Immersion Chiller Tubing ??????????

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
thedude00

thedude00

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Messages
431
Reaction score
4
Location
Staten Island, New York
Going to make a immersion chiller. I been looking around for copper tubing and i found alot they where to types Refrigeration Tubing,General-Purpose tube can i use both or is there a right or wrong one to use.

I found 3/8-Inch Copper Refrigeration Tubing 50ft for 39 buck seems like a good deal. I wanted to get 100 ft make one immersion chiller to put in the work the make a short wide one so i can put in the sink with ice water . So the water would come out the faucet flow thought the first chiller that is in the sink with ice water then to the chiller in the wort. I want to do it this way so i can cool my wort to 60 as fast as i can .

What do u guys think.
 
The refrigeration tubing is fine if you don't plan on having to solder any elbows or other fittings on. I think the refrigeration is slightly smaller O/D than the "type L" tubing which is slightly more expensive.

The "type L" copper tubing is what you need to use if you are going to solder fittings.

I am speaking from experience using half inch but am assuming 3/8 is no different with respect to the different grades of tubing.
 
i used the refigeration tubing. dont remember the exact length that i coiled as it was quite a while ago but i think i bought around 35 ft. (5 gallon batch). i just used hose clamps to fit a garden hose fitting on it and then added a length of hose to drain into my lawn. knocks it out in about 10-15 minutes assuming the water is pretty cold, which it usually is as i live in CO. been using it for 5 years now with no problem.
 
yeast_infection said:
The refrigeration tubing is fine if you don't plan on having to solder any elbows or other fittings on. I think the refrigeration is slightly smaller O/D than the "type L" tubing which is slightly more expensive.

The "type L" copper tubing is what you need to use if you are going to solder fittings.(snip)
Click to expand...

Not really. There are two differences between plumbing tubing/pipe and ACR tubing/pipe. The biggest one is that plumbing tubing is labled by it's nominal size, and ACR by it's actual OD size. For example, 1/2" pipe for plumbing (be it type K, L or M0 is actually 5/8" OD, but it you buy 1/2" ACR, it's 1/2" OD. 3/4" K, L or M is 7/8" OD, 3/4" ACR is 3/4" OD. Plumbing tubing and pipe also vary in wall thickness, which is what is designated by the K, L or M type, with K being thinnest and M thickest, and the price goes up significantly with the thicker walls. BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the cheaper type K for an IC, and it's actually prefered for maknig a slotted manifold.

As to soldering, any of them can of course be soldered - indeed, the vast majority of all HVAC connections using ACR tubing/pipe are either soldered or brazed.
 
Fletch said:
Not really. There are two differences between plumbing tubing/pipe and ACR tubing/pipe. The biggest one is that plumbing tubing is labled by it's nominal size, and ACR by it's actual OD size. For example, 1/2" pipe for plumbing (be it type K, L or M0 is actually 5/8" OD, but it you buy 1/2" ACR, it's 1/2" OD. 3/4" K, L or M is 7/8" OD, 3/4" ACR is 3/4" OD. Plumbing tubing and pipe also vary in wall thickness, which is what is designated by the K, L or M type, with K being thinnest and M thickest, and the price goes up significantly with the thicker walls. BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the cheaper type K for an IC, and it's actually prefered for maknig a slotted manifold.

As to soldering, any of them can of course be soldered - indeed, the vast majority of all HVAC connections using ACR tubing/pipe are either soldered or brazed.
Click to expand...


Do you think Petra 3/8-Inch Copper Refrigeration Tubing would work good for a chiller . Or do i need 1/2in
 
Mine is 3/8" but I wanted to extend the height so it would clear the top of my keg. Picked up some 3/8" refrig line and 1/4" connecters fit. A little solder and its water-tight.
 
johnnyc said:
Mine is 3/8" but I wanted to extend the height so it would clear the top of my keg. Picked up some 3/8" refrig line and 1/4" connecters fit. A little solder and its water-tight.
Click to expand...

Cool i am going to go with the 3/8 refrig tubing i need to get the 1/4 fitting and ill be good to go
 
Fletch said:
Not really. There are two differences between plumbing tubing/pipe and ACR tubing/pipe. The biggest one is that plumbing tubing is labled by it's nominal size, and ACR by it's actual OD size. For example, 1/2" pipe for plumbing (be it type K, L or M0 is actually 5/8" OD, but it you buy 1/2" ACR, it's 1/2" OD. 3/4" K, L or M is 7/8" OD, 3/4" ACR is 3/4" OD. Plumbing tubing and pipe also vary in wall thickness, which is what is designated by the K, L or M type, with K being thinnest and M thickest, and the price goes up significantly with the thicker walls. BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the cheaper type K for an IC, and it's actually prefered for maknig a slotted manifold.

As to soldering, any of them can of course be soldered - indeed, the vast majority of all HVAC connections using ACR tubing/pipe are either soldered or brazed.
Click to expand...


I'm no plumbing whiz lol. I forgot there were 3 types (K, L, & M). I just remembered that I tried sticking a 1/2" 90 on what they called "refrigeration" tubing at Lowes and it didn't fit. The 90 was too big. I think I got type "L" cuz thats all they had in coils. K would be cheaper and maybe even easier to work with.

+1 on what you said about the thinner stuff being better for manifolds.
 
this is what i was thinking the prechiller would be 20 ft copper tubing

3979111_8db3_625x625.jpg


What do you guy think. think it would work should i change anything
 

Similar threads

Airborneguy
Freeze the immersion chiller?
Replies
36
Views
1K
Airborneguy
Airborneguy
G
Cooling the wort
Replies
23
Views
1K
gewehr43sniper
gewehr43sniper
B
For Sale Immersion wort chiller
Replies
0
Views
416
Beer99
B
teamcoaster
North Carolina HOME BREW EQUIPMENT SALE -- Charlotte area
Replies
0
Views
517
teamcoaster
teamcoaster
B
Convert this immersion chiller into a counterflow chiller ?
Replies
4
Views
1K
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top