It pays to watch Craig's List

I found a local garage/estate sale listing that mentioned brewing supplies, so I thought I'd pop by. They had a LOT of miscellaneous stuff, but I picked out the following:

1 - 6.5 gallon carboy with threaded cap
2 - 3 gallon ball-lock corny kegs, in excellent shape
1 - stout faucet w/corny fitting and Steelhead Extra Pale Ale tap handle
1 - 5lb Co2 tank with a few years left on the hydro test (Partially full.)
1 - regulator with valve, hose and corny fitting
1 - nice homebrew immersion chiller with hose fittings

Not bad for $120 I think. I'm sure I could have gotten it for less, but he was a real decent fellow and I didn't want to bargain at an estate sale. If anybody in the Los Angeles area is interested, he's still got full size kegs, 5 gallon carboys, a very nice glass doored fridge that would easily hold a few cornys, another tank, and a lot of miscellaneous stuff. (autosiphon, capper, funnels, small enamel pot, etc.)

(edit: on closer inspection, they are 3 gallon kegs.)

very nice score.

Just the two bare 3g cornies are worth $120. You stole that deal.

Dang! I have to spend some more time looking around on Craigslist.

great score! :rockin:

You fricking scored dude! Hi Five!

EdWort said:

You fricking scored dude! Hi Five!

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You know, I couldn't decide if I was going to keg or bottle my current 5 gallon batch of your Apfelwein...the decision just got easier! 3 gallons kegged, the remainder in bottles.

You made that sale your *****. Good job.

On your immersion chiller, are those green twist ties holding it together, or copper wire that's got patina on it? If it's patina, get that stuff offa there NOW as it's toxic. If it's green twist ties/plastic zip ties, well then never mind my paranoid rantings.

And you scored!

Hmm, lessee now,


carboy-$25
tank & regulator-$125
2 cornies, three gallon-$130 on ebay
copper immersion chiller-$60


stealing all that stuff for less than 1/3 cost-priceless:rockin:


I hate you, sir.

eviltwinofjoni said:

On your immersion chiller, are those green twist ties holding it together, or copper wire that's got patina on it? If it's patina, get that stuff offa there NOW as it's toxic. If it's green twist ties/plastic zip ties, well then never mind my paranoid rantings.

And you scored!

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I 2nd your concern on the chiller.
I tried to enlarge the photo in photoshop but the resolution was lost so I can't determine if that green is the toxic oxidation patina that is seen on copper and bronze or not but I'd give the chiller a good soak in vinegar if it is. Good thing you noticed it.

runhard said:

I 2nd your concern on the chiller.
I tried to enlarge the photo in photoshop but the resolution was lost so I can't determine if that green is the toxic oxidation patina that is seen on copper and bronze or not but I'd give the chiller a good soak in vinegar if it is. Good thing you noticed it.

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or starsan.

eviltwinofjoni said:

On your immersion chiller, are those green twist ties holding it together, or copper wire that's got patina on it?

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The green parts you can plainly see are plastic zip-ties. However, there IS a bit of blue/green oxidation on the tubing in a few spots! I was planning to give it a good soak & scrubdown with vinegar, but I'm liking Orfy's StarSan suggestion. Barkeeper's Friend might help as well, it appears to be acidic.

Good eye!

If those twist-ties are plastic coated, beware that they don't melt in the wort. They might not melt off like hot wax, but even hot enough to soften them can loosen little bits of plastic that can screw up your wort. I'd get some copper wire, uncoated, and use it to replace those twist-ties.

Cheesefood said:

If those twist-ties are plastic coated, beware that they don't melt in the wort.

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They're not twist-ties, but zip ties, made entirely of plastic. I did wonder though, whether plunging plastic zip ties into boiling wort is a smart thing to do. Obviously that's what the builder/seller was doing, but I still don't like it. Even if they don't melt, they could be outgassing nasty stuff into my brew.

Couldn't I just braze it together wherever the copper touches?