My new mash tun manifold....

[GroosBrewz]

Yeah, I know am I not going to win any Engineer of the Year Awards but I made this today and was proud of it so I thought I'd post some pics in case anyone else is looking to make a cheap manifold. Everything is 1/2" CPVC, no glue. It just snaps together. I used to use a stainless braid but I had more than my share of problems with it, so I "upgraded" to this.. Super cheap, super fast (if you use a dremel instead of a hack saw to cut the slits!). can't wait to try it out.. I've heard efficiency often goes up when going away from the stainless braid.. any truth to that?

 

[Evan]

looks good, in fact, look sjust like mine! haha. cant help you with the increase in Eff, but i tend to get around 75% with mine.

 

[FSR402]

You should have passed on putting slits in the outside tubes. Having them there can cause channeling down the cooler walls. But other then that it looks good.

 

[illin8]

You should have passed on putting slits in the outside tubes. Having them there can cause channeling down the cooler walls. But other then that it looks good.

This might be an issue if he were fly sparging...if he batch sparges it should be a non-issue.

 

[FSR402]

This might be an issue if he were fly sparging...if he batch sparges it should be a non-issue.

Yes but why not build it right the first time?

 

[RonRock]

So should there be slits only in the two center pieces? All of the rest are on an outside wall.

 

[illin8]

Yes but why not build it right the first time?

Does this logic presume that batch sparging is wrong?

Not being a smarta$$, just wondering...I'd think that if the outside 'legs' weren't slotted, you'd have a greater potential for problems w/ stuck/slow sparges with certain grain bills and two less collection 'legs'. I'm a noob so I am most likely overthinking it.

 

[GroosBrewz]

You should have passed on putting slits in the outside tubes. Having them there can cause channeling down the cooler walls. But other then that it looks good.

What do you mean "channeling" down the cooler walls? Not familiar with that term.. And for the record, I am strictly a batch sparge guy

 

[FSR402]

What do you mean "channeling" down the cooler walls? Not familiar with that term.. And for the record, I am strictly a batch sparge guy

The fluid is going to take the path of least resistance (down the wall).

No batch sparging is great but if you can build it, why not build it to do both? Now if he was to try to fly sparge it may not work so well. That's all I'm saying..

I always tell people to read THIS before building a manifold.

 

[Gregredic]

I would just leave it as is...will help with batch sparging....if you ever want to do fly sparging, replace the CPVC agains the cooler walls.

 

[RonRock]

Thanks, Good link FSR402.

 

[Brew-boy]

You did not leave any side clearance, see John Palmers book on how to make a "Balanced" manifold. I have my pipes running Parallel towards the valve and I get 85-87% effeciency.