Mashtun Insulation

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NickP

Mashtun Insulation

Post by NickP » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:00 pm

I have now completed my HLT and i am moving onto the mash tun. At present im doing everything in plastic until i have the hang of it and a good design, but I will be insulating my mash tun with camping mats, the question i have is how is the best way of attaching the camping mats, i was thinking some sort of adeasive :?: and also would you attach the mats first and then drill holes for fittings or the other way round :?:

garwatts

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by garwatts » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:16 pm

NickP wrote:I have now completed my HLT and i am moving onto the mash tun. At present im doing everything in plastic until i have the hang of it and a good design, but I will be insulating my mash tun with camping mats, the question i have is how is the best way of attaching the camping mats, i was thinking some sort of adhesive :?: and also would you attach the mats first and then drill holes for fittings or the other way round :?:
This is what I have done:

Unfortunately, having used three mats for insulating the material was too thick to attach Velcro so had to resort to bungees instead . The lid recess has three layers in it and then the removable top has another three layers in the top and also round the edge, the material is also thermal insulation. At the moment haven't sourced the base but need to look in the garage as I think I have some polystyrene which might do.
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MashTun.jpg
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Last edited by garwatts on Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Hogarth
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Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by Hogarth » Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:05 am

I wouldn't attach the mats to the mash tun if I were you. Inevitably wort will get spilt, and you'll want to disassemble everything for cleaning now and then. Instead, wrap the mats around the bucket, cut them to shape, and join the ends with duck tape.

lancsSteve

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by lancsSteve » Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:27 am

Chris-x1 wrote: Not pretty

Image
I think that looks great! And I thought just an uneven layer of gaffa tape over kingspan and pipe lagging on the lid of mine was 'quite good looking really' :oops:

wetdog

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by wetdog » Thu Aug 27, 2009 1:35 pm

This is mine. picnic box, polystyrene and duck tape.
Image

WishboneBrewery
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Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by WishboneBrewery » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:03 pm

Duct tape heaven there Wetdog! :)

NickP

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by NickP » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:21 pm

Cool they all look great, i like Chris's idea of effectivly making a leave, this seems to give the best of both worlds both easy to clean and also no need to keep re-wrapping the thing.

Cheers for the ideas =D>

Scooby

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by Scooby » Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:39 pm

A great proportion of heat loss is via the lid, I cut a disk of insulating board that floats on the grain bed minimising that loss. a couple of stainless bolts epoxied in aid removal :wink:


Image Image

GARYSMIFF

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by GARYSMIFF » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:41 pm


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trucker5774
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Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by trucker5774 » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:38 pm

Mine is a simple cool box...........insulation removed and replaced by injecting polyurethane expanding builders foam into the cavity. Simple neat and efficient............at least for my purposes. The centre temperature drop is less than 1C over 75 mins. The outer edges about 2.5C
John

Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!

Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........

FV 1............
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Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife

WishboneBrewery
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Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by WishboneBrewery » Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:58 am

May as well post my pics:
A mini mash tun with False bottom, made out of a 15 Litre bucket, drum tap, Camping mats (2 layers sides / base, 3 layers Lid), a plastic plate, some copper fittings, a tank connector and a bit of PVC tube, and Duct tape ;)
Image
Did a little heat loss test with hot water:
Time :: Temp
19.36 - 61.1 C
20.38 - 58.6 C
21.06 - 58.0 C
21.35 - 57.6 C

My other Mash Tun is a Thermos Coolbox, no extra insulation, performs better than the above one both in temp stability and wort clarity (both due to the greater volume of grain I'd say) :)

lancsSteve

The one essential

Post by lancsSteve » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:06 am

Chris-x1 wrote: small strips of duct tape.
wetdog wrote:This is mine. picnic box, polystyrene and duck tape.
pdtnc wrote:and Duct tape ;)
Seems like there's a bit of a theme here - proving perhaps my theory that if you can't fix or make it with gaffa/duck tape it probably can't be fixed or made.

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OldSpeckledBadger
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Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by OldSpeckledBadger » Fri Aug 28, 2009 10:18 am

Duct tape is just the modern equivalent of sticky-back plastic from the old Blue Peter days :D
Best wishes

OldSpeckledBadger

NickP

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by NickP » Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:48 pm

What about false bottoms, any one give some suggestions for them ? my bucket has a slight raise in the bottom of it which has caused the upside down plate with the many holes idea to come unstuck. The hole in the plate for the connector sits right ontop of the "nipple" blocking the hole #-o

data790|

Re: Mashtun Insulation

Post by data790| » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:59 am

I am currently building my first mash tun after a failed attempt (well not failed as the stout turned out really well, just mashing out the sugars didn't work) of mashing in a 2.5 gallon pan. Just wondering if any of you use a heater in your mash tuns or simply add the heated water, then the grains, seal with insulator and leave for a period of time? I will be using one of my fermentation buckets (it is thick like myself, and looks to be able to handle a few boiling sessions).

Cheers

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