DIY Double Coil Chiller - Bending 1/2" Copper Tips!?

[jad814]

I am taking a stab at building the chiller in the following:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S94Lhp-bv8M[/ame]

In now my 3rd or 4th time working with copper tubing (1/2" this go round), I have learned (1) I suck at not kinking it, and (2) there must exist a more/near full proof method for successfully bending this outside of the coil bending tool.

I've read of people filling it with water, letting the water freeze, then bending it how they need. I've also read of people filling it with sand or salt, then bending it how they need.

Has anyone had success with any of these methods, because one thing is for sure, and that is I seem to in no way be capable of bending this tubing around a 4" piece of PVC as displayed in this video!

Thanks in advance.

 

[ss4ivan]

I used the coil bending tool and it was a pain in the ass and I didnt make any turns quite as small as in the video. Interested to see if there is a better way though.

Cheers

 

[bacgabe]

I also made a chiller using the design set forth in that video. Like you, I immediately ran into issues trying to bend it around the 4 inch pvc. What I ended up doing that worked well was bending it around a paint can. I then wrapped a towel around it and did the outer coil. I had a bit less gap between the coils but it came out beautifully and works great.

 

[jad814]

I also made a chiller using the design set forth in that video. Like you, I immediately ran into issues trying to bend it around the 4 inch pvc. What I ended up doing that worked well was bending it around a paint can. I then wrapped a towel around it and did the outer coil. I had a bit less gap between the coils but it came out beautifully and works great.

Thanks! Not that I'm happy that you/others struggled too, but at least makes me feel like I'm possibly not the sole person in the world who has one hell of a time successfully bending copper tubing. I'm going to give this a try, as I'm itching to brew but need a chilling solution!

 

[Monkey-BB]

I made one once by wrapping the copper around a corney keg, it worked out well. If you gently use the natural bends in the copper you may be able to have both end up in the same spot on the top end. I used ring clamps to keep them together from the top of the coil. Good luck!

 

[Staticsouls]

I couldn't find 1/2" and had to go with 3/8", but did it just like the video and it works great. I do wish it was 1/2" though.

 

[jad814]

I couldn't find 1/2" and had to go with 3/8", but did it just like the video and it works great. I do wish it was 1/2" though.

Personally, with hindsight I think you may have been lucky you didn't find the 1/2". I think it could have went substantially more smoothly with the narrower diameter pipe. I ended up aborting mission, and ended up building a single coil traditional chiller with a good 40-45' of pipe, and then I secured it with copper wire similarly to that video so it wasn't slinking around everywhere.

In my current boil pot, it's a tight fit, but I'm bumping up to some type of "keggle" style brewing pot soon enough, and it'll work much better in there with the additional space. It's good enough for now!

 

[TravelingLight]

I just built one, but didn't use 1/2". Advice given to me (and what worked for me) was long, slow bends. It's hard to explain via text. But basically if you want virtually a 90* bend, you have to start long and slow and make big wide sweeping short bends and keep doing it incrementally.