Copper tube grade for chiller?

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rhys333

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Just picked up 50' of 3/8 copper line for an immersion wort chiller. All they had was Type R refrigeration grade meant for a/c refrigeration, gas and compressed air. Is this safe to use, or do I have to get Type M meant for water service? Thanks in advance.
 
This from another post.


I Google the the ACR (refrigerant)tubing standard ASTMB280- ACR tubing is required to be 99.9% copper per that standard.

As I understand it the only difference between plumbing and refrigerant tubing is that the refrigerate tubing has been cleaned and dehydrated to a higher standard so as not to contaminate a refrigerant system. Also, the refrigerant guys use O.D. as opposed to I.D. like the plumbing guys. Keep this in mind when buying fittings.

99.9% is as pure as it gets in my world. I probably am getting more chem exposure typing on this keyboard....
 
Considering the extremely brief contact time........... Is this really a concern? I chill in 8 minutes! PH, temperature, and time all play a part. In many brewing applications the concerns expressed are all out of proportion to the exposure time and conditions.


H.W.
 
Just did a 4 gal test on my new chiller. 4 gals from boil to pitch temp in 5 mins! Guessing another minute or two for my 6 gal batches. Awesome.
 
Just wondering, has anyone tried attaching a sacrificial anode to their copper chillers to stop oxidation? A piece of zinc or aluminum should do the trick I'm thinking. Or maybe I'm over-thinking :/

EDIT: just read Palmer's comments on cleaning copper. Best to let it take on a dull penny finish as its less likely to leach copper into wort than a shiny chiller.
 
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