slow runnings question

[bjack2]

Hello
I am about to embark on my second all-grain batch. My first time went great other than very slow runnings from my MLT (a 70qt coleman extreme with a hose braid drain). I batch sparged and each time I drained the MLT it took 45 minutes to an hour each time. It was a 7 gallon pre-boil volume and I did two runnings of 3.5gallons. It seems like it shouldnt take that long to drain. Is there a problem with my hose braid? I threaded my hose braid with steel wire to keep it from floating up into the mash and the length of the braid is about 8 inches. Maybe the holes in the braid are too small? The drain never stopped and I vorlaufed until clear without problems. Just a really long, slow trickle. Maybe this is normal? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
thanks
Ben

 

[BLM]

I never have used a braid but I think your braid is way to short I would make one that is at least 3 to 4 times that long that should help

 

[Bensiff]

I would agree, you need a longer braid for sure. However, what flow rate that will give you I cannot say as I have always used copper manifolds for my mashtun builds.

 

[bjack2]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of just going ahead and building a copper manifold so maybe that is the way to go. I will try the longer braid in the meantime since they are cheap. How long do you think I should go? Length of the cooler?

 

[ElDuderino]

I use a braid, but it's in the form of a loop, may be 8 inches in diameter, so 24 inches long or so. I was having slow runnings for a while, very frustrating, but they seem to have gone away by:
- Not going crazy trying to minimize crush size. I think I crush at .035" now...
- Making sure to try and raise the temp to close to 170 when draining. I think this made the biggest difference of all.