Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion

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so you are using the ss braid with nothing under it or supporting it from collapsing?

Yep. Just like the original design;).

It has worked perfectly since I changed it to what I should have started with in the first place.

When I stir my mash I try stir on either side of the braid and not hit it with the paddle, but I don't know that it really matters.
 
I had been looking around for info about how to do the 10-Gallon Rubbermaid cooler Mash tun conversion for 1/2" fittings instead of 3/8 and the info is spotty and scattered far and wide. Figured I would post what I came up with for my system that I'm very happy with and post the links to where I found it all. With this setup, you do NOT need the white rubber seal that comes with the cooler, nor any additional O-rings to help a 3/8" nipple "fill out" the stock hole on the cooler once the original spigot is removed. It is all-stainless/all high-temp safe as far as what touches your mash/wort. Since the internet is already rotting my brain, I don't want any additional chemicals leaching into my beverages to make it worse. :)


Outside Hardware:
6590-outside-parts.jpg


You could use any 1/2" MPT barb fitting you want to connect hose direcly but I went with the F-style Camlock so I would have that kind of connection everywhere:


(One) 1/2" Ball Valve from bargainfittings.com:


(One) 3/4" cut washer from Home Depot:
Sku#248762 $0.40
(measures 52 mm wide overall diameter with 21 mm inner diameter, about 2.5 mm thick.)
(For reference, a web source would be here.

Inside Hardware:
6593-inside-parts.jpg


(One) 1.5" Long 1/2" Diam SS pipe nipple from bargainfittings.com


(One) 1/2" Inner Diameter silicone washer from bargainfittings.com:


(One) 1/2" (large diam for cooler bulkeads) SS washer from bargainfittings.com:


(One) 1/2" SS Female threaded hose barb from bargainfittings.com:

A stainless braid and hose clamp would be fine here for batch sparging but I went with a false bottom because I intend to fly sparge eventually.

False Bottom: 12" SS Domed FB from Amazon with 3/8" SS Barb:

I connected the 1/2" bulkhead barb to the 3/8 barb on the false bottom with
about a 6" length of 3/8" ID thermoplastic hose from rebelbrewer.com:

The hose fits very tightly around the 1/2" barb and moderately tightly around the 3/8" barb, which allows me to remove the false bottom for cleaning. I have not had to use any hose clamps on it.
6592-installed-false-bottom.jpg


I was able to reduce my mash tun deadspace (undrainable liquid volume) by half (from 2 quarts down to one quart) with one simple addition to my mash tun:
6591-false-bottom-modification-reduce-deadspace.jpg

I used a short length (~1.5") of regular 5/16" vinyl siphon hose, trimmed one end as shown in this pic and wedged the other end into the bottom port of the false bottom. This effectively maintains a siphon for longer and lets you drain down closer to the bottom without choking off flow. Depending on how domed your false bottom is, you may need to adjust the length of this small piece of hose so that it is just flush with the cooler bottom when in place. You don't want it preventing the SS false bottom from making good solid contact with the cooler bottom all the way around, yet if you make it too short, you lose some wort by having the siphon break sooner. Obviously this works best if your cooler is on an absolutely flat surface. I plan on finding a piece of copper or SS tubing to use instead of the vinyl hose so that I can be sure it won't collapse in any way.

Hopefully this helps some of you save some of the time I spent digging and researching, and buying extra unnecessary washers and fittings.

Todd
 
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eyedoctodd said:
I had been looking around for info about how to do the 10-Gallon Rubbermaid cooler Mash tun conversion for 1/2" fittings instead of 3/8 and the info is spotty and scattered far and wide. Figured I would post what I came up with for my system that I'm very happy with and post the links to where I found it all. With this setup, you do NOT need the white rubber seal that comes with the cooler, nor any additional O-rings to help a 3/8" nipple "fill out" the stock hole on the cooler once the original spigot is removed. It is all-stainless/all high-temp safe as far as what touches your mash/wort. Since the internet is already rotting my brain, I don't want any additional chemicals leaching into my beverages to make it worse. :)

Outside Hardware:

You could use any 1/2" MPT barb fitting you want to connect hose direcly but I went with the F-style Camlock so I would have that kind of connection everywhere:

(One) 1/2" Ball Valve from bargainfittings.com:

(One) 3/4" cut washer from Home Depot:
Sku#248762 $0.40
(measures 52 mm wide overall diameter with 21 mm inner diameter, about 2.5 mm thick.)
(For reference, a web source would be here.

Inside Hardware:

(One) 1.5" Long 1/2" Diam SS pipe nipple from bargainfittings.com

(One) 1/2" Inner Diameter silicone washer from bargainfittings.com:

(One) 1/2" (large diam for cooler bulkeads) SS washer from bargainfittings.com:

(One) 1/2" SS Female threaded hose barb from bargainfittings.com:

A stainless braid and hose clamp would be fine here for batch sparging but I went with a false bottom because I intend to fly sparge eventually.

False Bottom: Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004B7GIV8/ref=oh_o03_s00_i00_details from Amazon with 3/8" SS Barb:

I connected the 1/2" bulkhead barb to the 3/8 barb on the false bottom with
about a 6" length of 3/8" ID thermoplastic hose from rebelbrewer.com:

The hose fits very tightly around the 1/2" barb and moderately tightly around the 3/8" barb, which allows me to remove the false bottom for cleaning. I have not had to use any hose clamps on it.

I was able to reduce my mash tun deadspace (undrainable liquid volume) by half (from 2 quarts down to one quart) with one simple addition to my mash tun:

I used a short length (~1.5") of regular 5/16" vinyl siphon hose, trimmed one end as shown in this pic and wedged the other end into the bottom port of the false bottom. This effectively maintains a siphon for longer and lets you drain down closer to the bottom without choking off flow. Depending on how domed your false bottom is, you may need to adjust the length of this small piece of hose so that it is just flush with the cooler bottom when in place. You don't want it preventing the SS false bottom from making good solid contact with the cooler bottom all the way around, yet if you make it too short, you lose some wort by having the siphon break sooner. Obviously this works best if your cooler is on an absolutely flat surface. I plan on finding a piece of copper or SS tubing to use instead of the vinyl hose so that I can be sure it won't collapse in any way.

Hopefully this helps some of you save some of the time I spent digging and researching, and buying extra unnecessary washers and fittings.

Todd

That's sweet! I wish I did 1/2" from the beginning, there wasn't much info at the time. There is not much plumbing that deals with 3/8" anything, so it's hard to upgrade or build off the inside of the tun.
 
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Does anyone know if the Igloo 10 gallon seat top cooler will work with this hardware? I can't find the Rubbermaid cooler anywhere and already bought all the hardware.
 
CidCitrus said:
Does anyone know if the Igloo 10 gallon seat top cooler will work with this hardware? I can't find the Rubbermaid cooler anywhere and already bought all the hardware.

CitCitrus, it's impossible to know without your spigot hole size and wall thickness measurements. This page at bargain fittings does break it down somewhat in an attempt to help you size it out for one of their bulkhead kits, so you could maybe measure your cooler wall and hole and check there as a reference. http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=6

Unfortunately, I did not measure those things on mine as I initially used Fly Guy's 3/8 fittings and when I went 1/2" I just eyeballed the difference.
If anyone else is in the process of doing this conversion and hasn't put it all together yet, maybe they could post what cooler they have and what the measurements are fort that cooler.
 
CidCitrus said:
Does anyone know if the Igloo 10 gallon seat top cooler will work with this hardware? I can't find the Rubbermaid cooler anywhere and already bought all the hardware.

Also, I found this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00002N9F4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It's about $66 shipped if that's in your price range. Probably can find it cheaper without shipping, or of one of the other coolers works and has the same spigot sizing, you're golden.
 
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Thanks, I'm just having trouble finding any ten gallon coolers at all and would have to order the Igloo for pickup at wal-mart, so I wouldn't be able to measure it until I got it. Home Depot has the Rubbermaids listed in their stock but they can't physically find them and the website says they're an in store item only. I might just have to bite the bullet and spend the extra 15 bucks to have it shipped.
 
will these parts work with a 10 gallon round Igloo cooler. Sorry I know its probably somewhere in this thread but reading through the 200 plus page thread is too much right now. :drunk:
 
CidCitrus said:
Thanks, I'm just having trouble finding any ten gallon coolers at all and would have to order the Igloo for pickup at wal-mart, so I wouldn't be able to measure it until I got it. Home Depot has the Rubbermaids listed in their stock but they can't physically find them and the website says they're an in store item only. I might just have to bite the bullet and spend the extra 15 bucks to have it shipped.

My HD couldn't find them either. Turns out they were in the cleaning supply section, on an end cap, waaay up top behind some smaller coolers.
 
I'm doing this conversion with the original specs from page one, only I've gotten everything in stainless steel. The ONLY part I cannot find anywhere online is a FEMALE stainless 3/8 to 3/8 barbed hose fitting. I'm using it on the inside to connect to my stainless false bottom connection via a 3/8 tube. Does anyone know who might carry this?

I've checked bargainfittings, buyfittingsonline and some other sites but no luck.
 
Sharkman, I feel your pain. The mysterious nonexistence of certain fittings is what led me to scrap plans to build a manifold in my cooler.

If you can find a 3/8" FPT to 1/2" hose barb, that will work with the 3/8" tubing in the cooler. Off the top of my head I can't tell you where to get one, but in case you can find one I wanted you to know that'll work.
 
Well, out of 5 websites I emailed that carry SS fittings, I was sent to mc master. They do carry the fitting, however due to it's "rarity" it costs $17.00 plus shipping. No thanks. I opted instead to get a SS coupling and a male 3/8 hose barb, both of which plus shipping cost me a little over 14 bucks. It will be a little longer than I wanted, but I can make it work.

I never thought it would be such a pain to find standard fitting sizes in SS.

Now, what's a good, safe high heat resistant hose I can use inside the mash tun to connect from my hose barb to my false bottom connection?
 
Sharkman20 said:
Well, out of 5 websites I emailed that carry SS fittings, I was sent to mc master. They do carry the fitting, however due to it's "rarity" it costs $17.00 plus shipping. No thanks. I opted instead to get a SS coupling and a male 3/8 hose barb, both of which plus shipping cost me a little over 14 bucks. It will be a little longer than I wanted, but I can make it work.

I never thought it would be such a pain to find standard fitting sizes in SS.

Now, what's a good, safe high heat resistant hose I can use inside the mash tun to connect from my hose barb to my false bottom connection?

You may not be happy with your coupling to mpt solution. I had that at first and could not easily get my false bottom in and out for cleaning because of the extra length. I know bargain fittings sells a "half coupling" which is shorter that may work better if you run into this problem.

As far as the hose, I got the 3/8 inner diameter thermoplastic hose from rebel brewer. 1 foot was more than enough. The color is beige or pastel green (sorry, I'm a little color blind).
 
Yes I thought that might be a problem but I won't know until I try it out. If nothing else, the hose barb will just be hand tightened for easy removal. I doubt I'll lose suction through the threads if it is hand tight.

But yea, I'll only need about 3" of tubing. I was thinking home depot may have some for that purpose. I'd rather not pay more shipping if I don't have to, ya know?
 
Lost a ton of heat during my last mash and it seems like my lid is not closing very tightly. Anyone else experience this and have any idea about how to fix this. I'm in China so "run to your local Home Depot" won't work. Thanks!
 
I put a towel on top and it seemed to help. I don't want to stray off topic but do you have a hard time with ingredients in China? I imagine you only have to worry about yeast huh?
 
BullGator said:
I put a towel on top and it seemed to help. I don't want to stray off topic but do you have a hard time with ingredients in China? I imagine you only have to worry about yeast huh?

There's a Chinese guy who spent 16yrs in the States and came back and opened up an online store. We can get almost everything we need. Variety is limited but we get creative. And there's 4 of us doing it so somebody is either going back to the States or having visitors so our supply line is pretty good!
 
I followed original specs on a new 10 gallon Rubbermaid. I just came home with 6 washers for spacers on the outside and there is still a 1/4 gap to the valve when I put it on. I'll need 3 or 4 more washers to get a seal. That is ridiculous. Any suggestions for an alternative?
 
I followed original specs on a new 10 gallon Rubbermaid. I just came home with 6 washers for spacers on the outside and there is still a 1/4 gap to the valve when I put it on. I'll need 3 or 4 more washers to get a seal. That is ridiculous. Any suggestions for an alternative?

A thicker washer, or washers..I use 3-4 SS ones and end with a think one. Yeah, cause otherwise the valve wont shut right... Any thick 5/8" washer will do...
 
I followed original specs on a new 10 gallon Rubbermaid. I just came home with 6 washers for spacers on the outside and there is still a 1/4 gap to the valve when I put it on. I'll need 3 or 4 more washers to get a seal. That is ridiculous. Any suggestions for an alternative?

I just had the same problem but i gave in and just ended up using about 8 or 9 washers. Looks a little strange but it ended up working out in the end!
 
The answer to thi is probably something I've read over in the last 200 pages but I am converting a 10 gal gatorade cooler, made by Rubbermaid. Everytime I set it up and fill to test it I get a small leak coming from the bottom side. I am following the original design and specs. Have tried more and less washers. Almost seems like there is not a good seal from the inside. If anyone could shed a little light it would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Had this same problem, I overloaded the nipple with teflon tape and tightened it down as much as I could, no longer had a leak.
 
I think a percentage of the rubber grommets that come with the cooler are not suitable for what we are using them for. You may want to try to find some kind of an alternate gasket, or do what some have done and entombed the inside with food grade silicone.
 
Just built this from the original build list tonight. Need to find a better seal washer or play with over/under tightening to get rid of a tiny leak behind the outer washers, but not expecting a problem. Watts part numbers were fantastic help. My local Home Depot had 3 ten gallon rubbermaid coolers in stock for about $45 (but had to wait for the staff to get them off the top shelf of the garden department outside shelves - found them online, but staff didn't know they carried them. Go figure.

Many thanks for the original post again, and all intermediate discussions - great info. Finally got me to go all grain.
 
I am looking to build a MLT like this but have been reading that only having a central draining point, which just running the braided hose would create, will cause the grain in the middle to become overly rinsed while sparging etc that may release tannins. Which would then leave an off taste. Anyone have any experience with this?

I am having an argument with my buddy as to whether to go with the braided hose or build a manifold out of copper tubing.
 
FuBaR1218 said:
I am looking to build a MLT like this but have been reading that only having a central draining point, which just running the braided hose would create, will cause the grain in the middle to become overly rinsed while sparging etc that may release tannins. Which would then leave an off taste. Anyone have any experience with this?

I am having an argument with my buddy as to whether to go with the braided hose or build a manifold out of copper tubing.

If you batch sparge then there is absolutely no reason to build a manifold. It won't hurt, but also won't help. It just adds time to your build. The thought of cutting all those little slits is painful.

The sweet wort drains evenly from the bottom. And, with a bit of tipping, I am able to get almost all my sparge water back out.

If you are fly sparging then the concern over channeling is more valid, but I know many people use the braid with outstanding results. I don't fly sparge so I can't offer any tips.
 
I am looking to build a MLT like this but have been reading that only having a central draining point, which just running the braided hose would create, will cause the grain in the middle to become overly rinsed while sparging etc that may release tannins. Which would then leave an off taste. Anyone have any experience with this?

I am having an argument with my buddy as to whether to go with the braided hose or build a manifold out of copper tubing.

I batch sparge now, but will fly sparge in the future, so I wanted to build a manifold from the get-go. Plus, it's very easy to take apart and clean.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ch...lt-conversion-23008/index177.html#post3382250
 
I visited a different Home Depot and found the right washers. I still needed 5 of them! But it is built and seems leak free. The HD I bought all the rest of the parts from did not have any 5/8 washers, so I went to True Value. They had some great thick "5/8" washers that did not fit over the nipple and that's how I ended up with the other thinner one that needed so many.

Anyway, thanks to the OP and all contributors.
 
I was able to find everything for this build at my local HD last week. I utilized two of the "Build-A-Bolt" packs in 5/8" to get the SS washers. There are 4 in each pack. I ended up using 1 on the inside and 6 on the outside in order for it to be a snug enough fit to eliminate excessive play. Leak free after both cold and hot water checks. I'm excited to use it tomorrow! :rockin:
 
Built one of these and used it yesterday with a false bottom. Thanks for the instructions! The one thing i noticed though was the entire fixture can be easily rotated. Does everyone else's feel solid?
 
Nobodies does ;)

I went to HD today and purchased and built a 5g mash tun, so psyched! I didn't purchase enough 5/8" ID washers, so I had to drill out a wooden spacer (about 1/4" thick) in the garage to get enough tension. Quicker than a return trip to HD to purchase more washers for spacers. The assembly still rotates, as tested by my 5 year old. But it holds water with no leaks. I used the parts list provided by OP. Thank you! Hardest work was finding all the parts at HD.

That and the Seattle T-birds blanked Everett tonight! Great day.
:ban:

Can't wait for my fermenters to clear so I can put the tun to use!
:mug:
 
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