Rubbermaid Cooler MLT with false bottom question

[npauley88]

Hey guys,

Just built a new mash tun out of a 10 gal Rubbermaid cooler. I went with the 12" domed false bottom against the braided SS hose but I was wonder what is the best option in connecting the 90 deg barbed fitting on the false bottom to the barbed tail on the bulk head fitting on the cooler?

I went with 3/8" braided PVC tubing (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/KURIYAMA-Tubing-4HM04) but just realized that the temperature rating is only to 150 F. Obviously this should not work due to mash temps being in the 150 F range and mashout temps being closer to 170 F.

What do other people use to connect the two?

 

[mcbethenstein]

I used high temp silicone tubing from my LHBS. It's rated to boiling water. Works very well and is easy and flexible enough to take apart for cleaning.

Another tip... I've heard some complain about fine ground grist getting through the false bottom and causing a stuck sparge... I have some fine woven cheese cloth here at home and I cut a circle of it out and cut a hole in the center for the fitting. Once it's wet I stretch it over the false bottom and the unfinished edges catch on the cloth. Then put it all back together and I've never had a stuck sparge even with wheats (apparently notorious for stuck sparges due to smaller size of the grain) I'll try to attach a photo of my set up once I'm on my computer instead of my phone.

 

[jetmac]

I would not use the false bottom. The braided line will work just fine

 

[DeafSmith]

Here's my setup:

To reduce the dead space under the false bottom, I used a hacksaw to cut off part of a 1/2 inch coupling:
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_39&product_id=49

so that after screwing the longer part of the coupling onto the adapter threads under my false bottom the coupling extends down to about 1/8 inch above the bottom of my cooler. The 3/8 inch barb on top of the false bottom is connected with a short length of 3/8 ID silicone hose to a 3/8 barb to 1/2 MIP adapter which is screwed into another 1/2 inch coupling screwed onto a 1/2 nipple which is screwed into my 1/2 ball valve. The coupling is screwed onto the nipple right behind the nut that compresses the O-ring against the cooler wall. Listing the parts in order, I have:

Cut down 1/2" coupling (underneath false bottom)
Right angle 1/2" MIP to 3/8" barb adapter (passing thru false bottom)
3/8" ID silicone hose
3/8" barb to 1/2" MIP adapter
1/2" coupling
1/2" nipple (passing thru cooler wall)
1/2" NPS nut
O-ring
cooler wall
2 1/2" flat washers (outside cooler)
1/2" ball valve

It sounds more complicated than it is, but works well and other than cutting down the one coupling is just a matter of assemblling the parts.

The silicone hose is attached with stainless steel hose clamps at both ends, so there's no way the assembly will come apart.

I do have to remove the 3/8" barb to 1/2" MIP adapter in order to get the false bottom out of the cooler, but this only a small inconvenience.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I've got that same set up and i just have a short bit of hi temp tubing from the 90 barb to the ballvalve barb. no worm clamps or anything, it works great and is easy to take apart.

 

[jetmac]

Just curious as to why you guys are using a false bottom. The braided line by itself works fine for me.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Just curious as to why you guys are using a false bottom. The braided line by itself works fine for me.

Chicks dig it.



And it looks cool.



And when I was putting it together I was reading that false bottoms were the best (albeit more expensive) way to go. Having never seen a mash tun "in real life" I figured I'd go with whatever John Palmer and a bunch of homies on HBT thought was slick.

 

[DeafSmith]

Just curious as to why you guys are using a false bottom. The braided line by itself works fine for me.

I tried a braid when I was partial mashing, but the braid got pretty beat up after a while and I got tired of poking my fingers on the ends of the braid every time I took the MLT apart for cleaning. Also, I think I have less dead space with my cut off coupling extending down from my FB (about 1/8 inch off the bottom vs. the height of the braid).

 

[3 Dog Brew]

I used the domed SS false bottom for several years but kept getting stuck mashes occasionally even if I used rice hulls.

A couple of months ago I bought 4 feet of 1/2 copper, 3 T-fittings and 5 90-degree elbows. Total cost was less than $20 (US). Built the manifold as described in "How To Brew" (J. Palmer) for the 10 gallon beverage cooler and have never been happier with the run off, clarity and have experienced no more stuck mashes.

Domes are a place to rest your hat. Manifolds rule the mash tun.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

Domes are a place to rest your hat. Manifolds rule the mash tun.

haha, nice

 

[mcbethenstein]

here is the pic of my set up I promised. Works spectacularly. Although I might now think about extending the coupling down closer to the bottom of my cooler....

 

[jetmac]

Chicks dig it.



And it looks cool.



And when I was putting it together I was reading that false bottoms were the best (albeit more expensive) way to go. Having never seen a mash tun "in real life" I figured I'd go with whatever John Palmer and a bunch of homies on HBT thought was slick.

I understand why you want to use a false bottom but using a false bottom and SS braided line seems overkill when either will work great.

(and I disagree with Palmer and your homies. I think a false bottom creates alot of dead space and is more expensive and complicated to install and maintain. Very easy to buy parts from local home fix it store for a braided line. Easy to install and to maintain it, I just spray water on it to get any grain off.)

 

[jetmac]

I tried a braid when I was partial mashing, but the braid got pretty beat up after a while and I got tired of poking my fingers on the ends of the braid every time I took the MLT apart for cleaning. Also, I think I have less dead space with my cut off coupling extending down from my FB (about 1/8 inch off the bottom vs. the height of the braid).

I must be confused.

How would it get beat up?

How could there be less dead space when the braided line lays on the floor of the cooler?

Unless....
You guys are using the round coolers aren't you.

I use a rectangular cooler. And where the drain valve is, the cooler is recessed into the floor of the cooler like 3/8".

 

[jetmac]

I use a Coleman Extreme 36qt cooler with a channel cut where the drain is.

Like this

 

[DeafSmith]

I must be confused.

How would it get beat up?

How could there be less dead space when the braided line lays on the floor of the cooler?

Unless....
You guys are using the round coolers aren't you.

I use a rectangular cooler. And where the drain valve is, the cooler is recessed into the floor of the cooler like 3/8".

I probably beat it up stirring, so I guess you could call that operator error - but my current FB setup is rugged enough that I don't have any problem.

Deadspace - the amount of liquid left in the tun when the siphon breaks due to air getting into the line - with a braid, this is at the top of the highest point in the braid - with my current setup, it's at the bottom of my cutoff coupling, or about 1/8 inch above the bottom of the cooler. But with your recessed drain valve, you aren't dependent on a siphon to drain the wort below the outlet valve because you don't have any wort below the outlet.

Yeah, I'm using a 10 gallon RubberMaid (round).

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

I may be misreading this but I think the OP was using a bit of flexible tubing to connect the false bottom to the ball valve, and that flexible tubing happened to be braided on the inside. I don't think (please correct me if i'm wrong) that the braided pvc tubing was meant to be used as a traditional SS braid or manifold, but just to get the wort from one location to the next as a bit of tubing.

This thread is making me think that there might possibly be more than one way to make beer!

 

[rycov]

I may be misreading this but I think the OP was using a bit of flexible tubing to connect the false bottom to the ball valve, and that flexible tubing happened to be braided on the inside. I don't think (please correct me if i'm wrong) that the braided pvc tubing was meant to be used as a traditional SS braid or manifold, but just to get the wort from one location to the next as a bit of tubing.

This thread is making me think that there might possibly be more than one way to make beer!

thats how i was reading it

 

[jetmac]

I probably beat it up stirring, so I guess you could call that operator error - but my current FB setup is rugged enough that I don't have any problem.

Deadspace - the amount of liquid left in the tun when the siphon breaks due to air getting into the line - with a braid, this is at the top of the highest point in the braid - with my current setup, it's at the bottom of my cutoff coupling, or about 1/8 inch above the bottom of the cooler. But with your recessed drain valve, you aren't dependent on a siphon to drain the wort below the outlet valve because you don't have any wort below the outlet.

Yeah, I'm using a 10 gallon RubberMaid (round).

Cool. Now I understand

 

[npauley88]

I may be misreading this but I think the OP was using a bit of flexible tubing to connect the false bottom to the ball valve, and that flexible tubing happened to be braided on the inside. I don't think (please correct me if i'm wrong) that the braided pvc tubing was meant to be used as a traditional SS braid or manifold, but just to get the wort from one location to the next as a bit of tubing.

This thread is making me think that there might possibly be more than one way to make beer!

haha exactly correct.

I was just wondering what sort of connections people are using between the false bottom and the barbed fitting on the inside of the cooler. nothing else.

Thanks!

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

I use 3/8" thermoplastic tubing. It works great, pulls apart easy or cleaning and is strong enough to take a small beating when I stir.

 

[3 Dog Brew]

View attachment 26547
here is the pic of my set up I promised. Works spectacularly. Although I might now think about extending the coupling down closer to the bottom of my cooler....

The above photo by mcbethenstein shows the setup that I used to have (false bottom perforated dome), below is what I have now.

In my experience (yours may differ), I have had fewer stuck sparges, even when recirculating protein laden wort like for Witbier. It was cheap to construct using less than $20 of materials from Lowes/Home Depot and took 30 minutes to construct. It is all friction fit (no solder) and the drain slits were cut on a bench vise with a hacksaw. They are spaced one-half inch apart for reference and are cut halfway through the diameter of the pipe. This photo taken right after mashing the aforementioned Witbier.

The math is that when building something like this you want all distances to be about equal, meaning the space between the pipe is twice the space from the wall to the pipe to minimize the occurrence of "the path of least resistance".

One caveat is that I have a tubing cutter that usually only a plumber would purchase, but that just made my cuts square. A hacksaw would be "good enough" for building this. Just make you get all the filings out before you use it

 

[mcbethenstein]

I think my good luck really has been the addition of the single layer of cheesecloth. It's super hard to see in the photo. It's just enough to catch the little particles from getting through to under the dome and through the tubing and valves.