Mash tun insulation

[bum]

My mashtun is made of insulation. Drops zero degrees over a 90 minute mash.

When was the last time anyone promoted an esky tun here? They work pretty great.

 

[jyo]

I didn't actually make it, but... B)

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/66683-new-mash-tun/#entry941432

 

[Aussiedrifter]

With my camp mats covered in insulation tape, over a 90min mash it doesn't drop at all and I have digital displays reading to one decimal place. If I put the lid on at 66.2c it is still that temp with I start to mash out.

 

[QldKev]

Kmart sell Yoga mats for $4 each, thats what im planning on using on my 50 litre mash tun, Banded with pine pannels

I want a second layer of yoga mat for my main 3V kettle, $4 is a good price. Then I realised we lost our Kmart in the recent floods and it will be a while before we get it back.

QldKev

 

[Adr_0]

Yes, you're right - looking thru the Kingspan product description again, it does say the aircell structure does provide conductional resistance. So how effective have people been finding the stuff? How warm does the outside of an aircell wrapped MT get to?

It's a combination of low thermal conductivity (resistance to heat transfer through the material) and given that it's very shiny it has a low emissivity, so a high resistance to radiative heat transfer. It's why fireplaces are black - black bodies are 100% effective at radiating heat, while white/silver surfaces are very poor. I find that I have needed two layers (~20mm) of Green Insulation "Garage Door Insulation" and lose around 0.5°C over an hour. I stuck it on with Liquid Nails for mirrors/steel. The surface does flake/deteriorate with moisture, but so far seems to be ok for general bumps/abrasion - so the result of that is that I will probably use camping mat for the inside of my lid.

With my camp mats covered in insulation tape, over a 90min mash it doesn't drop at all and I have digital displays reading to one decimal place. If I put the lid on at 66.2c it is still that temp with I start to mash out.

I have a fabricated SS mash tun, and for me air gaps are a big one. They are controllable, but air gaps are a massive source of heat loss in any setup - if you have them. My lid has a couple of layers of air-cell insulation and I think I'm set on a layer or two of camping mat with some contact adhesive. There is inconsistency brewer-to-brewer when someone puts the lid back on, so this should solve it.

 

[Tex083]

I went to Clarke Rubber and got some foam with foil backing, it's ment to be for sound, and it's a bit expensive but works really well.
It come in a range of thickness and 1200mm wide. It cost me $30 to insulate my HLT, MT and Boil. All held on with foil tape.

 

[WarmBeer]

My mashtun is made of insulation. Drops zero degrees over a 90 minute mash.

When was the last time anyone promoted an esky tun here? They work pretty great.

No one wants to hear about your stinking COTS solution. If you can't bling it up with a couple of dollars worth of cheap looking offcuts and duct tape, well, it's not real homebrewing, is it?

Disclaimer: I mash in an unmodified Techni-Ice. It not only rocks a < 0.5 degree drop on brew day, it also keeps my beer cold when camping.

 

[bum]

I got a new tun just this very morning. Just so happens to be a Techni-Ice(-ish) cooler (same people make them).

The existing bung-hole is just a bit too wide and long to accept my bulkhead so I'm going to have to modify it. TWSS.

Shame, was hoping to get away without drilling it.

 

[Adr_0]

I got a new tun just this very morning. Just so happens to be a Techni-Ice(-ish) cooler (same people make them).

The existing bung-hole is just a bit too wide and long to accept my bulkhead so I'm going to have to modify it. TWSS.

Shame, was hoping to get away without drilling it.

There you go, not so perfect now, is it?

I'm still grimacing from drilling 10-22mm holes in stainless, but it's worth it... it's ... no it's not really worth it, but it works.

 

[bum]

Massive derail but I'm assuming OP got what he needs by now or is looking elsewhere or something.

The only reason I'm replacing the original esky is because I've been a little suspect on the accuracy of the reading of my mounted thermometer so I pulled it out to calibrate (turns out it reads fine) and noticed a very small amount of leakage had occurred into the tun due to a fairly rough installation. Decided to get rid of the tun before it became an issue.

 

[WarmBeer]

The existing bung-hole is just a bit too wide and long to accept my bulkhead so I'm going to have to modify it. TWSS.

Here's one I prepared earlier.

 

[bum]

That'd pretty much mean chucking the BeerBelly bulkhead I've got though. The issue is that the threaded part is only just long enough to poke out the front. I was thinking about shortening it and extending it with a f/f adapter and a couple big washers on the front but it honestly seems like less hassle to drill a hole. Picked this thing up so cheap that it doesn't make sense to try to save it so I can go dual purpose - wouldn't cost me much more than the bits to buy a second one.

The thread length won't be an issue anywhere else because the wall is significantly thicker at the bung than in other places.

 

[micbrew]

well I use the $2 windscreen protectors ... silver foil either side ... cut these to suit fermenter or other vessel and tape or sew together bing bang :super:
im not sure of the efficiency or R rating but there cheap and liquid proof

Mick

 

[Bender_]

I'm trying to get a custom blanket made for my mash tun (converted keg) for insulation, made from Clarke Rubber Formshield.

Is there anyone on this site (in Perth) that would be able to take the job on?

 

[timmi9191]

Anything wrong with an $8 Kmart exercise mat?

 

[Bender_]

Will it work as well?

I don't mind outlaying a bit of cash to get it done right the first time, plus I'm not great at cutting and sewing.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Anything wrong with an $8 Kmart exercise mat?

I've been using them for a year, two layers on each of both mash / lauter tun and kettle, held in place with flash breaker tape (high temperature tape used in composites layup). The only drawback so far is the one boilover I had made a mess of the insulation which needed to be pulled off and relaid.

 

[timmi9191]

Will it work as well?

I don't mind outlaying a bit of cash to get it done right the first time, plus I'm not great at cutting and sewing.

They work great. Very easy to cut if needed, but i just left the overlap.

 

[RobW]

Aeroflex costs a little more but does a great job.
Easy to trim and any boilovers wipe off.

 

[pcqypcqy]

I'm trying to get a custom blanket made for my mash tun (converted keg) for insulation, made from Clarke Rubber Formshield.

Is there anyone on this site (in Perth) that would be able to take the job on?

I bought a length of the formshield, and then cut it to the right length to wrap around my vessels once. I then just taped it on per use, but now I have a luggage strap to hold it on.

I found that once I trimmed it to height/lenght, I had the perfect size to trim out some squares to insulate the tops and bottoms as well. These just sat in place. I now don't worry about these as I'm using a HERMS to maintain temps. Held temps good for a single infusion before I had the HERMS.

I reckon the kmart mats would probably work fine though, and much cheaper.