Another immersion chiller thread 5/8 tubing

So I already have 50' of 5/8 copper tubing. Any issue using this?

I have seen the standard design, and the double coil design, I was wondering why no one did a big outter coil and then went into a smaller inner coil?

Any other suggestions before I begin messing with the copper? I see were the bigger the pipe the harder it is to bend so are the spring benders worth it?

Thanks in advance !!!


Travis

I would prsonally make a prechiller...

but that's because the groundwater here in florida is super hot.

you could do the double design. that sounds fine. no one ever does that because no one has 5/8" 50' copper pipe lying around!

I measured my water temp and it's 60' right now, but of course it's the middle of winter, but, because of a bad design on the previous owner of the house the cold water pipe runs through the heating/cooling duct. That means in the winter the pipe is being warmed up a little, but in the summer it's being cooled down. I will be changing that of course when I get to that part of my rehabing

I think I remember seeing one that is a coil within a coil. Of course it would work and 5/8'' copper should work just as well as any other it will just be a PITA to do a coil within a coil if you're up for it.

well.. I guess I'm going to try and find a bending spring, my understanding is that ace sells them individually pretty cheap, and I guess I will have my buddy come help me

I don't see how an outer coil run into an inner coil would really help. My experience with 3/8" refridgeration grade copper is that the copper transfers the heat so quickly that by the time the water exits the 50' IC, the water is the same temp as the wort. I understand that adding the inner coil creaters more surface area for the copper to transfer the heat, but if the water running through the IC is the same temp as the wort already, there's no point.

Now if you split your 50' of copper into two IC that run simultaneously (i.e., you have a hose running cold water through the outer coil and another one running separately through the inner coil), you could significantly impact the cooling process.

You don't need double coils unless you're trying to make the whole thing vertically short.

My IC is a 5/8" x 50 roll and you certainly do not need a bending spring for the main coil. You would need one if you wanted to make tight radius bends. I skipped that and sweated on elbows.

Here's the thread on that build
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/big-daddy-immersion-chiller-50-x-5-8-a-137341/

and here's a video showing basically how I put it together thought the one I'm building in the video is a 1/2" tube.

Thanks Bobby, I had watched the video before and never realized you used 5/8, I just FF'd it till I saw how you bent the tubes, I have only one experience sweating copper and it was horrible (no matter what your friends tell you, FLUX is required!!), I was hoping to avoid it again.

travs69 said:

Thanks Bobby, I had watched the video before and never realized you used 5/8, I just FF'd it till I saw how you bent the tubes, I have only one experience sweating copper and it was horrible (no matter what your friends tell you, FLUX is required!!), I was hoping to avoid it again.

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You might want to consider practicing on a few joints to avoid butchering your immersion chiller.

Scut_Monkey said:

You might want to consider practicing on a few joints to avoid butchering your immersion chiller.

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That and skip the propane and use MAPP gas like the big boys. Makes a world of difference.

Now your just asking me to burn the house down

travs69 said:

Now your just asking me to burn the house down

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Actually, I replumbed my whole house. Once I switched to MAPP and got a better quality flux/solder that what is in those crappy Benz-o-matic starter kits things went 2-3 times as quickly and I went from about 50% failure rate to <1% (with practice as well).

For the immersion chiller just be sure you have a thick wet rag nearby and as you finish the union and get a good amount of solder in sucked into the joint, be sure to wipe up excess while it is hot. Then you can sand any excess away once it is cooled to leave only copper exposed. Remember, it's the solder between the 2 surfaces that bonds it, not the part that's visible.

I think the key to sweating is getting everything spotlessly clean. It's really easy to half ass it and the solder won't flow to those smudgy parts. A good acid based paste flux, not that water based crap, is the next step. Finally, don't overheat the joint and try not to burn off all the flux you just applied.

Just FYI, the video is me making a 1/2" chiller. The picture below is a 5/8" version that I made some time later using the exact same technique. However, I figured out how to form the coil by myself without the helper.

+1 on the prechiller.

Any insights you want to share beyond what is in the video? I see a lot of people not doing 90' but a lower angle so that if there is a leak it won't leak back into the wort.. opinions?

nice video, i am going to make one this week for brewday saturday

my only issue with a prechiller is space.. right now I don't have much, if I like the hobby and stay with it I already have plans to change around part of my basement and put in a utility sink and a area to work in, until then I'm doing it in my kitchen..

travs69 said:

my only issue with a prechiller is space.. right now I don't have much, if I like the hobby and stay with it I already have plans to change around part of my basement and put in a utility sink and a area to work in, until then I'm doing it in my kitchen..

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Coil it smaller so it fits down inside the chiller. I thought about making one small enough to go into a small bucket that I could put into my freezer and freeze into a block of ice. If I had a chest freezer I could do it in a 5 gallon pail. That would be nice. :rockin:

I'd be much more likely to buy a $30 submersible pump to pump icewater than I would be to make a prechiller, but that's just me.

Travs69, I would have added a 45 degree elbow to make the in/out face downward more but I just didn't have the fittings on hand. I've found the odds of water leaking seriously reduced once you sweat the hose fittings directly to the tubing. That is NOT the case with shoddily clamped on PVC tubing.