Lessons learned!

A couple days ago, I brewed an all grain American Brown Ale. I was quite excited about it, because I developed it, myself. However, as the process continued, I drank more and more homebrew. Lesson 1: Stay reasonably sober while brewing.
When I put the chiller in the brew, I didn't notice that I had left the hoses hanging down. Only after smoke was everywhere did my inebriated mind suggest that there was a problem. (see Lesson 1, above.) It was obvious, even to a drunk, that the chiller was NOT going to be functional. So, I scrambled to fill the sink with ice and water. By the time I did this, the brew had boiled about 15 minutes longer than planned. So much so, that I actually had to top up a bit with some boiled water. Funny thing: I hit all of my numbers, spot on!
After the adventure was over (and I had slept off the homebrew) I removed the hoses from the chiller. They were clamped onto the copper tubing with standard hose clamps. I decided to modify the design, using compression fittings, and quick-connectors. It is a MUCH better design. Lesson 2: If something looks like a poor design, it probably is. I should have made the modification the first time I noticed it was such a crappy design.

Now, I'll be able to attach the hoses only after the pot leaves the flame.

Mike

just glad you didn't get hurt, or burn house down. i may have to build a wort chiller using quick connects instead of using hoses, like i planned now.

Normally, I prop the hoses up to prevent this. And that works. But, I still think this is a better design. This summer, I am thinking of making a new, bigger chiller (and I'll use this design again) and then I'll use this old design as a pre-chiller.