Cooler Mash Tun Questions

[delvec28]

I'm in the process of gathering equipment to go all-grain and I have a few questions

I found a large cooler in my shed, but no drain plug unfortunately. I have also done a little research on this forum and found the design and components for a leak free mash tun.

I purchased all the pieces from home depot but wanted to ask you guys for the best method/tools for drilling a clean hole, possibly with a PVC piece added for reinforcement.

Also, is it important or necessary to make the stainless steel braid detachable from the barb on the inside of the cooler? I was thinking about zip tying the stainless steel braid over a piece of high temp tubing, and sliding that on and off the barb for easy cleaning.

 

[divisionbyzero]

regarding the hole - I've had very good luck with a stepbit on plastics. Go slow and you should be fine (you may need to come at it from both sides to get the right size hole)

you'll probably want the manifold to be detachable - it'll make cleaning out any small grain particles much much easier.

 

[delvec28]

regarding the hole - I've had very good luck with a stepbit on plastics. Go slow and you should be fine (you may need to come at it from both sides to get the right size hole)

you'll probably want the manifold to be detachable - it'll make cleaning out any small grain particles much much easier.

Thanks for the quick reply - did you use any PVC reinforcement when you attached your bulkhead fitting? I know this helps but is it absolutely necessary for a leak free design? I figure it would be more difficult to drill two different sized holes on the inside and outside, for the brass nipple and PVC, respectively.

EDIT:

I also meant to ask in this thread - how important are high temperature o-rings/high temperature tubing? I couldn't find any details on the container the o-rings came in, and I already have about 10-20' of regular vinyl tubing from home depot, but I don't know if I trust this so I may order a few feet of the high temp stuff next time I order from Northern Brewer or Midwest.

 

[divisionbyzero]

I don't think it'd be necessary, as long as the flange on the inside/outside of your bulkhead covers the hole, with enough room for the o-ring to compress, you should be fine.

Don't crank down on the bulkhead, its sealing out whats effectively standing water. If you crush the plastics, that's when you'll need to break out the PVC and the fun smelling glue.

Also - for what its worth, I am from the internet and could be completely wrong.. In which case its always easy to try first and then add the reinforcement if its needed.

 

[Bobby_M]

The reason for the pvc reinforcement between the walls is so that you can apply enough pressure to seal but without deforming the plastic with all the heat cycles. Another way to get this done is to carve out an extra 1/4" of the insulation between the walls and smear a ring of epoxy in there whether it be bondo or whatever, but something to hold the walls apart.

 

[metalbrewer]

I made a mash tun last year but used stainless steel toilet house. But if u go PVC it has to be CPVC does it not? Because of the chemicals In PVC. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Flomaster]

I made a mash tun last year but used stainless steel toilet house. But if u go PVC it has to be CPVC does it not? Because of the chemicals In PVC. Correct me if I'm wrong

CPVC is heat tolerant where as PVC Sch40 is NOT. not sure if the mashing temps is high enough to leak those toxins, but rather be on the safe side of things

-=jason=-

 

[Ace_Club]

I've used the PVC reinforcement for my MLT build (70 qt. Coleman Xtreme). It worked perfectly.

 

[metalbrewer]

CPVC is heat tolerant where as PVC Sch40 is NOT. not sure if the mashing temps is high enough to leak those toxins, but rather be on the safe side of things

-=jason=-

Yeah I remember seeing a online video of a guy building a mash tun when I wanted to make mine. He said CPVC cuz of the toxins but yeah rather be on the safe side for sure

 

[Ace_Club]

I made a mash tun last year but used stainless steel toilet house. But if u go PVC it has to be CPVC does it not? Because of the chemicals In PVC. Correct me if I'm wrong

CPVC is heat tolerant where as PVC Sch40 is NOT. not sure if the mashing temps is high enough to leak those toxins, but rather be on the safe side of things

-=jason=-

Yeah I remember seeing a online video of a guy building a mash tun when I wanted to make mine. He said CPVC cuz of the toxins but yeah rather be on the safe side for sure

While this is correct, the PVC application that we are referring to is completely external to the MLT. The pipe nipple passes through it and the PVC is only there to provide structural support to the walls of the cooler. That being said, PVC is perfectly fine to use in this application.