Stainless Pipe, Tubing, or Triclover?

[pickles]

Guy where did you buy your 1/2" ss tube from? I'd like to hard plumb mine but no luck finding affordable ss tube.

 

[beerthirty]

pickles try this. http://www.onlinemetals.com/

 

[pickles]

Yeah I did, but the nominal sizing thing threw me a bit. The smallest they carry is a bit larger than .5" I'd and od is approx. 5/8". I thought maybe guy found something different. Thanks Beerthirty! Hope you get your BT troubles sorted out.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Surprisingly, I was able to pick it up locally from MSC Industrial. I never realized that they have a warehouse on Long Island. It saved me the shipping charges.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMPXNO=19340851&PMT4NO=77068691

 

[pickles]

Actually I was incorrect about Onlinemetals.com it appears they do have it in smaller dimensions. I was looking only at seamless tube. The welded is available in tons of sizes.

 

[oldschool]

Guys! what about copper??? Some pro boil kettles are made of copper. why not?

 

[The Pol]

It may be... I say may be because copper can react to certain cleaning agents in a not so good way... and inside a tube, where you cannot see whether there is an issue with oxidation or whatever it is, it may not be desireable.

SS is also more durable, it wont get bent or mangled as easily of you are rough with your brewstand.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Copper is cool....easy to work with and cheaper than SS, but it just doesn't seem to "match" when you're using ss kegs....

 

[ScubaSteve]

+1 to Pol....verdigris can be tricky to get at....plus copper shows a lot of fingerprints and oxidizes if you don't put clear lacquer on it.

 

[The Pol]

Honestly, when I was sourcing SS parts and tubing for certain things, SS was more expensive by a small margin in some cases, and cheaper in others.

I had contemplated a copper chilling coil to mount in my BK, but the SS was not much more expensive and it will be much easier to care for and "match" the rest.

 

[pickles]

oldschool - The OP wants to use SS. His questions were regarding sytle of pipe and connections not the material. I agree with the guys above as far as internal tarnish being hard to clean. Copper can work, it has been used for years, but SS is superior. Not to mention cool!

 

[oldschool]

just throwing out my opinion, it's okay to keep an open mind.

 

[The Pol]

Steve, dunno if you were following my BK/chiller thread. Here is the set up with the tubing, tri clamps, etc...

Combination if tri clamps, compressions (where I dont need flexibility) and SS tubing (which I would not recommend trying to bend without the proper tools)

 

[ScubaSteve]

Mmmmmm....stainless.....

You're right, that coil looks hella stiff. Any ideas for CIP? A sprayball dropped right in the middle would pretty much rock. What kind of hop management are you going with.....mesh bag, bazooka tee, etc.?

 

[oldschool]

Pol, where did you get your SS tubing? Some place local?

 

[The Pol]

Pol, where did you get your SS tubing? Some place local?

Midwest Supplies for the tubing

For CIP? I use pellet hops, I let the pump suck the junk out the bottom on my old system. Worked very well.