CPVC manifold

[Boo-urns]

How does my manifold look? Minus the stickers still on it. Do you recommend holes or slots?

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I used a hacksaw and made slots, fast & easy.
Works fine for me.
Both work it is your preference.

 

[RmikeVT]

Looks pretty similar to my manifold. Works great - except I get stuck sparges, not sure what the issue with that is. Maybe I should have drilled holes instead of cut slits.

Stuck sparges aren't really an issue for me because I batch sparge. So if it gets stuck I just take my mash paddle and push through the grain to the bottom and it makes some space for the liquid to flow.

 

[mobrewdude]

I drilled holes in mine (5/32" I believe) and am satisfied. I get tiny amounts of grain inside the manifold but it mostly rinses out without disassembly. I did retain the ability to disassemble, however, just in case.

 

[Boo-urns]

Yea i was curious if slots would be more prone to getting grain stuck. I haven't decided yet. The only place not to do holes or slots is right next to the valve correct? I was thinking from the T up to the valve no holes or slots.

 

[mobrewdude]

I'm by no means an expert and there is much experience in the forums but I think, generally speaking, the goal is to have nearly equal draw from all parts of the bottom. You can see my perceived solution here but it's quite possible that I overthought the whole thing. Worst-case-scenario you'll only be out a few $$ if it turns out low efficiency though, that is the beauty of using cpvc.

 

[billl]

If you are batch sparging, that looks ready to go. Cut some whole or slots and brew away. You don't need uniform flow for batch sparging.

If you are fly sparging, you'll want to reconsider that design. Anything that close to the edge will encourage channeling right down the side of the tun. That means water would be flowing around the grain bed rather than through it.

 

[Boo-urns]

I do like your design mobrewdude. I've seen a couple octagon shapes and was curious about the middle of that not having any pipe in that open space. I was thinking of fly sparging (don't have anything built for it yet) but maybe will just jump into batch sparging instead.

 

[johngault007]

I have a rectangular cooler as my mash tun and used the manifold design described in John Palmer's book. I did decide on slots instead of holes and haven't had an issue yet. The wort doesn't take long to run clear and never had a stuck sparge.

 

[barrooze]

Looks ok, and I'd recommend holes. I can get 80% efficiency using this MLT and batch sparging and I've never had a stuck sparge. It sounds like with slots the possibility of making too large of slots is high, which may lead to the stuck sparges people are getting.

 

[Boo-urns]

So I also made it as an octagon shape with just a horizontal piece. Only concern with that design is breaking it loose when doughing in.

 

[mobrewdude]

One option is to glue the extension that leads from the middle to the threaded fitting (preventing it from coming loose during the mash) but not glue the extension to the middle of the manifold. You can first screw in the extension, then slightly flex it upward to put it into the manifold. Once assembled, the slight downward pressure will keep the two assemblies locked together, at least enough to eliminate the fear of it coming apart during a mash. If you look at my previous link, I updated the pics with the final version... glued and screwed. I have not done what I just decribed above since it hasn't been necessary yet but it's on the list if the joint ever loosens up.

 

[petrostar]

I have a rectangular cooler as my mash tun and used the manifold design described in John Palmer's book. I did decide on slots instead of holes and haven't had an issue yet. The wort doesn't take long to run clear and never had a stuck sparge.

Followed his instruction to the tee and had near 80% eff. Using a cooler and batch sparging. I also used slits and barely ever did I get a grain in the manifold and did about 20, 10 gallon batches with this setup. This includes imperial pumpkin beers.

 

[oceanselv]

Turning the holes or slots to the bottom of the cooler will help with the stuck sparging.

 

[Boo-urns]

I ended up revisiting the square design and used it for my first all grain batch. It worked great! I ended up sawing some slots on the bottom.

 

[mobrewdude]

Looks good! I think, in theory, that will give you a more equal pull than the original design. Did you end up batch sparging or fly sparging? Were you able to determine your efficiency?

 

[Boo-urns]

I fly sparged. I wasn't sure how to determine efficiency based on what I've read so far since honey was added during the boil. My grain bill was 8.5# and my pre boil gravity was 1.054 however during the boil 2# of honey is added so my SG was 1.060. The recipe was shooting for 1.054-1.058

 

[mobrewdude]

Without the grainbill and pre-boil water volume there's not quite enough info there to determine actual efficiency but you matched efficiency with whatever recipe you used at least, that is most of the battle in AG brewing, congrats!

 

[krenshaw]

mine is similar to the above pics, i used a hacksaw to cut slits.. so whatever the width of the blade is how big mine are.. have yet to have a stuck with about 18 batches on there

 

[Boo-urns]

i used a hacksaw to cut slits.. so whatever the width of the blade is how big mine are..

Same here I decided on cutting slits. I have brewed 2 batches so far with success. I have vorlauf but I seem to still be getting some grain particles through into the kettle. Could my crush be to small perhaps?

 

[mobrewdude]

If it's just the occasional piece of grain I wouldn't change a thing if you're otherwise happy. If it's a significant amount of grain then the slots are too wide for that particular crush. However if you change the crush you're also going to change your efficency and probably make it less efficient if that's a concern, some care, some don't. Other options would be to re-make the manifold with narrower slits (hacksaw blades vary somewhat in cut thickness, look for a thin blade without the wavey teeth) or drill holes instead.

 

[Boo-urns]

I would say the bottom of my kettle 7 gal has a layer of trub on it. I may try to remake the piece and drill holes.

 

[mobrewdude]

That sounds like it may be a bit much if you're talking about before the boil and can see that they are grain particles. If you are talking about after the boil and especially if you are using irish moss or whirlfoc, it could just be the heavier proteins settling to the bottom, this is normal.

If you do drill, I used a 5/32" bit on someone else's recommendation and it works well, I only get the tiniest pieces of grain through and those quickly disappear during vorlauf. Other sizes may work also.

 

[Boo-urns]

Well I do use a mesh bag for the hops and don't use irish moss. Both batches I've had quite a bit of trub on the bottom it didn't necessarily look like grain but it was kind of mucky? I'll do one more batch on it (after Christmas) and I'll take a picture if it happens again.

I still have some CPVC so I'll try it with drilling holes. Do you just drill them about the same distance apart as slits? My slits were about 1/2-3/4" apart I don't recall exactly. Or do you kind of 'pepper' the bottom by staggering holes throughout the bottom portion?

 

[mobrewdude]

I linked the thread on mine, which shows my spacing, in post #6 of this thread. Again, I'm sure there's other ways to do it but this is how I did mine and it works well for me. I made a quick template on MS Paint on the computer to mark the center of the holes and then cut the paper into strips which I taped onto the cpvc, then I just drilled through the paper and took it off when I was done.