@Dazzelknight I have a crazy left field idea to solve your sparge dilemma...
... Don't sparge!
For the last 18 months (40+ brews) I've been doing what's called full-volume no-sparge mashes.
You mash as normal, grains in the bag etc, except you use the full volume of your mash and sparge water - in my case for my 10L-ish batches that's typically 2.5-3.0kg grain in 15-17L water.
Once you're done mashing, bag out and give it an almighty squeeze and carry on with the boil.
The advantage is it makes my brew day simpler, easier and hence more fun. And the beer of course is absolutely fine.
The disadvantage is my efficiency dropped from 80% when I used to dunk sparge, to 72% with full-volume no-sparge. To get around this you simply add a little more grain - a small amount at the homebrew scale if you work it out. Efficiency is just a number, as long as it's in the right ballpark it doesn't matter too much - much more important IMO that it's consistent and predictable.
(But for the record I've recently started using a re-circ pump and my efficiency is up to about 77% now. In the past I've done overnight mashes and seen efficiency >80% - a very effective way to boost efficiency of you must obsess about numbers!)
