DIY Wort Chiller Fail?

[number2320]

I am not that handy and tried making my wort chiller yesterday. As you can see from the picture it didn't come out perfect. That bow you see there was my first 90 degree, but it didn't come up high enough so I had to do another so it was longer. I tried bending it back a little bit but stopped because I didn't want to mess it up....Should I just leave this as is or attempt to fix it? How would I go about fixing this without completely ruining this?

 

[KevinM822]

I think in the same isle that you found the copper tubing there is a sheath you can buy that will slide over the tubing and allow you to bend without kinking. Hopefully you can slide the sheath over that and bend it back, but it might be tough without trying to bend it a little more with you hands.
I think the tool is < $10

 

[shataway]

Not a fail unless it leaks into your wort somehow. Maybe spread the coils a bit. Congrats!

 

[dmbshen41]

Though it may not be beautiful it will work, and that is the most important. Thing. But a way you could fix is by cutting and sweating on a coupler then a straight piece of the tubing, but if you have no sweating experience I would just use as is.

 

[dmbshen41]

Idk if you can see this or not by the bottom ring of my chiller has a sweated on coupler

 

[acidrain]

Looks good to me... use it!

 

[Clonefan94]

Looks good, just test it before putting it into your wort, to make sure there are not leaks.

I made mine myself and didn't give two squirts about how it looked. I did get some copper wire to hold the coils to the upright and keep them separated a bit.

 

[JR_Ewing]

I made the same mistake. As long as it doesn't leak you're good to go. After you bend that 90, the copper will strain harden. Copper is not a metal that holds up well to repeated flexing. You could crack it by trying to force it straight.

 

[Bobby_M]

You can also re-anneal that section if you have a Mapp torch.