Rotating sparge arm?

I know this has probably been covered over and over on this site but I think I still need some convincing one way or the other. I am planning a DIY mash tun conversion for my 10 gallon round cooler this weekend. Prior to doing some research I assumed that rotating sparge arms were the way go. To my surprise I have found that most think it is over engineered and pretty much useless when it comes to efficiency as long as a 1-2" water height is maintained over the grain. (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/fly-sparge-arm-vs-sabco-tube-method-210927/index3.html)

Even accepting that a rotating arm may be useless in comparison to a simple silicone tube, I still think it is FREAKING cool. Are there any real negatives to this? Somebody please convince me that this is a waste of time and money!

 

I've tried a Phil's Sparge rotating arm, copper sparge arm and simple silicone hose. Silicone hose wins.

 

I used one when I first went all-grain and everything was gravity flow (no pumps). I never had any problems with it. I was a bit surprised to see so many posts of people having problems with them. I don't know what I was doing differently than anyone else, but I really never had any issues and thought it was a great product.

I stopped using the rotating arm when I built my electric HERMS system because I knew the holes in the rotating arm were too small and would get clogged when I was recirculating my mash. After some trial and error I went with a siphon spray wort aerator. It's cheap and it works awesome and won't clog on HERMS/RIMS setups.

 

Only $3.50. Works like a charm.

Siphon Sprayer : Northern Brewer

For another couple bucks I bought some pvc parts to make a support that rests on the top of my cooler. Hole drilled right through the center of the connector that is the diameter of the tubing. Holds the sprayer nicely in the middle and with a constant stream, provides an evenly distributed "dome" of spray.

 

I can see how the siphon sprayer would be great for sparging but do you really want to "spray" the return of a HERMS or RIMs? Would'nt that produce undesirable effects such as HSA?

 

granted it's got cool factor, I don't think it adds any additional functionality adds to your stand. I had a copper pipe with a series of holes so the sparge water just sprinkled in on top. Worked great and cost me nothing (the copper pipe was to run hot water from hlt to my anyway)

 

I'm old school with a gravity-fed ten-gallon cooler. Sprayer works wonders with my simple setup. I know nothing about HERMS/RIMs, so I cannot speak on that.

 

the theory makes sense, but in practice having a rotating mechanism on your sparge arm adds very little to the outcome, and adds considerable comlpexity without much justification . its debatable if you even need a sprinkler-type manifold over the grain bed; a legnth of silicone hose just floating on the top of the bed works equally as well it seems.