DIY double coil chiller

[wmubronco]

#Persistence

Just read this little post... felt like I was on the journey myself. Great work on the accomplished task, cheers!

 

[Nokt]

I went to a local plumbing/electrical supply store and got copper for about half of HD or Lowes prices. The small diameter copper wire I used to hold everything together came from some old fluorescent lighting fixtures. I stripped off the insulation and the bare wire was perfect for what I needed.

Here's some photos of the one I built. I got the general idea of the "ribcage" design from a discussion here on HBT, and modified it to suit my needs. It works really well, and was easier to build than I thought it would be.

The top tube makes a nice handle for getting it into and out of the kettle. The two T joints on the top tube are structural only, meaning I filed out the inside of the T's so the input/output pipes go straight through them. When it's all soldered and wired together it is a nice rigid structure.

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LittleRiver, What kind of tubing did you use for the coil?

 

[LittleRiver]

LittleRiver, What kind of tubing did you use for the coil?

The coils are 3/8" soft copper (for refrigeration, HVAC), the rest is 1/2" hard copper pipe.

There's a little more info about the chiller in this post: DIY Interwoven "Rib-Cage" Immersion Chiller

 

[Nokt]

Thanks! Love the design

 

[LittleRiver]

Love the design

Thanks Nokt. Credit for the original idea goes to the discussions in that other thread, all I did was refine the idea.