MLT - Cut or Drill

I have been reading a lot of the posts on MLT builds and there seems to be a large difference of opinion between cutting or drilling when it comes to manifolds.

I have a 52qt Coleman Xtreme that I have converted and I have built my manifold out of CVPC. I have already drilled 3/32 holes every 1/2 inch. I'm not against rebuilding and using all cuts or even doing a hybrid of alternating cuts and drilled holes.

My main questions:
Which is better with CVPC?
Is there better efficiency with slits or holes?

This is a picture of my manifold before I drilled my holes:

 

In that type of manifold, I'd say slits. More flow, better volume exiting, and better efficiency at the end of your sparge. I'm sure there are differing opinions here, but just my two cents.

 

I agree - I think slits should be used for that type of manifold. I think that having holes every so often, the wort will take longer to empty vs. slits at the same distance. If you choose to go with slits, it would be easy enough to do with your manifold.

 

+1 slits. Dremel tool it, works like a champ

 

I have the 75qt Coleman extreme and I drilled a $hit load of holes in my manifold. I haven't had any issues with stuck sparging and I get very clear run off. I decided on holes because I felt I could control what got into the manifold better by reducing the size of the holes and just increased the number of them. I've done a wheat beer and an imperial pumpkin ale with good results.

 

Do you remember what size holes you drilled?

 

Sorry for the late response. I drilled using a 1/16 in bit.

Here is an example of my setup which has a few shots of my manifold:

http://homebrewery.shutterfly.com/

 

Go with the slits. I also use a CPVC manifold in the same size cooler. Actually, my manifold looks almost identical to yours. The slits work great, fast run off and no stuck mashes (yet) and I have done a crap load of wheat beers including a turbid mash for my Lambic using unmalted wheat.

But I also have a question. I have seen people say that the slits/holes should face the bottom of the cooler. I have also placed mine up. Is there any benefit from up vs down?

 

I have my manifold with the holes pointing down. I did it this way to help prevent grains from getting stuck in the holes or from getting inside the manifold itself.

 

I use a slotted copper manifold slots facing downward. Works great!