Can You "Add-On" To A Wort Chiller?

[ShakyD]

I recently re-entered home brewing and purchased a beginners kit to get me started. This site has been indispensable. First batch went pretty well, with a few very minor issues. Its in the fermenter now. When I got ready to chill my boiled wort I noticed that the immersion chiller supplied with the kit was on the small side (i.e. where the worm clamps secure the tubing to the copper was just above and sometimes in the boiling wort level). Here is a photo of the 8 gallon kettle with the IC sitting in it for reference:

I had a leak in the connection of the water into the chiller and fixed it by tightening down on the worm clamp, but it did let some water into the boiled wort. I want to avoid this kind of problem in the future by getting the connections outside of the brew kettle.

Is there any way to add to the IC to get the ends of the chiller outside of the brew kettle? Could I use copper compression fittings? Maybe solder on an additional piece of tubing with a copper sleeve and some solder?

Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

 

[Ace_Club]

Soldering on extensions would be your best bet. Then bend the tubing so that it hangs over the edge of the pot and you won't have to worry about leaks getting into the wort.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Ditto...

I'd solder extensions on to get outside the kettle. I'd also solder some better fittings to connect your hoses. I use a pump to push cold water from my HLT through my chiller, so I put a 3/4" hose fitting on the end of my chiller so it's easily connected and broken down. I chose the 3/4" hose connection to make it universal (to use away from home with a garden hose). Works well...