Immersion chiller won't stop leaking

I am terrible at DIY stuff, which is why I bought a chiller instead of trying to make one myself.

Sadly, even buying one apparently requires more DIY competence than I actually have.

I brewed for the first time with a chiller three weeks ago, and it took me an hour to figure out that I didn't have the first clue how to set it up without leaking at the connection between the plastic siphon hose and the copper tubing. I clamped the worm clamp down as tight as it would go, but no luck. Drip, drip, drip, drip.

So I took the whole damn thing into a hardware store, and they sold me some plumber's tape and said that would fix the problem. I wrapped the crap out of the copper tube, stuck the plastic tube onto it, and clamped it down. No leaks. Hooray. After all the trouble I had getting that sealed, I figured I'd leave everything as is and not touch the thing until the next brew day.

Enter the next brew day (today). I didn't touch anything. Still plumber's tape around the seal. Go to chill my batch, and it's like a freaking faucet at that connection. It was dripping down through the slots in the clamp (not sure exactly what was causing the problem, since water is obviously not supposed to be in the clamp in the first place), multiple drips per second. So I wrapped the whole damn thing in plumber's tape. It kept dripping through the tape. That was obviously a mistake. So I turned off the water, pulled all the tape off, loosened the clamp, pulled it away from the connection, and wrapped the connection in tape until I literally ran out of tape. Then put the clamp back on and tightened the crap out of it.

The connection is still a faucet.

I'm assuming this seal is not supposed to be so loose as to be completely unusable, so I must be doing something wrong. I have no idea what. This is NOT my area of expertise. But presumably I'm not supposed to have to retape the entire thing every time I use it. So what am I doing wrong?

Do you have a picture of the chiller? Does the plastic tubing just slip over the end of the copper pipe? Did the clamps come with the chiller?

If you could post some pictures it will help with troubleshooting your issue

J

Edit * Beat me to it.....

It sounds like you may have over tightened the clamps and cut the plastic tubing. Try cutting off the first inch or two and reconnect the plastic tubing to the copper tube. Snug the worm clamps but don't crank it down.

b-boy said:

Do you have a picture of the chiller? Does the plastic tubing just slip over the end of the copper pipe? Did the clamps come with the chiller?

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Hold on a second. Yes. Yes.

Looks to me as though the tubing ID is a bit too big, not allowing for a complete seal. The tubing should not loosely slip over the copper tubing but be a little snug. Just my observation.

I agree, you probably sliced the hose a little if water is emanating from under the clamp. You should slide the tubing onto the copper about an inch to and inch and a half (to be overcautious) and then about half way up from the connection, put your clamp over your plastic tubing and the copper.

Your copper piping is probably 3/8OD (outside diameter) and if your tubing is 3/8ID (inside diameter) you should be able to slide the tubing with some force and for the most part, it shouldn't leak at that point, the clamps are for insurance and to keep the tubing on there while you move the chiller around instead of it separating.

Anyway, picture will help but if the tubing and pipe are the right size you shouldn't have any need for tape, you probably just have a leak in the hose.

You loaded the picture while I was writing the last post.

It looks like your plastic tubing is 1/2ID and not 3/8ID, that would be the source of your issues.

If the tubing is on there loosely without the clamp then you have one size too large

pointcity-homebrew said:

Looks to me as though the tubing ID is a bit too big, not allowing for a complete seal. The tubing should not loosely slip over the copper tubing but be a little snug. Just my observation.

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That's what I think too. So did I just buy a crap chiller that came with the wrong size tubes? Because you'd think they'd give you the right size tubing or tell you if you were supposed to need tape. But maybe not. Like I said, this is NOT my thing.

Also, the design of that is a bit of a problem. Any way you can bend the top of that tubing so your connections are outside of your pot? If you get leaks (even the occasional drip) it will run into your wort.

You shouldn't need tape.

Maybe you can take that to Home Depot and see if you can get some tubing that's the correct size. That, or return it to wherever you got it from.

You can get the tubing relatively cheap from a hardware store. Or you could wrap electrical tape around the copper to make it's OD larger and then slip the tubing over it and tighten it up with the clamp and that should be a quick fix.

Whoever sold that to you just put the wrong tubing on for whatever reason. If I were you I'd go out and get some 3/8ID and call it a day, it'll cost you $6-$8 but you'll have it, it'll work great and you won't have to deal with tape and whatnot.

b-boy said:

Also, the design of that is a bit of a problem. Any way you can bend the top of that tubing so your connections are outside of your pot? If you get leaks (even the occasional drip) it will run into your wort.

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That design flaw did not escape me, and it's the reason I'm so concerned about leaks. Are most immersion chillers designed differently? I got this one as a Christmas gift, so I didn't shop around and see what different designs look like.

pointcity-homebrew said:

You can get the tubing relatively cheap from a hardware store. Or you could wrap electrical tape around the copper to make it's OD larger and then slip the tubing over it and tighten it up with the clamp and that should be a quick fix.

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That's essentially what I did with the plumber's tape three weeks ago. It just didn't hold today, for some reason or another. I hadn't touched the thing in the intervening three weeks.

MurphysLawBrewer said:

Whoever sold that to you just put the wrong tubing on for whatever reason. If I were you I'd go out and get some 3/8ID and call it a day, it'll cost you $6-$8 but you'll have it, it'll work great and you won't have to deal with tape and whatnot.

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Since this has been the dominant suggestion, I measured the tubing against some other 3/8 plastic tubing that I already have. They're identical.

Plumber's tape is really for threads, it's doesn't adhere.

pointcity-homebrew said:

Plumber's tape is really for threads, it's doesn't adhere.

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Ah. That was the suggestion that my local hardware store gave me, and it did work once, but that might explain why it didn't work twice?

The correct fix would be to go and find a tubing which will fit snug over the copper tubing, but then you will have to also get the fittings. But like I said I have had to use electrical tape in a similar situation and had no issues.

Try to get your new tubing slid up similar to what I have here. Really even a inch or so more so you can back it up with a second clamp if needed. The problem I ran into, was the heat softened up the hose a little and in conjunction with my water pressure caused it to almost come off.



With the right size hose, and a cpl clamps, you can have that fixed in less than five minutes.

That looks like 3/8's copper tubing with 1/2" vinyl tubing on it.

I'll ditto what everyone else said about getting new tubing - you want 3/8" ID tubing, it should be snug to slip over the copper. Try and get the stuff with the nylon braid inside - it'll deal with the heat much better than the clear tubing.

Once you get it on the copper, push it down quite a ways, at least a good two inches. On the INPUT side (that you hook up to the sink), put TWO hose clamps on it, and stagger them apart a little bit. On the OUTPUT side (to a bucket/whatever) you only need one clamp, as it's not going to be dealing with incoming pressure.

Get rid of the Teflon tape, that's for threads, and it will cause sealing issues with what you're trying to do.

This is a quick fix, the IC you've got looks great!

pointcity-homebrew said:

The correct fix would be to go and find a tubing which will fit snug over the copper tubing, but then you will have to also get the fittings. But like I said I have had to use electrical tape in a similar situation and had no issues.

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How would I even go about finding the right size tubing? This is 3/8 tubing, and this is allegedly 3/8 copper tubing.

The copper tubing looks a little flattened, is that the case? If so that could be the source.

Get rid of the teflon plumbers tape, it shouldn't be needed and is covering up the problem, Can you post pictures without it.

You might be able to flare the ends of the copper tube a little by rotating a screwdriver in it.

Go to lowes or Home Depot they have I on rolls and you can get it by the foot. Just take your chiller and confirm the size needed.


Sent from the future using neurological impulses.

TarVolon said:

[IMG ]http://i.imgur.com/4o40cP2.jpg[/IMG]

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Btw, I love the pic with the unraveled Teflon tape there xD I just highlights the frustration I'm sure you're experiencing..

If the tubing is 3/8s and it's still loose, go one size lower. You can heat it up (not with fire but with warm water) to make it more pliable and force the crap out of it until it goes on. One size tubing is going to fit over your copper snug, I would think it's really unusual that the copper pipe would be a non-standard size.

It's a perfect chiller you have there, capable of doing all the glorious things wort chillers do, just have to put up with a few trips to the hardware store.

Good luck!

MurphysLawBrewer said:

Btw, I love the pic with the unraveled Teflon tape there xD I just highlights the frustration I'm sure you're experiencing..

If the tubing is 3/8s and it's still loose, go one size lower. You can heat it up (not with fire but with warm water) to make it more pliable and force the crap out of it until it goes on. One size tubing is going to fit over your copper snug, I would think it's really unusual that the copper pipe would be a non-standard size.

It's a perfect chiller you have there, capable of doing all the glorious things wort chillers do, just have to put up with a few trips to the hardware store.

Good luck!

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It does really do a nice job of communicating the frustration, doesn't it? I was not having fun this evening. Fortunately, it's still under freezing outside, so just putting the pot on the porch should cool it enough to transfer before I go to bed.

I'll see about trying some different tubing next time I get a chance to run to the hardware store. Like you said, there has to be something that will fit snug. I just am being extra careful because any drips go straight into the wort.

Will update with whatever happens, but I may end up waiting a bit and then resurrecting this thread, since this was my last-minute batch before going out of town.