Warped False Bottom?

[Adam Roper]

So I purchased a round cooler Mash Tun the other week which included a false bottom, its cool, but the only thing is the false bottom is a bit warped and doesn't sit flush on the bottom of the cooler.. It has gaps around It. I see that some people make a gasket from splitting hose down the middle and wrapping it around the outside of the false bottom but theirs usually go hard up against the side of the cooler and mine has way to big of a gap for that. Anyone had this problem before? and does wrapping hose around it fix it? Any ideas are appreciated. Cheers.

[Brett Mason]

Have the same problem here with my new false bottom. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet but was hoping the grain would block it up fairly quickly.

[Adam Roper]

True, yeah I haven't actually tried mine yet either. I wonder if the weight of the grain will push the false bottom flat during a mash. Kinda don't want to waste a whole lot of grain just to find out tho.. My gaps are quite large on the sides like im sure a lot of grain would easily flow through. hmmmm

[Doug Phillips]

Hi Adam

I use an oversize frypan splatter guard which has the rim split so it can overlap (with the gauze) to fit in the base of the cooler with the handle bent up.  The spring loading of this tends to offer a good enough seal against the inside of the vessel with one edge sitting on the outlet nut.  These are available at the Warehouse, are stainless and if they get a bit ragged a new one is not expense.

Just make sure it is firmly in place before you pour your grain in.

Cheers

[Brett Mason]

Hey, finally tried out my fake bottom today and it worked perfectly. No issues with filtering.

My choice of house length did let me down though. I tried to keep it long to make it easier to get under the false bottom for cleaning but the nice curve in the hose turned into a kink so had to bail out and fix it twice. And it was a double batch. The hose is now a simple straight run

[Karl Hayes]

I've come across this a few times. If you have the perforated domed false bottom on a flat surface and it's warped, try to flatten it with a little downward fingertip pressure. If it flattens easily, then the weight of the grain bed should do the same. However, even if there's still a gap of 2 or 3mm, this will become blocked fairly quickly with a bit of recirculation.