Is this copper tubing worth trying to use?

I recently took out 2 old bathroon heaters that ran off gas. Both heaters had 20ft of copper tubing connected that the gas ran through. Is it worth scrubing down to use as an simple wort chiller? Would there be a solution i ran run through the copper to clean the inside for a counterflow chiller? I'd love to be able to save some money and use these but in the 20+ years it's been in the attic, i'm not sure. Is cleaning the inside out of NG possible?

What diameter is it? Is it soft tubing or rigid pipe?

looks to be 1/4 and it's soft

heck ya use it scrub it down if your just using it as an emersion chiller I would use it I got my copper from an old saw mill and who knows what it has been around or in, we cleaned it and away we go.I would run some sort of cleaner through it before you start soldering to it but youll be fine. At 1/4 " its a bit small but it will work.

JJ

Beer line cleaner, followed by vinegar.

If you're planning to make an immersion chiller it's the outside of the pipe you need to worry about since that's what's going to be touching your wort. Some steel wool and maybe vinegar should probably do the trick.

worse comes to worse, you could always sell it for scrap

Scrub off any crud and then soak it in a solution of vinegar, it'll look like new.

copper is $4 a pound last I checked, if you don't trust it, it's still probably worth a bit of money.

z987k said:

copper is $4 a pound last I checked, if you don't trust it, it's still probably worth a bit of money.

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I'm always a better safe than sorry person. Sell it for scrap and get some new clean copper.

If it's gas line, you are ok, esp. for an IC. Clean the outside up good (and inside if you like) and go to town!

Dilute muriatic acid would work great for cleaning the coil - it will etch the copper down to bare metal, and the copper chloride formed will easily rinse away. A splash of hydrogen peroxide will make it work faster (and better).

On another note, who in the world is paying $4/lb for copper? I work at a scrap yard and we don't get that much selling it by the container! Copper's more like $2.85-3.05/lb.

z987k said:

copper is $4 a pound last I checked, .

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God I hope so. I save all my scrap copper and brass for recycling and usually have a 100# of copper as well as 200# or more of brass in a year saved up. Ok 6the poster on top has said it isn't that high, but even above $2 a # is good.

IMO a 1/4 " copper tube won't cool your wort very fast, but if it is all you have, go for it.