1/2" copper tubing for CFC, experiences?

I've come across a bunch of 1/2" copper tubing that I would like to use for a CFC, but I am concerned about the proper hose to jacket it with. 3/4" ID rubber hose is easy enough to find, has anyone used this combo?

I am worried about it being too tight of a squeeze and the amount of water passing through versus the amount of wort would make the system inefficient to the point that the wort flow would need to be throttled back drastically. On the other hand 1" ID hose makes my head feel comfortable, but price makes my stomach queasy.

Cheapest option would be to just stick my 1/4" immersion chiller inside the 1/2 tubing and call it a day. Back to low flow but atleast I would finally commit to something!

Thanks for any suggestions!

I thought I would bump this one. I'm also interested in any suggestions. I hope to build a CFC using 1/2" copper in a 3/4 rubber hose. My plan is to wrap 12 gauge wire around the copper to help keep the copper off the hose wall. I'm still in the planning stages, have all (not sure on this) of the parts, still planning the best layout for the water/wort connections and wort out flow. Hope to hear from brewers who have worked with 1/2" copper tube.

thanks

tom

I saw a video on YouTube I thought was a great idea. basically the guy used a closed loop system to chill the wort using a conventional chiller. He used a cheap sump pump to pump ice water through it and back into a big chest full of ice water. So that ice water was continuously circulated though it..

I am going to try that next time. my tap water just isnt that cold.
I know its not a CFC but it seemed like an easy solution...

You could always buy 1/4" tubing and use the 1/2" as the jacket. I've seen some made like this that go for close to $200 (if I recall correctly)

gatorbite87 said:

You could always buy 1/4" tubing and use the 1/2" as the jacket. I've seen some made like this that go for close to $200 (if I recall correctly)

Click to expand...

Yeah that seems like an easy and simple way to go. I would like to do a gravity drain from the kettle through the CFC so 1/4" seems like it would cool in one pass, just a little slow I'd imagine.

If its too slow I could sell it, along with a very attractive farm, to anyone with such a loose wallet and veracious appetite for copper.

I'm on this wagon as well, but thinking of doing something similar to this: http://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/homebrewing/wort_chiller/

My keggle is pretty much built https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/first-time-keggle-project-348547/ and like BrothOfVigor (nice Iron Chef reference, BTW :rockin I'm hoping to go gravity feed from the keggle and pump feed ice water thru the CFC. I would hope that 3/8" inner copper tubing would provide enough "bandwidth" for a decent wort flow while the pumped ice water could flow faster thru 5/8" or even 3/4" garden hose.