Chapman 20gal Mash Tun Upgrade

[homebrewdude76]

I picked up this 20gal Chapman for basically nothing.
Its SS and insulated so I figure a step up from my 12gal coleman plastic cooler.

Anyone ever put a thermowell in these? Or changed out the ports.

The port is a threaded sleeve that basically clears the outer SS shell.
Then it is just o-ring sealed to the inner wall.

I figure I would just get some stuff from https://www.brewhardware.com
Something that work with the existing ports. Or do I abandon them and go 100% of Bobby's weldless adapters.

 

[homebrewdude76]

It also missing the pick-up tube for the false bottom.
This image is from the Chapman site. It is showing just a tube from the false bottom to kettle port.
I see Bobby has a 90degree fitting for false bottoms, so that should work.

I saw images of people using an all SS dip tube for the screen.
Wonder if it is worth the effort to avoid the silicone tube?

 

[day_trippr]

I believe @Bobby_M still offers custom SS dip tube production, I've been using one he did for me for years, all you need is a diagram.

But, is it worth it? Only if it's easy to implement and deal with wrt disassembly for cleaning, etc. Otherwise there's no compelling reason to avoid the short length of silicone tubing that will be submerged and sealed off through almost the entire mash, so not subject to O2 pickup...

Cheers!

 

[homebrewdude76]

Not really worried about oxidation with silcone tube.
More worried about knocking it off or breaking the silcone tube during stiring.

 

[day_trippr]

Lots of folks have mash tuns with similar rubber tubing. My first 10 gallon Rubbermaid did and I managed to never knock it loose. Never worried about breaking it as it was braided high temperature Tygon, not silicone. Might consider using that...

Cheers!

 

[sibelman]

I've got a smaller Chapman. The insulated wall makes for slightly odd fittings, likely metric. The pickup tube looks like this:

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Not really worried about oxidation with silcone tube.
More worried about knocking it off or breaking the silcone tube during stiring.

I have the 10 gallon version. (Had 18 ¼ lbs of grain in it today with 7 gallons of strike water; we were full!).
There are 3 ports on mine; valve on bottom, thermometer right above that, and another plugged & unused one up high. Maybe one day I’ll get around to installing an auto-sparge or maybe just use it for recirculating.
I have never had any problems knocking off the silicone hose while stirring. I keep in mind where it’s located, and if I forget, I’m going to hit the temperature probe before I rip off the hose. I didn’t know Bobby made a stainless version, but I think I will just stick with this because it works well and it’s easy to take out and clean.

 

[Deadalus]

If you were wanting to put a pickup tube centered on the false bottom, you would need to be able to take the pickup off easily to take the false bottom out to clean it. I had that type if setup on my keggle mash tun and attached the pickup tube to a union. A compression fitting with a plastic insert (delrin?) is another option for easy removal. Brewhardware mentions that option. I have done both. You would also want a SS washer that fits the outside diameter of the pickup tube as the hole in the false bottom for the barbed elbow is likely bigger than the OD of the pickup tube. The washer will cover the gap. This pic shows the washer and the compression fitting for the pickup tube.

I just modded my SS Brewtech Infussion, a similar MT. I had to enlarge the upper port. for a weldless bulkhead as the stock bulkhead did not accomodate the threads on my float valve I use for autosparging. Be aware if you were to add a port, you have to account for the insulation thickness. Many weldless bulkheads assume a normal pot or keggle wall thickness. I ended up using a SS bulkhead long enough to leave threads to accept the hex nut. It also had to be female 1/2" NPT for my float valve. Just remember your wall thickness is around an inch.