MLT cooler build

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Zero

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Been reading up on the move to AG, and I'm slowly buying equipment that I'm going to need.

I'm planning on a rectangular cooler with a copper manifold. This raises two questions:

  1. How big do the slots need to be in the tubing?
  2. Should I leave the pieces just press fit together, or solder them up?
 
I made one years ago and just used a hacksaw to cut slots in the copper tubing. It worked great.
 
I used the 48 qt ice cube square cooler. Works awesome. I started with the braid and finally moved to a copper manifold. Cut slots with a dremel tool about the width of a hacksaw blade. I laid out the copper pipes and soldered up only some of the sections so I could clean it out easily. Let me know if you want pics.
 
I've heard people use a hacksaw or a dremel for the slots.
I could see that soldering it would make it more stable/sturdy and not fall apart, but the benefit of being able to take apart each piece to clean it seems to be better.
 
True, but don't you wind up having to be super careful not to knock it apart when stirring the mash?
 
Not the way I soldered it. Also, I tweaked the ends that slide together so they fit tightly.
 
I built a couple manifolds out of copper and used a cutting wheel on a Dremel to cut the slots. I sweated the fittings but wouldn't do it again. It was great not having to worry about it falling apart in my mash but think a came up with a better method, stainless sheet metal screws. Fit it together, drill some pilot holes and run a stainless sheet metal screw in the fittings to hold it together. If you ever need to break it down, back out the screws.
 
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