Wheels in motion (albeit rather slow motion)

[Scotty]

Try 3/4 filling the coolbox with hot water, get it to 66degC and stick some blankets on/around it and check the temperature periodically to see how good a job it can do.

I used a coolbox my parents have had for 20 years. I took it straight out of the loft which was cold, filled with hot water and left it for an hour. It had lost 4c which was excellent considering it wasn't at room temperature. When I used it for my first AG, it didn't loose anything. As Parp mentioned, the grains will hold the temperature.

[WishboneBrewery]

Just ordered some stainless jubilee clips, I have a couple of uses for them now... I was wondering if when stirring in the mash it would be possible to dislodge the strainer manifold.
I suppose the strainer is OK to clean after with it all being soldered together???

I'll maybe try a leak &heat retention test after I've soldered and slotted the manifold.

cheers

[Parp]

My Hop and Grape manifold just slots together at the elbows/t-pieces.

I managed to dislodge the tap pipe from the main manifold only last week.

I had to run off the first sparge and then get my rubber gloves on to fix it for the 2nd sparge.
It helped that I was only doing a 12litre batch with about 3kg of grain. If it had been a biger batch, I may have had to tip out the entire mash into another vessel, fix the problem and return the mash.

That would have been a right royal pain in the 'arris.

My fault though, obviously I didn't check my push-fits well enough prior to doughing in

[WishboneBrewery]

Oops!!! I'm definitely going to be soldering some joints, and will Jubilee clip the others.

[Parp]

Be sure you can still get access with your bottle brush or whatever to clean the insides

[wetdog]

My manifold is the same shape as yours, using 22mm pipe but none of it is soldered and I've never had any problem with it coming apart during a mash stir up.
recently moved house and it had been left wet, so when I dug it out it was covered in that green oxide common to copper. If I hadn't been able to take it to bits to clean it I would have had to make a new one.

[WishboneBrewery]

Copper fittings and pipe do fit pretty well together if you just dent the end of the pipe a bit, I suppose it might be enough for some of the joints but I'll still solder some of the others.

[Long-Haired_brewer]

Hehe my mashtun is about 10 years old and i inherited it, it was a cooler many moons ago but then my uncle was an avid homebrewer(from what i am told he made great beer) anyway it came with manifold the lot

[WishboneBrewery]

Just done a leak and heat retention test:

It didn't leak, and it only lost 2.4 Deg C over an hour using Hot Tap water starting at 56.2 C, and the manifold drained the Mash tun down to less that 200ml
Fixed in place, soldered in places:

Slots cut with a Junior hacksaw, could be made wider with a regular hacksaw if needed:

How I decided to solder it, should leave it clean-out-able!:

[Parp]

Can you get a bendy pipe cleaner around all you nooks and crannies?

[WishboneBrewery]

Not sure about that, but I could swap an corner Elbow for a Tee which would solve that problem
Can they get really clogged up with grain?

[Parp]

They sometimes get little bits through. And maybe some buildup from the gooey clag that goes through there.

It just seems more thorough to get the insides pulled through. Especially if your putting it into storage or not brewing for a little while.

Having said that, I've only given mine a complete disassembly clean twice! Hehe!

[WishboneBrewery]

Does the amount and size of saw cuts look OK?

I really should have started this thread over in the Equipment forum!!

[Parp]

Does the amount and size of saw cuts look OK?

Aye, should be good!

Although mine is a combination of slots and holes.
It came with a standard set of slots when I got it from hop and grape, not as many as you've done on yours.

So, in between every two slots I made a set of three holes.

[booldawg]

Jubilee clips on everything PD! Including where the hosepipe fits to the IC. The stainless steel ones do go black when used with copper piping but guess thats just tarnishing.

It is easy for the mainfold to come dislodged from the tap of the mash tun without fitting clips and a definite if you have a hop strainer where the elbow pulls out from the main pipe - they get fairly loose after a while.

How far off your 1st AG day are you?