My coleman 70 quart extreme copper mash tun

[kyle0226]

This is the mash tun build I just completed. I used the 70 quart extreme coleman cooler. I needed a bigger mash tun for bigger 10 gallon beers. I did not solder the parts for easy cleaning. My pipes are 2 1/2 inches apart and 1 1/2 inches from the wall. The slits are 1/2 inch apart that I cut with a dremel. The stationary sparge arm is comprised of small holes I drilled. I got the info from this website so thought I'd share. I put the copper manifold upside down so you could see the slits.

 

[worksnorth]

This is totally awesome and it looks fantastic!!!! Very nicely done! I would love to see this in action! I like it so much if I go to a square cooler I'm gonna copy this!
I've a question, cause I'm the curious sort: I'm wondering if on the bottom manifold where you are drawing off the wort, if you could have taken it where you tie the two sides together instead of where you t'd off? Could you have t'd off there in the middle or would that have messed up your spacing?
It looks really really good though, hope it works perfectly?

 

[tulsabrewdaddy]

I'm about to make slits in my copper manifold but having a hard time determining the best way to do it, how did you do yours?

 

[kyle0226]

This is totally awesome and it looks fantastic!!!! Very nicely done! I would love to see this in action! I like it so much if I go to a square cooler I'm gonna copy this!
I've a question, cause I'm the curious sort: I'm wondering if on the bottom manifold where you are drawing off the wort, if you could have taken it where you tie the two sides together instead of where you t'd off? Could you have t'd off there in the middle or would that have messed up your spacing?
It looks really really good though, hope it works perfectly?

Yep, it would have messed up my spacing. I tried to stay true to Palmer's recommendation of 2-3 inches apart for pipe spacing and half that distance to the wall. I also wanted the pipe spacing to be an equal distance. Branching off the one pipe was the only way to keep the pipe spacing to a minimum. I put the H in to give the wort a more direct route out of the mash tun.

 

[kyle0226]

I'm about to make slits in my copper manifold but having a hard time determining the best way to do it, how did you do yours?

I used a dry erase marker to mark every half inch and a dremel to make my cuts. The dremel worked great. I made sure to hinge my palm on the copper pipe when making my cuts to make the slits as narrow as possible. I had copper dust all over the place and used eye and respiratory protection. Cleaning the manifold was a chore when I was all done. I recirculated hot PBW for about an hour, rinsed, soaked in star san, then rinsed again, taking it apart several times in the process.

 

[worksnorth]

Very nice job

 

[Toneus]

Kyle,

Thanks for turning me on to the 70 Qt Coleman, I really like this cooler as a Mash Tun. The flat bottom, and low drain really separates this cooler from many of the others out there. I made one of the 10 Home Depot Orange cooler conversions, but I quickly outgrew it with 10 Gallon batches, and was in need of a larger Mash Tun. I also wanted to switch from the braided hose to copper on this one. I have had an almost stuck sparge with a wheat on a braided line manifold.

I like your setup but was concerned about loosing wart with the raised elbow, so I went a little different on the bottom manifold layout. I used a Shark fitting to attach the copper. The slip attachment of the Shark fitting allows for a slight angle in the connection, that combined with a small copper extension allows for the manifold to connect in almost straight-line to the drain. The T coupler takes care of the angle while keeping the manifold on the bottom.

Like you, the slip-fit assembly works great, easy to cleaning. My manifold holes were drilled using a drill press, so it wasn't so tedious, just time consuming. I put the holes laterally so that I have a solid bottom channel inside the pipe for the wart to outflow easier. I noticed better flow rates than with my 5gallon braided line tun. I haven't mashed a wheat in this one yet, so more holes may be required, but I'm quite happy with the performance so far.

I really like your sparge manifold idea. I'll have to play with that as I'm still using a layer of aluminum foil to distribute the HL.

Again thanks for the ideas. Cheers,

Tony

 

[Grasslands]

If you don't mind me asking you both, what route did you go with the bulkhead fittings? I'm getting set to purchase this cooler shortly and while I won't be going the manifold route (SS braid w/a slitted copper pipe insert), I'm working around the fittings and trying to get a good handle on what goes well with the 70q Xtreme.

Any info you guys can provide would be swell. Thanks!

And just out of curiosity - Toneus, what were the sizes/lengths you used for your copper manifold?

 

[garcara]

If you don't mind me asking you both, what route did you go with the bulkhead fittings? I'm getting set to purchase this cooler shortly and while I won't be going the manifold route (SS braid w/a slitted copper pipe insert), I'm working around the fittings and trying to get a good handle on what goes well with the 70q Xtreme.

Any info you guys can provide would be swell. Thanks!

And just out of curiosity - Toneus, what were the sizes/lengths you used for your copper manifold?

I'm interested in this as well. I just got my cooler yesterday and plan on doing my build Sunday.

 

[LuiInIdaho]

Nice job on the manifold. I like the spacing on the the cuts for draining the grain bed. You said that you made the manifold so that it can be disassembled for cleaning. If this is the case, I am sure that this won't be difficult to accomplish; I would recommend that you assemble your manifold with the slots on the bottom side closer to the cooler. I would imagine that you will have less opportunity for your mash grain to plug the slots, and you may also be able to drain more wort from the mash tun. I think that is what I would do. Great job. Mark

 

[day_trippr]

In the original post, kyle0226 explained he positioned the manifold up-side-down to make the slits visible...

Cheers!

 

[LuiInIdaho]

In the original post, kyle0226 explained he positioned the manifold up-side-down to make the slits visible...

Cheers!

You, kind sir, are correct. I should have read the post more closely. Mark

 

[worksnorth]

Nice job on the manifold. I like the spacing on the the cuts for draining the grain bed. You said that you made the manifold so that it can be disassembled for cleaning. If this is the case, I am sure that this won't be difficult to accomplish; I would recommend that you assemble your manifold with the slots on the bottom side closer to the cooler. I would imagine that you will have less opportunity for your mash grain to plug the slots, and you may also be able to drain more wort from the mash tun. I think that is what I would do. Great job. Mark

I believe his original post mentions that he turned the manifold upside down for the pictures. : )
Cheers!

 

[OlieNH]

Did you have any issues with not soldering the joints? I would think you might be a loss of suction from all of the areas of the manifold. Copper doesn't generally press-fit very well together, does it?

 

[Toneus]

Did you have any issues with not soldering the joints? I would think you might be a loss of suction from all of the areas of the manifold. Copper doesn't generally press-fit very well together, does it?

I strongly suggest not soldering, I have not had any problems, and it works great. Once you disassemble the manifold for the first time cleaning you'll understand why. Logic tells me that holes don't let in nearly as much funk compared to slits and there was a fair bit of grain particulate.

I used a file to smooth the pipe ends, which is enough to make for an easy slip-fit. Be careful not to smash the piping out of round and you should be fine. All you want is a fit where it won't fall apart if smacked by a mash paddle. Suction is not a concern, because there are holes/slits all over the pipes.

Tony

 

[Toneus]

If you don't mind me asking you both, what route did you go with the bulkhead fittings? I'm getting set to purchase this cooler shortly and while I won't be going the manifold route (SS braid w/a slitted copper pipe insert), I'm working around the fittings and trying to get a good handle on what goes well with the 70q Xtreme.

Any info you guys can provide would be swell. Thanks!

And just out of curiosity - Toneus, what were the sizes/lengths you used for your copper manifold?

I followed the same basic approach of the 10 Gallon Mash Tun thread. Basically, a value, SS washers, pipe nipple, rubber washers, some plumbers rope, more SS washers, and a Shark fitting pipe to slip. I can get more details for these, but the delay in my reply might have come too late for you builds.

The copper is all 1/2 inch (NOT Soft Copper which is more flexible).

I drilled my copper because I felt that cutting it would weaken it too much. The pipes in my manifold still have almost all of their strength. I can be as rough with the sections as I would like.

I drilled using an X like pattern. I place my holes on the sides when assembled. If you think of a clock as you're looking at the end of the pipe. I drilled through the sides at 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock, and the other axis is from 8 o'clock to 2 o'clock on the dial.

Pieces used in my maifold
(1) 1" straight - Connects manifold to Shark Fitting
(1) Tee joint
(2) 2 1/8" straights
(4) 90 degree elbows
(2) 17 3/8" long straights
(1) 5 1/8" straight

 

[kyle0226]

"I like your setup but was concerned about loosing wart with the raised elbow, so I went a little different on the bottom manifold layout

The T coupler takes care of the angle while keeping the manifold on the bottom."


[/ATTACH]

Great Job, Tony. I wasn't concerned about losing wort with the raised elbow due to establishing a prime. Works just as good as my dip tube on my keggle. To increase the pressure further I also use a pump to vorlauf and collect my wort. I considered a T, but figured I could double the collection volume with the H. More importantly it also prevents pooling of the mash due to the extra two pipes of egress. So far I have had about 4 brews with the mash tun and have loved the results. No stuck sparges, even with a 1/4 wheat grain bill and no rice hulls with my valve wide open (just to test.)

 

[kyle0226]

If you don't mind me asking you both, what route did you go with the bulkhead fittings? I'm getting set to purchase this cooler shortly and while I won't be going the manifold route (SS braid w/a slitted copper pipe insert), I'm working around the fittings and trying to get a good handle on what goes well with the 70q Xtreme.

Any info you guys can provide would be swell. Thanks!

And just out of curiosity - Toneus, what were the sizes/lengths you used for your copper manifold?

I used the same weldless valve kit I used on my 10 gallon igloo.

 

[kyle0226]

Did you have any issues with not soldering the joints? I would think you might be a loss of suction from all of the areas of the manifold. Copper doesn't generally press-fit very well together, does it?

The only problem I have had has been with the top piece of the sparge arm. It seems the 1/2" hose puts a little too much pressure on it and forces it out (disconnects) unless there is compression from the cooler's lid closing on top of it.

The mash manifold on the bottom hasn't given me any problems yet, but eventually I will solder some of the pieces on each end. Since I have four points of contact with the cooler and the manifold, that only fits if it's very snug, compression has been all that I have needed.

 

[ayupbrewing]

Hi, old thread I know but in case anyone is still listening in to this figured I would post my question anyway.

So I have the same cooler conversion but made the sparge arm and manifold from CPVC.

At low flow coming from the HLT to the sparge arm it seems the water only come out of the holes in my middle pipe of the sparge arm. I can only get it to drip through holes in the other 2 pipes if I turn flow rate up really high (too high for sparging). Any suggestions? Should I recut the middle pipe and put less holes in it?

I dont suppose it really matters as all im after is a constant replenishment of water to keep it 1-2" above grain, right? But it would look nicer coming out of all pipes and holes....

Thanks
Ayup!

 

[alien]

I would suggest turning the tubes on the sparge manifold so that the holes are on the top.

@OP, nice build. These coolers are great for the money!

 

[ayupbrewing]

How do you propose that would help? Thanks

 

[worksnorth]

I agree with Alien. Turning the sparge tubing over (holes on top) will allow the tubing to fill up and possibly more evenly disperse the water out of more of the holes. Very much worth a try!!
Good luck

 

[revco]

In my opinion, vertical facing exit holes could impact your efficiency because you'll end up with more dead space in the system, especially if you are doing any sort of recirculation.

I would probably concur with you that less (and possibly smaller) holes would be better in order to better distribute the return amongst the manifold. I would suggest starting with a minimum number of holes, check the results and continue to evenly space holes until your furthest holes start to experience lesser flow. This should result in the optimal exit flow from your return manifold.

FYI, I consistently get 80% efficiency on this cooler with a copper manifold using single infusion batch sparge methods.

 

[ayupbrewing]

Interesting thoughts.

revco: Where does the extra deadspace come from? The remaining water in the piping that wont come out if the holes are upward facing? I guess the solution to that would be just sparge with more water and stop when get the right boil volume, right?

I got 75% with BIAB, but what the heck...it's all to try for!

I turned the centre pipe upwards as mentioned by Alien and this did allow for more flow in the other two pipes but was still not very even out of all holes in those two pipes. I had to put something heavy on top of the sparge manifold to weight it down and then I finally got water coming out of all holes, in the outer pipes at least, but it was very sensitive to the weights exact positioning, and the minimum flow rate for that to occur was still too fast for sparging at ~2 gallons over an hour. Most definately a PITA!!

Summary: I think I will re-cut with much less holes causing the water to back up in the sparge manifold and have the number of holes as the rate limiting step...but for now I guess I will just use the aluminium foil trick.

 

[alien]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[revco]

revco: Where does the extra deadspace come from? The remaining water in the piping that wont come out if the holes are upward facing? I guess the solution to that would be just sparge with more water and stop when get the right boil volume, right?

You're correct on the deadspace source.

If you're not doing recirculation, your only concern with upward facing holes would be to counter the "deadspace" with additional water in your HLT to accommodate the loss from the manifold and tubing. It's probably not much, maybe a cup or two. Not a big deal, really.

If you want to add recirculation to your MLT though (RIMS/HERMS/etc.) that's where your efficiency would truly be impacted by the up-hole design. Since you'd be leaving some extracted sugars behind (true "deadspace"), you'd have a direct impact on the brew house efficiency, unless you could easily drain the remainder to your kettle.

Hope that clears up my thoughts on the matter.

 

[ayupbrewing]

Yes, thanks!

 

[ayupbrewing]

Here are pics from my mash tun build...its a 70quart coleman cool with CPVC manifold and sparge arm. Silicon subing is used from the HLT to sparge arm and from the cooler outler to the BK with an inline valve to control flow to BK. I used brass barb fittings. I also used a foil covered piece of polystyrene that sits on the ridge halfway down the inside of the cooler to reduce headspace and reflect heat.

 

[funnycreature]

Here are pics from my mash tun build...its a 70quart coleman cool with CPVC manifold and sparge arm. Silicon subing is used from the HLT to sparge arm and from the cooler outler to the BK with an inline valve to control flow to BK. I used brass barb fittings. I also used a foil covered piece of polystyrene that sits on the ridge halfway down the inside of the cooler to reduce headspace and reflect heat.

How is this working out for you? Could you also set the sparge manifold on the upper edge of the cooler in case you have a larger grain bill? Since my current sparging method sucks balls I'd love to try this one. What kind of connectors are you using for the hose to manifold (both sides)?

THanks!

 

[Mrmojo]

No right angles...

 

[ayupbrewing]

Yes, it will rest on the top edge too. I have another set of those four pipe pieces that rest on the edge cut a little longer and swap them out if i'm doing a larger batch or higher alcohol beer with bigger grain bill.

I would drill less holes in the sparge arm than I did though. I have found that I have to have the sparge water flow rate coming from my hot water tank quite fast to get water coming through all holes at once, this results in about a 20 minute sparge instead of the recommended 30-45 minute sparge and an apparent drop in efficiency due to all the sugars not been rinsed thouroghly - although I have not seen an appreciable difference in efficiency, but im only a few batches into it. For now I just slow the flow rate down and deal with water only coming out of say 70% of the holes, I figured that the aim of this part is really to just keep an inch or so of water above the grain bed and it doesnt really matter which holes the water comes out from. I will re drill new pipe when I can be bothered...


As for the connectors, I think I used 1/2 silicone tubing (only size that fits through the outlet in the cooler nice and snug) which on the inside goes onto the brass male barbed adapter (no clamp required as its a nice tight fit) which fits into a female CPVC adapter and then a short piece of the CPVC piping is shown in my pic 3 which connects to the manifold on the piece thats shown sticking up in pic 4 (which is show upside down to demonstrate the holes in the manifold). On the outside the silicon tubing just goes on to a barbed in-line valve shown in pic 2.

Hope that helps...! Check us out on FB

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ayup-Brewing-Co/103052406532647?ref=hl

 

[ayupbrewing]

I see at least 10 right angles...

 

[Mrmojo]

I see at least 10 right angles...

I was poking fun at my first solder job. The closet I got to a right angle is about 89 degrees. The worst being about 75 degrees.

 

[HollisBT]

So, for the guys who have this set up, I have a few questions...

First off, what would you say is your mash tun deadspace? Ie, how much wort are you leaving behind at the end of your sparge? I would have to imagine that it leaves more than my current 10 gallon round tun...

Secondly, when it comes to sparging, how would you propose to set up something like a blichman auto-sparge? I had planned on incorporating that into my tun, and I am really interested in building my new tun out of an xtreme cooler, just not sure how well it would work coming out of the hose and not hitting a round tun...

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[ayupbrewing]

Not sure about your second question as I dont know what a Blichman auto sparge does and why a round tun would be criticial...

But on your first question, I would say no more than a 1/8G (1/2qt), sure you could squeeze more out of the grain but water absorbed by the grains is already factored in. I usually just sparge until I hit boil volume or until I hit a gravity of the wort coming out of 1.010.

 

[Dmanshane]

I had problems with getting my bulkhead to seal with the same cooler but finally got it

 

[LuciferSam]

Toneus or Kyle?
What parts, exactly, did you use to create your manifold???

 

[Toneus]

Toneus or Kyle?
What parts, exactly, did you use to create your manifold???

My general parts list is in post #16.

If you're not familiar with Shark fittings, they are quick push to connect plumbing fittings. They have a key that can be used to release the connection. Home Depot sells them. This particular part might be the right one for your settup, it might not. The important side is the sip to 1/2 copper. The other side is determined by what your value set up is.







http://www.homedepot.com/p/qv/202270500

 

[LuciferSam]

I don't have a valve setup yet??? Do I need a 2in long 1/2in nipple made of brass, stainless, galvanized??? Does my valve need to be stainless, brass?
Already failed once at Home Depot...

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