Put something in my SS braid or not?

[chungking]

So I read on here, somewhere, that when building my mash tun to put a spring in my stainless steel braid to keep it from collapsing. This back-fired on me. I got a stuck sparge and found that the spring had rusted. Now I'm reading its not required. So should I have something in there to keep the braid from collapsing, or just let it ride, or get a new setup? I don't want to deal with another stuck sparge. I almost threw in the towel after all the trouble....

 

[bferullo]

before i made the 5 dollar false bottom (search forums) I used the SS braid without anything in it for MANY brews. I never had an issue with it collapsing for stuck sparges.

So I would say, NAH to something inside it. More trouble than its worth in my opinion.

 

[Jeffinn]

You dont need to worry about it collapsing. I've never found it to be an issue.

 

[Varmintman]

My first batch with a SS braid I did not have anything in it and I beat the stuffing out of it crunching it in many places. So I took a bunch of 12 gage copper wire and wound it around a dowel and set that inside the braid. Since I have a copper IC and have boiled in copper pots I figure a hour or so for the copper to be in the mash is no big deal.

 

[iowabrew]

i have also used the copper wire trick. Coiled it around a pencil and slid it on in. My braid is solid as a rock, but before the copper coil, i didn't have any problems either. I figure as long as you're not monkey fisting your dough in your braid will be fine.

 

[chungking]

I'm just curious if it helps anyone. For my first allgrain, had no problems sparging without the spring. Then I added it, and got a stuck sparge. I think I'll just go without anything and see how it goes.

 

[max129]

I wouldn't worry too much about adding something to the braid unless it became a problem for you personally.

My braid was fine without any extras for about a year and a half. Then I started getting stuck sparges. I found a really thick, high temp tubing at my lhbs, cut slots into it, and inserted it into the braid. Haven't had a problem since.