Manifold

[pb unleaded]

Hi all,
I made a cheap manifold out of plastic, haven't used it yet. Just wandering if plastic is OK to use, or should I go for copper.

Cheers!

arthur

 

[SJW]

Yes Arthur, that looks just like mine. Well no it do'nt, as I used the PVC 90 deg bends also, but that will be fine, and the temps that it will be exposed to will not pose any health threats.
Keep on brew'in.

STEPHEN

 

[warrenlw63]

Arthur.

Is that PVC pipe or plastic racking hose you've used? :unsure: I suspect racking hose because it looks like you've managed to force some irrigation elbows/fittings into it.

If it is it will most likely collapse under the heat of the mash.

Warren -

 

[pb unleaded]

Thanks fellows,
The pipe is (I think) electrical conduit, it is not as stiff as PVC. I boiled everything for about 10 minutes before assembling it and nothing melted.
I am going ahead with it. Looking forward to my first AG.

Cheers!

 

[Green Iguana]

When dealing with high temps(Remember that your sparge water will be just under 80 C) you really need to use CPVC which is rated to over 80 C. It's hard to find this stuff, I tried for weeks before settling on a braided mesh type manifold. I cannot say definitively that you will pick up off tastes from normal PVC fittings, however it is possible. During my early al grain days, I did use PVC fittings and never noticed any ill effects. Maybe doing a test run with some RO/Spring water then tasting it would be a good plan.

Cheers

 

[redbeard]

I use 15mm plumbing pvc, which doesnt seem effected at all by mash temps. its kinda hard to tell but arthur might want to make the slits a little wider. i had a recent thread about this with the title stuck mash (or similar). perhaps put some slits in the middle link ?

cheers

 

[Linz]

Actually all pipes that dont have slits in them yet,add some..the end, mid section and 2 short sections at top too.

 

[SJW]

When dealing with high temps(Remember that your sparge water will be just under 80 C) you really need to use CPVC which is rated to over 80 C. It's hard to find this stuff, I tried for weeks before settling on a braided mesh type manifold.
Cheers

Attached is a photo of my braided system I used for far too long. I could not get more than 60% eff. Maybe that was because I use a 55 litre mash tun/esky. But now I use a 15mm PVC manifold just like in the Palmer book and I constantly get 75-80% mash eff.


STEPHEN

 

[Jye]

Hey SJW

Are you batch or fly sparging? I am setting up my AG gear and have put a SS braid in my MLT (50L esky) and am planning on batch sparging, so I would really like to know if it is worth while trying a different manifold.

Cheers

 

[SJW]

Jye, I tried both and I was batch sparging for a long time but find it a little easier to fly sparge, and I think I get a little better eff. The problem with the S/S braide down the middle of the mash tun is that the water tends to chanel down the centre of the grain and not rinse the lower corners. This is a big problem in a large mash tun like ours. If you read the John Palmer book on-line, he explains it all great. So I made a 15mm PVC manifold and went to fly sparging and the eff. went from 60 to 75-80%. Batch sparging would be similar. The problem with my setup is that I dont like lifting 10 or 20 litre batches of hot water up into the esky for batch sparging, so I simply tip 2 litre jug fulls into a colander and sprinkle the sparge water of the top of the grain keeping the grain covered at all times while running off very slowly (approx. 1litre per min.) into the kettle.

STEPHEN