How to keep copper immersion chiller coils together?

I'm looking for some way to keep the coils on my immersion chiller together when lifting it in and out of my pot. I've seen a lot of people use copper wire but I wasn't sure on the food safety of this. Looking through other threads I've seen one post saying don't use copper picture frame wire and a handful of others saying to strip some copper electrical wiring. I was looking through the home depot site and found some copper electrical wiring but it said it was good only up to a temperature of 167 and I want to stick this in my boiling wort.

Can anyone comment on known, safe wiring (or alternatives) I can use to keep my coils from spreading too far apart? Ideally I'd also use it to stabilize a recirculation arm and create some kind of handle to help lower and lift the coil.

I don't see why solid copper wire, no insulation, wouldn't be as heat resistant as a copper coil IC. Either wrap the wire around each coil on two or three sides or silver solder in place to help keep the coil from sagging/spreading.

Fresh95 said:

[...] and found some copper electrical wiring but it said it was good only up to a temperature of 167 and I want to stick this in my boiling wort.

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That temp range is for when the wiring is used as electrical wiring, and includes the properties of the insulation, which is usually the limiting factor.

That 167° F temperature rating is for the plastic around the wire. In your application it's not relevant. Just strip the wire down to the bare copper.

Thanks for the responses. I'm not familiar with copper wiring at all, but I assumed that Bare Copper meant it came without insulation. Is that not the case? Some of the bare copper I'm looking at has the temperature rating which is confusing me. For example:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-18-Stranded-Bare-Copper-By-the-Foot-55024799/204725045#

What if I looked at hobby wire or picture frame wire. Those all come without insulation but since they aren't used for electrical purposes do I need to worry about them being composed of other elements potentially leaching out?

I asked some workers at home depot about what copper wiring might be food grade and fine to put in boiling liquid but no one was able to help.

The problem with other wires is not so much leaching, as galvanic action and rust. Steel wire will rust and give nasty flavors. Aluminum wire will probably corrode away while the copper tube survives (search for "galvanic corrosion")

Not stranded. Stranded wire will be floppy You want the solid wire.

Just get 10 or so feet of uninsulated 12 gauge or 14 gauge copper wire frome HD or Lowes or anything else. Yes, the copper wire will be effectively "food grade" even if it is not labeled as such.

14 gauge is thinner and easier to work with. It will do OK. I used 12 gauge because I had it laying around. I had insulated wire so I stripped off the insulation. I cut 18" lengths because the whole length was way too cumbersome. I worked up one side, then did the other side approximately 180 degrees away.

I wrapped around the bottom once, then fed it upwards and gave one wrap around each coil. When I needed a new piece, I just gave it a wrap around the previous coil and continued upwards.

Don't over-think this. The coil is copper. The wire is copper. Just one wrap around each coil. It probably won't be perfect but it will work. Done.

im thinking that unless you remove the wire after each use, it will be hard to sanitize your chiller. the spots where the wire is tight against the pipes or twisted tightly around itself would offer great spots for thingies to grow in. i could be wrong tho, im new lol.

i haven't done it yet but my plan is to simply blow through the end of the chillers hose that i remove from the water supply. should be able to blow all the water out of my chiller so its not heavy when i lift it out of the wort.

SmokeyMcBong said:

im thinking that unless you remove the wire after each use, it will be hard to sanitize your chiller. the spots where the wire is tight against the pipes or twisted tightly around itself would offer great spots for thingies to grow in. i could be wrong tho, im new lol.

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Keep it simple.

It is not possible to remove the wire. I put the chiller into the wort for the last 10 minutes of the boil. That sterilizes it. It reminds me when to add the flavor and aroma hops.

After the wort is chilled, I rise the immersion coils and finish with a dunk in sanitizing solution, then air dry and put away. The sanitizing solution probably does not really do much except make me feel better.

Copper wire is pure copper. If it's not safe in the boil then neither is the copper tubing.

I think Epimetheus described the wrap idea better than me. An added benefit is it will ensure small spaces between each coil which should improve heat transfer over an IC with coils packed tight against one another. With tight spots created by the wire wraps to catch trub you'll want to give it a good spray down after each brew session to blast off the crud but immersion in boiling wort for 10 - 15 minutes at the end of the next batch is all the sanitizing you'll really need.

Can you do this if the IC has been used once already?

You should be able to do the wire wrap no problem whether the IC is new or used. If you wanted to solder wires to the coils you'd need to clean the points of contact anyway so again I don't think it matters. I thought about soldering mine when I first made it but it never sagged enough to bother me.

I switched from propane to electric - the IC was no longer as effective, not being able to get down past the element. I later cut 25' off for a CFC, leaving 25' for a pre chiller. Had I soldered wires to the outside it would have been just one more step to make that change.

Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it. At the base I understand that if my copper immersion chiller is ok to put in wort then copper wire will be ok too. But I know not all copper piping is ok to construct an immersion coil with because it's not all pure and so I was worried that not all copper wire would be ok to work with as well. I'll pick up some copper electrical wiring and feel safe using that now. I'm still wary on copper hobby or picture frame wire.