Hi, Building a new mash tun with copper manifold. I do not remember what size drill bit I used last time and thought it would be a good opportunity to see what others have done. So, what size holes did you drill in your copper manifold?
I made a copper manifold for my cooler MT, but used stainless braided hoses for my cross pieces. No cutting or drilling of copper. Works like a charm.
Well I do not have a dremmel, damnit! I also forgot to purchase the copper pipe. I am are dumbass. I set it down to get a ball valve and never retrieved it.
I'm looking at my drill bit collection and think I would go no bigger than 1/8th inch. But I do recommend checking with someone who has used a drill for this. I would hate myself if I put a couple hundred holes in a manifold only to find out they are not appropriately sized. I know I have seen pics of manifolds with holes in them, so maybe someone will chime in.
I've used a dremel for most, but I've also used a fine hack saw blade. I think slots work better than holes,
Also, have you tried drilling a hole on a surface that is not flat (ie copper piping)? Its a pain, especially if you're trying to keep a straight line.
Yes, I drilled my other manifold. I am sure I had a few beers at the time, maybe that helped. All the slot comments coupled with the lack of drill comments have me rethinking this approach. So, how deep are the slots and how far apart?
Mine are about an inch apart and almost half way through the copper and it works fine. I think you're better off erring on the more side. More won't hurt, but not enough slots could probably stifle flow.
Mine are spaced 1 cm apart and cut to a depth of 1/3 the pipe diameter; all measurements made using the eyeball approximation approach.
This image raises a question for me. Do yall do slots up, or slots down? Seems like slots down would lead to less dead space?
I've tried every orientation combination you can think of. I've found it makes no difference in my set up for efficiency. Down would probably reduce dead space a bit, but I typically leave behind more wort than the dead space anyway. I use a random approach now. I just assemble it and where ever the slots fall they fall.
