Mash Tun

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volcano

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So, here is the mash/lauter tun that I have decided to make. It is basically a copy of Doc's I suppose, except I couldn't get any High temp PVC, so I used all copper.

The esky is a 45 litre Igloo that I picked up from BBQ's galore for $50. (I did have a 30 litre esky I was going to use but this one has turned out much better).

The esky already came with a drain plug, which I removed. I bought 2 metres of 1/2 inch annealed copper tubing, a 200mm threaded tee-piece, 4 elbow joints and 2 tee-pieces.

Cut the copper to length and joined appropriately. Lucky enough, the joins are quite snug. This way I can pull it apart for thorough cleaning and inspection. If I need to get it welded/soldered in the future so be it, but for now it works a treat.
I ran about 4 litres of water through it and was stunned at how well it actually worked.

tun_side_view.jpg
 
well done volcano.
a very neat and tidy job.

cheers
big d
 
Looking good volcano
 
Lookin' good volcano, I would more holes in it myself :)

bigd, ya sound like my old woodwork teacher :p
 
I suppose our next question has to be...when are you going to crank it up ?
 
:D
well i was going to say a very professional looking job but volcano might get a head swell :p and not see what hes doing. hahaha
now if i was your woodwork teacher jason y i wouldve deducted points cause it wasnt made out of wood :rolleyes:

cheers
big one
 
Im looking at doing something very similar, How much did all the hardware cost for this project? Also did you get the valve from bunnings ?
 
hey hobbit,

Yes, bunnings do have the ball valves, they are around $10-15.
I'm building my manifold at the moment (see below)
I'm using a 54Litre Igloo,
1/2 inch annealed copper tubing ($5 mtr @ bunnings),
4 elbow joints ($1.50 each),
4 t-pieces ($1.80each),
a 15mm threaded t-piece to a 15mm ball valve.

Cheers

manifold.JPG
 
Volcano

you have a problem with your manifold.... it is too big.
Your Manifold should be approx 1 inch away from all sides - this is to even out the flow rate...
You will get uneven flow thru the grain bed - ie more on the outside tahn in the middle - this will effect efficiency - lower it.

Just cut the middle pieces down by approx 2 inches and it will work heaps better....

Hope this helps
 
Gangsta, thanks for the info.

What do you guys plan to use for a sparge arm in a rectangular mash tun i.e an esky
 
i reckon batch sparging would be the go with rectangular coolers.
doc did a posting ages ago and had some beaut pics of his spray sparge set up.

cheers
big d

have a look here..http://hbd.org/clubs/cascade/public_html/dennybrew/

this doesnt work just try dennybrew
 
i gonna try batch sparging with my next brew i hope will be all grain
 
According to Dave Miller with rectangular esky-type mash tuns the sparge should take an hour. I can certainly report that sparging at the normal rate with my esky tun lowered efficiency markedly. Now I do partigyling efficiency is back up to 75%

Was interested in the comment re the side arms needing to be an inch from the sides of the esky. got any more details on that GMK?

I sparge (though I don't sparge with the partigyling) by chucking spargewater onto the top of the grains from a 1L jug. I pour it on hard enough the top of the mash bed gets disturbed in an attempt to reduce channelling. I need to get arse into gear and make a collar for the esky so the lid is proppped open by wooden slats when it is in use as a mashtun, I could then drill a hole through the slat to let in a sparge arm which will be a convoluted tube covering most of the mash. How to get really fine holes in it is the stumbling block.

Jovial Monk
 
Palmer has a section on making manifolds.

In addition, it is very important to avoid channeling of the water down the sides from placing the manifold too close to the walls. The distance of the outer manifold tubes to the cooler wall should be half of the manifold tube spacing or slightly greater. This results in water along the wall not seeing a shorter path to the drain than wort that is dead center between the tubes.

http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html
 
Jovial_Monk said:
Was interested in the comment re the side arms needing to be an inch from the sides of the esky. got any more details on that GMK?


Jovial Monk
OK

I read up on mash tuns and manifolds - could habve been in Palmers how to brew book or there is an american book on how to make brewing gear - that it has to do with channeling and flows thru the grain bed.

As the sides are straight - you get good flow rates there. The trick is to try and make the run into the manifold the same.

If the manifold is an inch off the sides and there is 2 inches between all manifold pipes = a pretty even flow rate from every where. ie the channel coming down the centre of the grain bed does not have to travel further (eg 2 inches to reach the manifold than the side where it is travelling <1/2 inch.

I hope i am making this clear....

Hear is the link to how to brew...making manifolds

http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html

Here is a quote of the summary of the chapter from the above link:

Here are the summary guidelines for designing efficient manifolds and lauter tuns:


Have the straight line distance to the drain be as short as possible. In other words, orient the pipes longitudinally with respect to the drain.
Deeper grainbeds have more uniform rinsing, all else being equal.
The closer the pipe spacing, the more uniform the flow, all else being equal. A spacing of 6 inches is the maximum in my opinion. A spacing of 2-4 inches is preferred.
The spacing of the pipes from the wall of the cooler should be S/2 or slightly greater to avoid preferential flow down the smooth walls"
 
tom you can get drill bits tht start up from 1mm very fine ones but they could get blunt easy
 
pioneergangsta said:
hey hobbit,

Yes, bunnings do have the ball valves, they are around $10-15.
I'm building my manifold at the moment (see below)
I'm using a 54Litre Igloo,
1/2 inch annealed copper tubing ($5 mtr @ bunnings),
4 elbow joints ($1.50 each),
4 t-pieces ($1.80each),
a 15mm threaded t-piece to a 15mm ball valve.

Cheers
Gangsta,

[/dumb question starts]
What's the go with the connection through the existing hole in the esky. From the T piece on the manifold, is there much involved in sealing the tubing exiting the mash tun? The manifold looks pretty straightforward (thanks to some good pics! from you and a damn fine job that volcano's done ;) ) but I'm not too sure how I should seal up the exit on the inner and outer walls of the esky.
[/dumb question ends!]

I'm not much of a tradesman, but I really do want to make one of these mash lauter tuns instead of ladling stuff out of my esky and risking HSA!

Cheers
TL
 

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