wort chiller

Ok so ive been looking at wort chillers and was thinking they seem pretty easy to make. All you need is some copper tubing, coil it, then attach plastic tubing to either side, one for in and one for out. Am i over simplifying it?

Well my Dad's a plumber so he actually did the soldering. I gave him the size of the copper and it worked fine.

LouisianaKid said:

Ok so ive been looking at wort chillers and was thinking they seem pretty easy to make. All you need is some copper tubing, coil it, then attach plastic tubing to either side, one for in and one for out. Am i over simplifying it?

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No.4567890

It's definately a DIY project, and you can make them really simply as you describe. Mine's all soldered up (messily) so that I can have a ball value attached (to control the water flow) and to hook it up directly to garden hoses. The hardest part of the simple design, I suspect, will be getting the tubing bent in a way that doesn't kink it, which is real easy to do).

I read up on that, and it seems from what I read (might not be up to date, maybe there's some new tool...) that the bending process is really tricky, and requires some experience and or skill... Otherwise you end up with kinks. Don't let me stop you, I've never tried...

I made mine. The hard parts were the bends upward, especially since I didn't have the correct tools. I made the bends with a rather large radius by bending around a large coffee can. The tubing flattened a bit but did not kink. I had one place start to kink so I moved the bend a little bit to not stress that spot. Just go slow and keep an eye on what your tubing is doing.

Copper prices are way up right now, so you may find that it costs almost as much to make it as it does to buy it. Still, if you have the skill I'd say to make your own. You can make it customized to your pot (some are wider and some are deeper, etc) and make your threads to your utility sink or kitchen sink or garden hose.

I bought mine from someone here on the forum, and I'm thrilled with it.

YooperBrew said:

I bought mine from someone here on the forum, and I'm thrilled with it.

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oo, I'd do that...

I'd reccomend saving and getting either a B# Superchiller or a "Chillzilla" copper CFC. Google either. You'd have less trouble/worry than with a plate chiller, and get awesome chilling results without ever having to upgrade (this hobby has a way of making you do that).

Bumping this thread but right now (2012) is there really much more value trying to build a copper wort chiller compared to just buying from a LHBS or catalog...? Part of me wants to try to build but it looks like I would be spending almost $40-$50 for 50' of copper tubing...with no guarantee I won't F it up.

I did a 25' one and I only have 30 invested in it. Buy the spring tool to help with the bending they are cheap and will prevent kinks.

natefrog255 said:

Bumping this thread but right now (2012) is there really much more value trying to build a copper wort chiller compared to just buying from a LHBS or catalog...? Part of me wants to try to build but it looks like I would be spending almost $40-$50 for 50' of copper tubing...with no guarantee I won't F it up.

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I think its worth building your own since you can build to the dimensions of your BK. Unless you are going to do 10 gal. batches, you don't need 50', 20 or 25 is enough especially if you use a larger diameter pipe.
Here is mine. It's the first one I've ever made and it turned out OK. I used a 5/8" od 20' coil. I believe that a bigger diameter pipe is more rigid and less apt to kink. Plus it will cool much faster given the larger surface area. Since it comes in a coil already all you need to do is pull each end outward to shape it like a spring and then working at the bottom end start tightening up your coil to the diameter you need. Mine is 10" to the outside and 7" high. You should really shape it according to the dimensions of your BK. This is really easy to do just go slow.
I didn't like the thought or the look of bending the ends up so I used elbows and straight pieces. I also used 5" horizontal straight pieces connected to garden hose fittings. I made them long enough to get the fittings outside the kettle in case any water leaks...it won't drip into your wort.
Soldering is the hardest part but you just do one connection at a time. Anyone can solder. This was my first soldering job so anyone can do it.

I think I am going to give this a try, at least a small one for now. If I can get 30' I will but probably will be 20' or 25'. I'm going to try to do without soldering, not comfortable with that process, but it will be a nice DIY project.

I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Thanks.