly sparge.

 

Do yo FB folks use clamps to secure tubing between the FB and your cooler coupling?

 

Not at all. High temp silicone tubing with 3/8" id.

 

Thats my set up - just haven't tried it yet.

 

My manifold cost ~$20. Never had any clogging issues. I'm sure you could cut w/angle grinder. A lot of folks use a Dremel. I have neither, so a good ol' hacksaw for me. I did roughly 1/4" between each slit I think, probably more than necessary. Yes, slits on the bottom.

Connected to valve with a straight piece of copper. The 45* street elbow is just loose enough to let me connect.

It works great. I was also very close to getting the FB others have mentioned, and I'm sure I would've been pleased with that too.