We’re making the leap to All grain.
We’re building a mash tun, I only paid attention to getting a lead free flexible water connector.
I didn’t pay attention to whether it was stainless, its a polymer braided flexible connector.
Should I ditch it and buy a stainless one?
It has no strength. You’ll need to obtain real stainless steel hose braid if that’s the approach you intend to use.
Stay tuned and I a few hours I’ll post a link to the Lasco braid I’ve been using for over 20 years.
Because of the heat?
Well, the heat does further reduce the strength of plastic. But the bottom line is that plastic isn’t strong enough in the first place.
The braid you want to look for is Lasco brand (part number 10-0121 or 10-0321). I get it from my local hardware store, but Amazon also carries it I have used the same braid for 20 years and over 500 batches.
I used the braid from a 1/4" ice maker supply line. I think its about 5 or 6 feet long and I have it coiled up and wired together to generally cover most of the bottom of my tun.
which is fine for fly sparging and unnecessary for batch sparging
I’ve got it covered. Went and bought a SS one, was just curious about the one I originally bought.
Are they easy to clean?
What about trub/buildup in and on it?
What is this “clean” word you mention? :) Seriously, all I do is spray all the gunk out of the cooler and then shoot water backwards up the hose and out the braid. That usually takes care of all the cleaning.
The most my tun and braid get is a little dish soap and and a scrub with a dairy barn brush. I knock off the chunks and that’s about it.
Paul
I run the hot water from the immersion chiller into the mash tun to clean it. I open the valve until clean water runs thru it. Basta