I'm putting my mash tun together at the moment but its costing me a lot more to get the fittings and copper I need to make a manifold than I thought it would. So now its much of a muchness in price vs just buying a ball valve tap and bazooka off ebay, ready to install.
I'm not sure what to go with. Frankly wish I'd just bought a ready made mash tun now and saved myself the hassle.
These's nothing wrong with a bazooka. You'll just get a bit more efficiency with a manifold or false bottom.
You can make a cheap false bottom from an Ikea candle tray, image from Tube:
(http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2682.0;attach=5108;image)
You can also just line the mash tun with a BIAB bag, voile or a paint strainer.
My cooler is rectangular, not sure if that false bottom would work with it.
I found another bazooka on ebay for €14 from Holland incl postage. I might just get that. Its a lot cheaper than shelling out for copper and fittings.
Quote from: Qs on May 21, 2014, 12:16:45 PM
My cooler is rectangular, not sure if that false bottom would work with it.
That doesn't matter. The circular false bottom will still work.
As for fittings, these are expensive alright. Have you any buddies who are plumbers? Swap them beer for fittings?
You don't have to use copper, Qual-pex is safe up to 95°C.
Nah none of my mates are plumbers unfortunately. I might take a look at how much that qual pex stuff is locally. Seems like it might be handy. The pipe and the fittings are both safe in a boil?
I wouldn't use qual-pex in the boiler but it's fine for the mash tun. The qual-pex pipe and fittings are rated up 95°C.
Perfect. I assume thats a lot easier to cut than copper too.
Yes, you can cut it with a stanley knife.
Quote from: Qs on May 21, 2014, 12:16:45 PM
My cooler is rectangular, not sure if that false bottom would work with it.
I found another bazooka on ebay for €14 from Holland incl postage. I might just get that. Its a lot cheaper than shelling out for copper and fittings.
If you have a 4" angle grinder for cutting with then tell the wife that having a single bowl stainless steel sink is just not good enough for the Kitchen and that you can get a cheap good quality bowl and a half sink from B&Q and fit it for the family ::). Of course you need to then get rid of the old sink so cut it up and as you do you will observe that the draining board would make a perfect false bottom for a rectangular cooler :o ;) ::). Wife will be proud of you for caring and you get a false bottom too. :)
I came across this a while ago, thought it was about the simplest cooler box conversion I've seen... As Garry said, probably won't be as good for efficiency but for simplicity and ease of build I thought it was good..... Those braided pipe things are about 7 quid in B&Q I think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9wJr7c1F4I&list=WL&index=19
Quote from: DEMPSEY on May 21, 2014, 01:22:03 PM
If you have a 4" angle grinder for cutting with then tell the wife that having a single bowl stainless steel sink is just not good enough for the Kitchen and that you can get a cheap good quality bowl and a half sink from B&Q and fit it for the family ::). Of course you need to then get rid of the old sink so cut it up and as you do you will observe that the draining board would make a perfect false bottom for a rectangular cooler :o ;) ::). Wife will be proud of you for caring and you get a false bottom too. :)
Considering we've only been in the house for a year and spent a small fortune on the new kitchen I can't imagine that going over too well ;D
I have the braided jobbie in my mash tun. Problem is the weight of the grain crushes the braid and you end up with a trickle. I recently put a bazooka over the top of it and it worked out way better. It'll do until I can buy some pumps and get a proper mash tun w false bottom working
I'm using this solution and works fine for me :)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1CZyaQukplg/Tm8aQdMkWTI/AAAAAAAAAoI/ru9JCdx8nbE/s400/IMG_8426.jpg
Had the same thought with my own planned mashtun build. ended up going for a 6 inch bazooka from AliExpress for $10 delivered
Is that a braided hose Samael? Where did you find one that long? Or is it a shower hose or something? (Can't quite make out the fine detail).
Interesting point about crushing under weight of grain... Hadn't thought of that.. something with a bit more strength would be better.... Would using a shower hose be an option? (with lots of little drill holes)
Would connecting a shower hose to a tap not be difficult? Also they're pretty long
Got a cool box recently but too stuck for cash/time at the moment to go investing in a manifold.. gonna try the BIAB bag in the mash tun on my next brew.. having a look around on homebrewtalk people mentioning getting efficiencies in the 80%'s and with little chance and easy clearance of stuck mashes, just lift the bag up and set it down and vorlauf again.
Quote from: GrahamR on May 21, 2014, 10:32:58 PM
Had the same thought with my own planned mashtun build. ended up going for a 6 inch bazooka from AliExpress for $10 delivered
Nice one, just ordered a 12" from them for $11. How long did delivery take for you?
Quote from: montofk on May 21, 2014, 11:35:42 PM
Is that a braided hose Samael? Where did you find one that long? Or is it a shower hose or something? (Can't quite make out the fine detail).
Interesting point about crushing under weight of grain... Hadn't thought of that.. something with a bit more strength would be better.... Would using a shower hose be an option? (with lots of little drill holes)
Yes it is :) In my country You can buy a few diferent size (long) and is used to connect water valve with flush. I got my own from Poland.Don't know yet about crusing - max weight so far was 6,5 kg of grain and was no problem.
Quote from: Qs on May 22, 2014, 11:08:42 AM
Quote from: GrahamR on May 21, 2014, 10:32:58 PM
Had the same thought with my own planned mashtun build. ended up going for a 6 inch bazooka from AliExpress for $10 delivered
Nice one, just ordered a 12" from them for $11. How long did delivery take for you?
Hasn't arrived yet but typical Ali delivery time is 4 weeks
Uchk. I was hoping it'd be quicker. I might have to look into a short term fix.
Quote from: GrahamR on May 23, 2014, 11:28:55 AM
Quote from: Qs on May 22, 2014, 11:08:42 AM
Quote from: GrahamR on May 21, 2014, 10:32:58 PM
Had the same thought with my own planned mashtun build. ended up going for a 6 inch bazooka from AliExpress for $10 delivered
Nice one, just ordered a 12" from them for $11. How long did delivery take for you?
Hasn't arrived yet but typical Ali delivery time is 4 weeks
Did you get yours yet?
just arrived today actually, looks fine to me, i think 12 inch would have been too big for my cool box so happy with the size. if your on twitter, check lakeshore brews and I have a pic up. yours arrive yet? my digital thermom still to come
Nah not yet thats why I was wondering. Glad to hear you got yours anyway, shouldn't be too much longer here. Have to sort out the leak in my cooler anyway.
Got my bazooka today, fits perfectly. Also think I finally have the mash tun sealed up properly.
Is just sitting a load of cold water in it and wiggling the screen a bit enough of a stress test?
Also should I run some star san or something through it before a first time use?
Hot water would be better for the leak test. Materials expand when they get hot.
There's no need to sanitise it because it's pre-boil. Just make sure it's clean. The boil will sanitise the wort.
I know you don't need to sanitise every time, I was just wondering for the first go. Get rid of any residual chemicals or whatever. I suppose a good clean is as good as anything.
Good point on the heat and expansion. Definitely could be an issue.
Here's pics from my recent build. Tried it for the first time last Friday and worked perfectly. Has about 400 ml deadspace though.. I couldn't get the manifold to lie flat on the bottom. Got the cool box for 40 on off mybeerandwine and the manifold parts in ph Ross in cabra for 16 euro. Took about a day to put the whole lot together but happy with the result. Didn't lose a single degree during the mash.
http://imgur.com/LzaYPy1 (http://imgur.com/LzaYPy1)
http://imgur.com/2XNKx1s (http://imgur.com/2XNKx1s)
http://imgur.com/ZIFuXD5 (http://imgur.com/ZIFuXD5)
Nice job. 400ml dead space seems pretty good.