Thoughts on this manifold?

[rappontap]

Hi!
I'm brand new to this! You guys have the best hobby!
I'm designing my manifold for mash tun right now. I came across this design:

This would work for my cooler but I'm a little unsure about the arm that shoots out to the right? Can I get some veteran thoughts on this design? Also, would the slots only go on the longitudinal pipes?
Thanks a lot for all your help.

 

[suckmyale]

Im not sure if that is your cooler and design or someone else's. But if that was my cooler I would look into a bazooka screen. Since the bottom is pitched to the drain, I would assume that is where most of the liquid would drain too.

However if that is all yours, you can really cut grooves where you want. I would put most on the long copper runs.

 

[bajaedition]

I would put in a few cross pieces to shorten the travel of the stuff on the outside

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

I'm not sure why that persons manifold has that extra arm, but honestly it doesn't seem needed. It looks like that's the arm that ends up draining and they could have designed it differently.

When it comes to yours: you have to take measurements and decide how you want the pieces to connect, I personally would go with a copper manifold. They are easy to make and give you a much larger surface area than a bazooka screen. Draw up ideas on how you can make yours. Familiarize yourself with the different copper connections that a hardware store has.

I advise keep it all separate pieces, meaning don't weld them together which would make cleaning a pain depending on how you design it. Use a sawzall to cut the slips and keep them about 1-2 mm thick and about 0.25-0.5 inches apart. Make sure you also have a way to sand the pipes on the inside because when you use a saw you will create burs on the inside. Good luck! Post what you come up with!

 

[Durandal]

The extra arm feeds into the spout. So you essentially have a rectangle and a third tube running up the middle. That all feeds from the center into the cooler spout.

Probably unnecessary and overthought. You should be just fine running straight down from the end into the spout.

 

[rappontap]

It wasn't a picture of my manifold, but I understand why the person did it this way. He or she probably thought the manifold needed to be soldered to an adapter on the pipe nipple. Given the space, this design allows that arm to be parallel to the adapter or pipe nipple.

Now I know that soldering isn't necessary. Someone suggested some pipes running across which I was trying to avoid. Are cross pieces no good? Or is it ok to have a few?

 

[Durandal]

Nothing wrong w cross pieces. Ideally you would have the entire bottom covered with pipe.

 

[WileECoyote]

Here is mine, works Great, no solder, comes apart for cleaning every part, did I mention it works Great lol.

After draining the tun I put a 4" X 4" block under the end away from the valve to get the rest of the wort out, works Great, oh I think I might have said that, cuts 1/2" apart on long tubes only.

Cheers