Opinion on MLT drain placement

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Hello all, Im building a MLT with a copper manifold. The cooler I bought was on super sale at the local grocery store but did not come with a drain valve, I have to drill my own hole.
Because of this I was wondering if it would be more efficient to to sort of lay the manifold pie to the drain down tot he side a little to make it lower? Or should I just go straight out? Will it even make that big of a difference?
Pics of what I was thinking. Pic one goes straight out, pic two lays to the side a little.

2011-05-19_20-09-07_577.jpg


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Personally I would make the cut in your cooler as close as you can without scrapping the bottom of the cooler...that is where/how you will want the drain to go.
 
+1 to both of the above. Why would you intentionally create dead space in your MLT if you don't have to?
 
Oh sorry, Im not siphoning, my pics ar just showing the position of where im going to drill through the cooler. I already have a bulkhead ready to go.
 
ya... as low as possible. even the with the position of you're second pic, you'll need a small siphon to draw out every last drop, but not much.
 
Oh sorry, Im not siphoning, my pics ar just showing the position of where im going to drill through the cooler. I already have a bulkhead ready to go.

We understand that, what we're saying is that you'll have to create a strong siphon to suck the wort out if your hole is even a tiny bit above the bottom of the cooler. From your pics it looks like you're planning to drill the hole at least a half inch above the bottom of the cooler. What we're suggesting is that you make a slight re-design so that the bottom of the hole you drill is as close as possible to being flush with the bottom of the cooler to minimize dead space. An easy option would be to switch the longitudinal piece in the top of the pic with the one that has the tee. Then you could exit right against the bottom of the cooler near the top of the pic. Or you could take wilserbrewrs suggestion if you want to exit on the same side of the cooler you had planned.
 
We understand that, what we're saying is that you'll have to create a strong siphon to suck the wort out if your hole is even a tiny bit above the bottom of the cooler. From your pics it looks like you're planning to drill the hole at least a half inch above the bottom of the cooler. What we're suggesting is that you make a slight re-design so that the bottom of the hole you drill is as close as possible to being flush with the bottom of the cooler to minimize dead space. An easy option would be to switch the longitudinal piece in the top of the pic with the one that has the tee. Then you could exit right against the bottom of the cooler near the top of the pic. Or you could take wilserbrewrs suggestion if you want to exit on the same side of the cooler you had planned.
Thanks for all the help guys. I had a 'durrr' moment there when you guys asked about siphoning.
 
You won't be able to get a seal on the rounded part of the internal cooler wall anyway. Just drill the hole barely far enough up that your washer and gasket lay flat, or you're going to have some serious trouble with leaking.
 
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