Counterflow Chiller Tutorial
 

Just to balance out all the post whoring, I thought I'd actualy put something a little more substantial together.

This is the cheapest way to put a CFC together and doesn't use any pricy compression fittings. It requires soldering, but you ought to know how to do that already. No? Shame. Here's what we're building:

http://www.suebob.com/images/brew/cfc.jpg

Part list:

(1) 12" x 1/2" copper pipe
(2) 1/2" copper TEEs
(2) 1/2" x 1/4" copper reducers
(1) 25' x 3/8" OD soft copper tubing
(1) 25' x 5/8" ID rubber garden hose (make sure it's rubber. It will be the only one that does NOT say "do not use with hot water".)
(4) hose clamps.


http://www.suebob.com/images/brew/cfc3.jpg


You'll also need some emory cloth (sandpaper), a round wire brush, flux, solder, tubing cutter, and a propane torch.

The first step is to create the end assemblies:
Completely clean the 1/2" copper pipe by sanding it with emory cloth, then cut it into six 2-inch pieces with the tubing cutter. Clean the insides of the Tees and reducers with the round wirebrush. Apply a liberal amount of flux paste and assemble to look like this:


http://www.suebob.com/images/brew/cfc1.jpg

Apply the propane flame and keep it moving but focus mostly on the Tee. Keep testing the temp by removing the flame and touching solder to the joint. If it doesn't flow, apply a little more heat. Don't overheat. You should see the solder being sucked into the joint. A solder joint does not seal due to an apparent bead on the outside of the fitting so don't build it up too much. Once it starts dripping out and falling on the floor, you have more than enough in the joint.

Before moving on, you must drill out the stops inside the reducer fittings with a 3/8" drill bit. There's a nub sticking out inside there that is meant to stop the 3/8 tubing from going all the way through the reducer. This is precisely what we WANT to happen.

Moving on....
 

The next thing you do is cut the last 10" off of each end of the garden hose. Unroll the soft copper tubing carefully into a straight line. Make up a very soapy solution of dish soap and water and pour it into the hose with a funnel. You can also lubricate with something like KY as long as it's water soluable. Don't try working the copper inside the hose without a lube, you'll only get it about 1/3rd of the way before you start cursing. You'll want to center the hose on the copper so that about 10" of copper sticks out on each end.

On one end, clean the lubricant off the copper and use the emory cloth to thoroughly clean the copper in prep for soldering. Apply flux to the copper and inside of the reducer on one of the end assemblies and slide it on. For this soldering job, you can slide the rubber hose out of the way, but take note of where the assembly has to sit first. Once you solder the reducer to the inner tubing, you can slide the rubber hose over the end assembly and clamp the hose on tightly.

You now have to select a cylidrical object to coil the hose around and I'd suggest going at least 12" in diameter. Start coiling from the end that you've just soldered. Coil it nice and tight as uniformly as possible. A lot of people use large tie wraps or electrical tape to hold the coil in position. I had some strips of galvanized metal on hand so I made rigid straps. Take your pick, but you'll want to secure the coil in some way to keep it from unraveling and looking like Shhhh...

You'll finish the project by cleaning the copper on the other end and soldering it on in the same way. Clamp the hose on first but in this case, you need to be careful not to burn the hose. Get a rag soaked in cold water and lay it over the hose to keep it cool.

Clamp the leftover hose ends to the Tees. The coolant water goes in on the end that you want to be the wort outflow (hence "counterflow").


http://www.suebob.com/images/brew/cfc4.jpg

Before you use it, boil a few gallons of water with about a quart of white vinegar and drain it all through the inside a few times, then run clean water through. Of course, you'll also need to sanitize just prior to use by running starsan through or recirculating hot wort through it if you have a pump (without the coolant water running obviously).

For those who want more on soldering copper, I like this guy's method because it matches the way I do it.

[YOUTUBE]PKKMA4NOaQ4[/YOUTUBE]

Nice "How to" Bobby_M. Very cost effective!
Couple questions:

Why is the RUBBER hose a necessity?


Would you still recommend 25' of 3/8" OD copper for a gravity fed chiller?

Nice article Bobby.

Thanks.


Wiki any one?
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/How_to_make_a_Counter_Flow_Chiller
Just needs pictures, formating and categorising.

How much did the system cost you?

well done and well presented BobbyM
definately wiki worthy

cheers
BeerCanuck

The rubber supposedly stands up better to boiling temps. I recirculate boiling wort through it for sanitation and it gets pretty hot. Use your own judgement.

The cost is going to be highly dependent on what kind of deal you get on the copper. I believe I bought 50 feet on Ebay for $60 shipped. The garden hose was also 50 feet and was $26. I made two and sold one.

I think 25 feet is the sweet spot whether you're pumping or gravity draining. You could maybe go with 20 feet but no less than that unless you always have very cold tap water or use icewater.

Nice job, Bobby! I like your design far better than the POS that I bought from the LHBS a while back. Now I might have to go make one...

Nicely done, didn't know about using rubber hose, good point and the lubricant for snaking cooper tubing. But what about the cost of the fittings. And if you don't have solder and flux and propane for the torch. Everything adds up. Brewers has 25 foot CFC for $70. Unless you get a deal on the copper tubing, it doesn't pay to DIY, especially if it doesn't go exactly right the first time (which for me it doesn't). But it's good to know how to do it.

For shame! 20 lashes with a wet noodle.

Actually, you do indeed have a point. However, Bobby's design is fairly bulletproof, and it's definitely superior to some of the stuff I've seen for sale. In that regard, it's better to DIY since you're getting a better product for roughly the same cost.

Now, if you have no torch, no experience with soldering, and/or generally have a hard time with DIY projects like this, by all means, go buy yourself a chiller.