homemade immersion chiller

Making my own ic (for the proverbial ****s and giggles).

Does the shape matter? Meaning does it matter if it's coiled like the store ones or if it's coiled 90* off. (Imagine a WW lying across the top of the kettle with the coils submerged.)

i wrapped mine around a 6" log ... it works!

The shape of the IC doesn't really matter; I made mine to look good (not that it matters). I also soldered the inlet and outlet lets together for strength since I used 3/8" copper. Even during the dead of summer, I can chill 5 gallons to pitching temps in <30 minutes with summer Lake Michigan tap water using just a 25' coil.

The most important thing with IC's is the moving wort. If the wort isn't moving/being stirred, the IC isn't working.
So, shape doesn't matter as much as stirring the wort. I've seen some IC's that are coiled flat like an electric stove element. To stir with that style, all you have to do is continuously raise and lower the coil throughout the wort.
Is the "electric stove element" style what you are talking about (I don't quite understand your description)

Imagine a stretched out coil that lies across the top of the kettle.

I think my copper is too big in diameter :/

I should u/l a pic or 2.

beersurgeon said:

Imagine a stretched out coil that lies across the top of the kettle.

I think my copper is too big in diameter :/

I should u/l a pic or 2.

Click to expand...

Yeah a pic would be nice. I'm still confused as to what you are talking about.

Stolen from Google image search results: the one of the left in this picture is the one that I'm referring to

Shouldn't make much difference, 10' 25' or 50' of 1/2" copper pipe will have the same surface area however it is coiled.

I am fairly certain that the shape would not matter too much as far as cooling is concerned. As one of the posters above said, you will get more cooling if the wort is moving. I think that the major concern would be in bending the copper without getting any kinks in the copper. That is why I made mine in a coil that I coiled around a bucket. I hope that this helps. Mark

Got a tubing bender set to prevent kinks. Why? Impulse buy. Not planning on making immersion coils for a living.

*facepalm*