My Cooler Mash Tun

[scaesare]

Thought I'd share after lifting several ideas I've found here and elsewhere on the interwebz:

A couple things of my own:
-Stainless QD's

-Mini ball valve on mash tun

-Built the small xfer pump with a food grade hot water pump and added a variable speed control

Some good ideas found online I incorporated:

-Removable manifold

-Small slits on bottom of manifold

-Expanding-foam insulation inside lid


I tested today, and in my ~42 degree garage, I only lost about 3 degrees over the course of an hour, so it's insulated reasonably well. I also only lost about 350ml of liquid at the bottom of the tun.

Appreciate everyone who shared ideas...

-sc

 

[Stillraining]

If that test was just water I bet you don't loose 1/2 of that amount with grain. Nice looking rig..Well done!

 

[madscientist451]

Agreed, looks great from here....

 

[scaesare]

If that test was just water I bet you don't loose 1/2 of that amount with grain. Nice looking rig..Well done!

Ah cool... yeah just water to test functionality and temp drop.

Thanks...

 

[Spartan1979]

Can you tell us a little more about that flow rate device?

 

[scaesare]

It's my little transfer pump.

Small 12-24VDC hi-temp pump good for potable use. I added a variable speed motor controller so I can prevent pulling wort out of my tun too quickly. Plumbed and wired it in to a small project box with the quick-disconnects.

Primarily so I can avoid having to move up 10-12 gallons of hot liquid around multiple times.

It may work great, or might suck. We'll see...

 

[scaesare]

I have a question for folks regarding my manifold... to avoid double posting, it's over HERE, for any willing to chime in.

Thanks.

-sc

 

[AlfA01]

It's my little transfer pump.

Small 12-24VDC hi-temp pump good for potable use. I added a variable speed motor controller so I can prevent pulling wort out of my tun too quickly. Plumbed and wired it in to a small project box with the quick-disconnects.

Primarily so I can avoid having to move up 10-12 gallons of hot liquid around multiple times.

It may work great, or might suck. We'll see...

Are you using a potentiometer as a controller for the pump?

 

[day_trippr]

I'll re-ask @Spartan1979's question: forget the pump, tell us about the flow meter!
Does the display just show the % voltage applied (100 would then be full-on) or are you actually measuring fluid flow?

Cheers!

 

[AlfA01]

I'll re-ask @Spartan1979's question: forget the pump, tell us about the flow meter!
Does the display just show the % voltage applied (100 would then be full-on) or are you actually measuring fluid flow?

Cheers!

That's what I was wondering when I asked if he's running a potentiometer. If so, most probably is displaying % of amps (amperes). Changing voltage would be problematic for the pump unless it is capable of multi-voltages. Still, it would be more effective to allow voltage to remain constant and control the amount of amps.

Cheers,
AlfA

 

[scaesare]

Not just a simple pot, it's a PWM DC speed controller I ordered from Amazon: HERE.

It's not measuring actual flow rate, thus why I labeled it "percentage" of full flow. The controller has the integrated display.

The pump is rated for 10L/min (2.6GPM) @24VDC, and I about get that when no head pressure. When attached to the plumbing on the bottom of either my 15 gal keggle or mash tun (and thus pumping against the head pressure as the liquid rises) I average about 2.4 GPM. I can fill my keggle or tun in just over 6 mins...

I tested how slowly I could run it in order to see how effectively I could pump liquid at a reduced rate out of the mash tun to avoid compacting the grain bed. With just water, I was able to run it about 6-7%.. anything below that and the motor would tend to stop. I didn't measure the flow-rate in GPM to see how linear that was as compared to the display percentage.... I'll try to do that.

I also will have to see things change when the tun is full of grain.

Hope that provides more info... if any more questions I'll try and answer.

 

[scaesare]

That's what I was wondering when I asked if he's running a potentiometer. If so, most probably is displaying % of amps (amperes). Changing voltage would be problematic for the pump unless it is capable of multi-voltages. Still, it would be more effective to allow voltage to remain constant and control the amount of amps.

Cheers,
AlfA

Simply varying voltage or current is problematic for DC motor control like this.. . hence the PWM controller...

 

[IslandLizard]

Looks great!

One observation, your hoses are regular PVC. I'd look into using thick-walled 1/2" ID silicone hoses for hot transfers. I had those PVC ones collapse on me in the past when they get hot. Silicone is also flavorless.

See if you can put the equipment closer together and use shorter hoses to save some $$. 1/2" ID (3/4" OD) Silicone hoses run around $2.00-2.50 a foot. Should last many, many years. Although they get brown and more opaque with use, they remain 100% functional.

 

[scaesare]

Thanks for the suggestion... I picked that up cheap just for the test, and indeed they are pretty floppy with the warm liquid. My other vinyl hose is smaller diameter and used at room temp or below... so they behave.

I have some other food-grade hose on order, and hopefully they'll be a bit more manageable. It's nylon... anybody any experience with that as a material for this application?

 

[IslandLizard]

Not sure if "nylon" is any more temperature stable. 35 years ago we used "nylon" tubing for high pressure air lines. That stuff was very springy, and relatively thick walled. Much faster and way cheaper to install than copper. From what I remember, that tubing was 4 or 5 mm ID, and came in wider dimensions too. I wonder if "nylon" was just a generic name or the actual material. I know Nylon-66 is not UV resistant, it degrades rather rapidly in the sun.

The tubing they sell for refrigerator/ice maker water supply lines is HDPE IIRC. Then there's PEX used for domestic water supply lines. Again very stiff material.

 

[scaesare]

Yeah, this is the stuff with fiber reinforcement crosshatched in to the walls, so we'll see.

It'll give me something to report back on

 

[scaesare]

Reporting back... I swapped in the new tubing in. It's much better, although while the PRODUCT PAGE refers to it as food-grad nylon, the packaging it came in clamed food grade vinyl. In either case, it's reinforced with braids, and doesn't want to collapse or kink even with hot liquid.

I also took the opportunity to change out the ball valve on the mash tun for one that I could orient the handle outward for, as well as some stales washers on both sides of the tun wall for stability.

I also took the opportunity to put a QD fitting on my keggle and build a mating siphon...

Some more pics below. In ANOTHER THREAD I was asked for some pics of the inside of my pump enclosure, so I'll post some more over there.

 

[osgrimmy]

I like the water level markings I need to do that for a bucket to measure water. you just use perm marker?

 

[scaesare]

Yup... good ol' sharpie.

 

[TriggerHappy]

I did a copper manifold and I love mine, would be hard pressed to go back to a ss braid. I cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of the diameter of the tubing but it is thinner walled so it's a decent size opening. I would definitely test with a batch I know inside and out instead of doing a double batch, but I just worry about stuff like that. Make any necessary adjustments as needed. The one simple suggestion I have for you is remove those little locks on your ball valve. I hate those dang things, lock a valve in the wrong position in a rush and it can be very frustrating. Pliers or a cutoff wheel should do the trick.

 

[scaesare]

Whelp...

I've struggling with stuck sparges recently. My previous grain bill called for some flaked barley, and it got stuck pretty bad. As I had a couple of mashes without the flaked barley that didn't get stuck, I assume that is the culprit.

So with my mash this weekend, I used rice hulls for the first time. As per my brew supply dude, I tossed a complete package of hulls (1 lb?) in to the tun along with ~27 lbs of grain. After my initial drain, the thing stuck hard when trying to batch sparge.

So... what to do? Deepen the slots on my PVC manifold? Abandon it for a steel braid style pickup? Fit some sort of false bottom over the manifold?

Any input welcomed...

(on the plus side, despite making a mess I have 10 gallons of porter that seems to be bubbling away quite nicely...)

-sc

 

[govner1]

What was your grain bill?
I generally match the volume of any flaked oats, barley or rye & wheat malts with the same volume of rice hulls.
I also put the rice hulls in my run first.

 

[scaesare]

Of the 27 lbs of grains, only 1 lb of it was flaked barley.

The bag of rice hulls was also one pound, I believe. The volume was actually greater, for the same weight.

I added them to the initial mash, but they obviously got all stirred in with the grains.

 

[govner1]

Sounds like you did all you could!
I use a copper manifold that has been very effective but still get a stuck sparge on occasion.
Just upgrading to a 15g Blichmann. I'll still use rice hulls as needed but hopefully the new false bottom will work well.

 

[laytonrd]

I built a similar cpvc manifold for the exact same cooler as you have and a similar design. I didn't see how you had your manifold drain, but I spent a couple hours drilling tiny holes on a drill press with a jig of sorts that made it easier. I don't have a close up picture with me but if you zoom in you can see the hole pattern. I have yet to get a stick sparge with this design and can drain the MLT down to a quarter of a pint. Not sure if it's helpful for you, just figured I'd show you what has worked for me. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482331516.367269.jpg

 

[frozengator]

Well I have a manifold similar to yours for my round cooler. I also use a nylon bag and have no problems with stuck sparges