HERMS Fitment in an 8.5 Gal. HLT Kettle.

[RichBenn]

I'm thinking updating my Electric HERMS system to have a permanent HEX coil in the HLT rather than moving my cheap copper, small diameter immersion chiller back and forth.

The pot I'm using has a 13.75" inside diameter. I want to use a 1/2" 25 ft. 10" diameter coil from stainless brewing shown below.

But according to Zach at Stainless, the minimum pot size for this coil is 15.5" diameter. This is because of the 2.5" bends and the length of the compression fitting.

Since I don't want to use 3/8" tubing or go through the lid, it seems I might have two options.

1. Have the coil built with no bends and use a right angle compression fitting.https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/comp90-12tx12mnpt.htm
2. Use a through hole compression fitting like BrewHardware sells.https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkhead12comp.htm I was thinking I could insert the tubing into the fittings on with these to reduce the clearances, and tighten the compression part once it's in the pot (is that doable?).

Any suggestions? I think I would like to do #2 if it's possible with Bobby's (Brewhardware) fittings, or some other fittings that may work. It's hard to figure without having a fitting to test.

 

[RichBenn]

Since no one responded, I went ahead and ordered the coil with bends. Guess I'll see how much clearance is left before buying bulkheads.

 

[bmaupin]

I haven't used either as my hlt w/ herms is in a wide 15 gal, but the through hole fittings look like they'd allow you to push the coil closer to the inner wall that using the 90 degree fittings. The nice thing about using the thru hole fittings is that you can push the coil ends towards the center, but may affect hole location?? I must says those are much nicer than my setup that uses nipples - and way more pieces.

 

[RichBenn]

I haven't used either as my hlt w/ herms is in a wide 15 gal, but the through hole fittings look like they'd allow you to push the coil closer to the inner wall that using the 90 degree fittings. The nice thing about using the thru hole fittings is that you can push the coil ends towards the center, but may affect hole location?? I must says those are much nicer than my setup that uses nipples - and way more pieces.

Brewhardware does also have these weld or solder-in fittings:
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/ptbulkcomp12.htm
I'd love to use them, but don't know if they'll fit.