Converting a S.S. Wort Chiller to Have Hose Fittings

postman · 07-05-2009, 02:54 PM

Greetings Brewers,

I've run into some leakage problems with my stainless steel wort chiller recently. The chiller has been leaking into the kettle, causing me to reheat up the wort to kill off any bacteria that may have gotten in. I was time, gas and possibly an infection. I want to convert it to hose fittings, which it does not have.

This is the chiller I have, w/o hose fittings.
I want to convert it to this one with hose fittings.

What do I need? It looks like those are compression fittings I believe. My other options would be to fix and sell this one and build one like Bobby (I believe) has shown on here buying a 50'roll of soft copper. I'm cooling 5 gallons of wort, and have experience sweating pipe. I actually very handy, but would like to do this right the first time and not mess up the wort chiller. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks a ton.

Postman

Sawdustguy · 07-05-2009, 04:25 PM

The chiller looks to be made from 3/8" stainless steel tube (correct me if I am wrong). You can purchase a 3/8" compression to 3/4" FHT adapter from Brass hose fittings - PlumbingSupply.com for about $5.00.

TerapinChef · 07-05-2009, 05:33 PM

Why not just attach some tubing to the ends of the chiller and attach your hose fittings to the tubing? Seems like a much easier fix...

postman · 07-05-2009, 05:56 PM

Thanks Guys. As it is, it has tubing attached to the chiller, but the hose clamps are not doing their job of stopping the water from leaking into the wort.

Regarding the brass compression fittings, I should be able to find these also at the Home Depot or plumbing store?

Catt22 · 07-05-2009, 06:03 PM

Home Depot has the fittings you need. I used a 3/8" compression x 1/2" NPT adapter with a 1/2" female NPT x 3/4" GH adapter on the input and the same except with a male GH adapter on the output.

postman · 07-05-2009, 06:04 PM

The Brass fitting looks good on the site, except, I don't see a 3/8" to 3/4 MHT???

**samc** · 07-05-2009, 06:08 PM

Take the chiller with you when buying fittings to make sure they fit. As for the hoses you already have I assume you have tightened them after using them and at some point they might have degraded to the point of no return. After getting a blast of water in the face from my first chiller (cold water - lucky!) I abandoned the hose clamp method.

Catt22 · 07-05-2009, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by postman

The Brass fitting looks good on the site, except, I don't see a 3/8" to 3/4 MHT???

That particular fitting might be hard to find and that's why I went with the adapters mentioned above. The 3/8" compression x pipe thread fittings are common. Compression x garden hose thread are not.

postman · 07-05-2009, 06:47 PM

Thanks, missed that response. That should do it, I'll bring the chiller with me.

Boerderij_Kabouter · 07-06-2009, 01:03 PM

If you can, I suggest soldering on the connections. It will be cheaper, more durable, and will never leak.

Soldering takes all of 5 minutes and is a better option IMO.