My new immersion chiller

I've been lurking in the forum for a few weeks now as i'm new to home brewing. I've gotten a ton of info so i figured an post my new home made wort chiller. I did the rib cage design but with a single 1/2" inlet that splits to 2 20' 3/8" coils. I figured 2 short coils would keep the whole thing cooler as opposed to the last 20' just circulating wort temperature water. I havent tried it yet. I gotta clean it up a bit first but i'll let y'all know how it works with tomorrows brew day.

You're reasoning behind the coils make sense, though I know that people get much faster coolign with 50' as opposed to 25', so I don't think the water is quite wort temperature. Sure is a good looking chiller you've got there though.

Nice work, that looks great! I really like the ribcage design.

look into putting compression fittings for the hoses, those hose clamps will let loose at the right pressure, temperature, moisture combination. usually at an inopportune time.

aomagman78 said:

You're reasoning behind the coils make sense, though I know that people get much faster coolign with 50' as opposed to 25', so I don't think the water is quite wort temperature. Sure is a good looking chiller you've got there though.

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ive got 80 degree tap water though, and of course i need any random justification i can to spend all the time building it

eastoak said:

look into putting compression fittings for the hoses, those hose clamps will let loose at the right pressure, temperature, moisture combination. usually at an inopportune time.

Click to expand...

good call thats for the input

Now if this percocet does its job, my back will be feeling better later and i can test it out.

Damn 80 degree tap water! I guess I'm lucky to have 55 degree tap water.

Nice but an important key for rapid cooling is to also be able to stir the wort as it is cooling. I am constantly moving the wort around with my plastic spoon while the water is flowing.

eastoak said:

look into putting compression fittings for the hoses, those hose clamps will let loose at the right pressure, temperature, moisture combination. usually at an inopportune time.

Click to expand...

I agree that it's better not to use hose clamps, or at the very least to flare the tubing so the hose will have something to grab onto. The problem with compression fittings is that they have a very small opening and restrict the water flow. What I did was to use brass hose to barb adapters with a barb which would just slip over the OUTSIDE of the tubing. I soldered the tubing to the barb and have no restriction due to the fittings.

How did this work out for ya? I'm thinking of using your design.

it worked great. I cooled a 20l pot (in an ice bath) in less than 10 min. i was really happy with it

I was planing on using your design, but after going to Home Depot, Lowe's and Ace Hardware i could not find 3/8 Tee let alone 3/8 to 1/2 Tee. Plus 2 feet of 3/8 copper for the "in" was $8.
So I decided to use a coupler at the bottom of the chiller to connect both copper tubes. One side in and the other will be out. Still havnt built it. Starting on it today.

very cool design. (no pun intended)

I have always wondered however, is it better to chill from top to bottom, or bottom to top.

Plus, I would bend the outflow tubes down more at the end. IF there were to be any drips you want to make sure it doesn't 'ride' the copper into your wort.

did you take any pictures of the build? I am very curious on how you did it.
I need to make my own chiller soon.

thanks for any help!

Btw, what did you pay for the Tee and 90? prices are outrageous online and at my local hardware.

I've got pictures of the build. i'll post um tomorrow. I just got home from the gym and am relaxing with a beer (i figure the beer and gym cancel each other out). I paid around 100 for everything, that includes the torch, solder, flux, flux brush. The only thing i had prior was the tubing cutter