DIY Interwoven "Rib-Cage" Immersion Chiller

grrickar · Jan 23, 2015

I had a simple coil type 3/8" tubing chiller, and it did ok but I was looking for better efficiency and saw this thread. I went and bought 50' of 1/2" and made this beauty. I have not tried it yet, but it will be fed from a 17 gallon tub of ice water, and the exhaust water will go in an empty 17 gallon tub to pre-clean my brewing gear.

After seeing how well this turned out, I tried to do the same with my 3/8" one, but I suppose using it hardens the copper because it was not as easy to re-bend it. The results were ok on the 3/8" one, but now I wish I had went with that design to start with.

stpug · Jan 23, 2015

Very good work!!

Looks like you used all 50' since the endcaps are still in place. What kind of height and widest-width did you end up with? What size diameter "ribs" did you go with? Last, is that 1/2" ID or OD do you know?

grrickar · Jan 23, 2015

The form I used to bend the coils was a standard 1 gallon paint can. The nice thing with the design is you can pull the coils apart, both vertically and horizontally to better fit a wider or taller pot. The coils ID is about 7", and the width is about 10.5", height of the coil stack is about 10".

If you had a wider or taller pot you could stretch the height and width up to the limit of what the copper would allow without kinking. I use an 11 gal Bayou Classic BK, so the compact height is ideal. If I move up to a 15-20 gal BK then I would stretch it.

The copper is thin walled, and I will check but I believe it is 1/2" OD. http://www.menards.com/main/plumbin...s/1-2od-x-50-refrig-tube/p-1394459-c-8565.htm

MindenMan · Jan 24, 2015

I have a 54' - 5/8" chiller, and it cools a 30 quart pot fast. It is a dual pass design; water goes into both coils in the bottom, and comes out of both coils at the top. Due to a lot of poor planning before bending, it is great for a 30 quart, as they are tall and narrow, leaving a half of a coil in the air with a 5 gallon batch. In a 40 quart pot however, when chilling a 5 gallon batch, at least half of the coils are in the air. I have another roll of tubing to make another IC, but this time, I will maximize the amount of tubing under the level of the wort for a 5 gallon batch. It will be a dual coil design of some type. The company that names their coils after insects, has given me something to think about before I wind another coil. BTW, the 5/8" coil is quite ugly, as it is a real b!tch to bend w/o kinking. Somewhere on this site I have pictures posted, and if I find them I will post them here.

grrickar · Jan 24, 2015

Sounds like 1/2" is the best bet then. I won't deny, it was real work bending it. I used a tube bending spring for the work on the ends. Mine is a single pass - goes in at the top of one coil, travels down to the bottom of that side, and back up the other where it exits the other port. Doing my first AG next week, and can't wait to try this one out.

burninator · Sep 16, 2015

Hey, guys, I built a thing. Check me out. :-D

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MindenMan · Sep 17, 2015

An earlier post asked about what fittings to use... the only ones I found that weren't cost and labor prohibitive were "Shark Bite" brand. I didn't want to spends hours custom soldering hose end adapters. After the fact it dawned on me I should have bought the correct size vinyl tubing and a couple of hose clamps for each side.

GlowingApple · Feb 18, 2016

Decided to upgrade my wort chiller to this rib-cage style! Thanks for the instructions!

A couple years ago I had made a real basic wort chiller from 20' of 3/8" copper tubing. Had lots of issues with it. It didn't cool nearly as fast as I'd like (took about 30 min at best to get to tap-water temps), and almost every time I used it I managed to kink it in a different spot. Plus I'm doing all-grain now and it was fairly small for cooling 5 gallons in my 10-gallon kettle.

I picked up 50' of 1/2" OD copper tubing (refrigeration coil), some bare copper wire (I untwisted some 7-strand twisted 6 gauge wire), and some 1/2" ID vinyl tubing. Used a spring bender around a 1 gallon glass jug. Took a bit of work, but I'm really happy with how it turned out! Hopefully it'll chill faster on my next brew!

MindenMan · Feb 18, 2016

Dang, that is a work of beauty, keep us posted on how it works.

GlowingApple · Feb 18, 2016

MindenMan said:
Dang, that is a work of beauty, keep us posted on how it works.

Thanks! I also purchased a paint mixer, to use with my cordless drill, to keep the wort continually stirring around the coils. I tested the setup today with 6 gallons of boiling water. My tap water is about 50 ˚F. Ran the tap at full blast and stirred with my drill in the center hole of the chiller.

Within 3 minutes the temperature was under 100 ˚F. In 6 minutes it was below 70 ˚F.

I'm pretty happy with those results!! I can't wait to brew a batch of beer and see all the cold break it forms!

MindenMan · Feb 19, 2016

After you get the wort cooled sufficiently, will you siphon or does your kettle have a drain valve? How do you keep the cold break out of your fermenter?

GlowingApple · Feb 19, 2016

I whirlpool with my mash paddle, then rack from the side of the kettle. Though honestly, the more I read articles like this, the more I'm considering just racking the whole works to my fermentor.

The trub will settle out at the bottom anyway, so as long as it gets formed in the first place (by quickly cooling), it shouldn't matter whether I remove it before or after fermentation. That assumes the yeast don't introduce off-flavors because of their interaction with the trub, which articles like the one I linked above seem to confirm.

Kampenken · Feb 19, 2016

You can also filter on the way into the fermenter. I do that with the grainfather when pumping to fermenter. I feel like I'm able to harvest "cleaner" yeast. Not sure if it really matters, but works for me

JohnSand · Feb 27, 2017

Thank you all for your input. I just built my new ribcage chiller in about 15 minutes. I use an appliance water hose that fits 3/8" tube nicely. I also did not measure for the middle, but rather wrapped a tape measure around the keg, (27.5") and calculated the number of coils.
This replaces my coil in coil chiller, which was quite challenging to build. It needed replacement because I stored it in the shed in very cold temps with a little water left in it. That split the coils. My new one will be used soon. And stored warmer and drier.

JohnSand · Apr 12, 2017

I've used this chiller a couple of times and I am quite pleased with it.
Yesterday I chilled a batch from just below boiling to 68 in 15 minutes. Ground water is 56.

LittleRiver · Jul 6, 2017

Here's my ribcage chiller. It has two separate 25' coils of 3/8" copper, the rest is 1/2" hard copper pipe. I routed the hard copper so it makes a good handle for lowering it into the kettle. I got the 50' of 3/8" at a local plumbing/electrical supply place for $36 (about half of what HD or Lowes charges). It's been a long time since I've worked with copper, so I was pleased that all the joints I soldered didn't leak. Now the two joints I forgot to solder, well those leaked profusely, but that was quickly resolved.

I use a little pump to recirculate the cooling water. I think it's more efficient than just dumping it, plus it allows me to brew on the loading dock at my shop (there is no water spigot on that end of the building). I first pump from a 5 gal bucket of tap water, this water gets hot so I save it for cleanup. Then I pump from a cooler filled with water and ice cubes. I use that water for rinsing when I clean up.

I can get to pitching temps in about 10 minutes, so I'm very happy with this rig.

I got the pump at Harbor Freight for about $50. It is fine for pumping chilling water, and it works well. I made a clamp-on holder for keeping the hoses secure to the bucket or cooler. I could have saved a few bucks by using old garden hose, but I sprung for 5/8"clear vinyl hose because I wanted to be able to see the flow. For storage, everything except the copper fits inside the bucket.

Nokt · May 13, 2018

I just finished my chiller. I may make a few changes like splaying out the in and out ports. They're a bit of a knuckle buster at the moment.

JohnSand · May 13, 2018

Still very sweet. Mine looks more like a snake orgy, but it still works well.

Nokt · May 14, 2018

So I splayed out the in and out a bit and ran a test. Boiling to 70 in 12 minutes.

LittleRiver · May 14, 2018

Nice work Nokt!

brewgar · Jul 11, 2018

Thanks again @LittleRiver for sharing the design of your excellent wort cooling system. I built mine just like yours, even using the same 1/10 hp pump. The system chills, stores efficiently, and collects all spent water for re-purposing. Will test run it this weekend to make sure there are no leeks or other problems with my work before an actual brewday use a couple weeks from now. And to @Nokt, you done good!

LittleRiver · Jul 11, 2018

brewgar said:
Thanks again @LittleRiver for sharing the design of your excellent wort cooling system....

I can only take credit for refining ideas I learned from the great people here on HBT.

MindenMan · Jul 11, 2018

I am not sure if anal-retentive should be hyphenated or not, but here is my two cents: Nokt, have you noticed any issues with bubbles at a slow circulating volume? I feed my cold water into the bottom of the coils;yours looks like the cold water is going in the top. Somewhere in this thread is my Frankenchiller, and she is an ugly beast made from 1/2" tubing that was on sale the day I went to my local HD store. she is tall and skinny and fits perfectly into my 30 quart pot that I never use anymore... When I built my 3/8" x 50 feet cooling coil I built it to fit in my 10 gallon pot with about 1" clearance around the diameter of the pot, and I don't remember how fast she cools my wort, but it cools down to 70-ish way faster than I thought possible.

Nokt · Jul 12, 2018

I haven't noticed any bubbles. The only issue that I have is the weight of the valve and hoses tip the chiller over while in the pot.

MindenMan · Jul 12, 2018

I had the tipping over problem too... I used a length of cord to tie the chiller to the pot, and.....no more problem.

RedIrocZ-28 · Jul 14, 2018

Well, it's been 7 years since I brewed beer so I thought it was about time to come out of retirement. After having given away a few things to friends I had no more wort chiller. So I had to build another one. The copper tubing and everything has been sitting untouched for about 4 years, waiting for me to finally make it into another chiller. So, I made one yesterday. Posed in the same place as the first one I built way back in March 2009.

jschein · Jul 14, 2018

RedIrocZ-28 said:
Well, it's been 7 years since I brewed beer so I thought it was about time to come out of retirement. After having given away a few things to friends I had no more wort chiller. So I had to build another one. The copper tubing and everything has been sitting untouched for about 4 years, waiting for me to finally make it into another chiller. So, I made one yesterday. Posed in the same place as the first one I built way back in March 2009.

Welcome back, you got mad skills

RedIrocZ-28 · Aug 13, 2018

Whats amazing to me is that after 9 1/2 years, this thread still seemingly stays at the top of this particular sub forum. The incredible part is seeing what my initial idea has sparked in the community. There are numerous iterations of my original design, some complex, some simple, but all of them function, and by all accounts, function well. Thanks to everyone!

atl_sud · Nov 26, 2018

I previously had a regular IC and moved to a counter flow after I moved to 20 gallon batches. After a year I knew I need to move back to the IC as the CFC was not effective in cooling 20 gallons. Thanks to this thread I was able to bring my cooling times down significantly.

I used 50' of 3/8 copper coil plus an additional 18' left over when I cannibalized my old IC to build the CFC. I soldered one side of the coil to the return tube and soldered the front side of the coil to a length copper wire (I forget the gauge). The IC is sturdy and holds its shape well. It does tip forward a bit when the garden hose is attached. With all the fitting and the tubing I'm into this chiller for ~$70.

The issues I ran into:
1. I had to recoil one side. I originally coiled the entire length in one direction and realized that I could not connect to the T at the bottom. One side of the coil clockwise, the other side counter clockwise.
2. after everything was soldered I tried to test it but there was a blockage somewhere. I unsoldered one side of the bottom T and flushed some black stuff from the inside of the coils.
3. cleaning the solder points and flux remnants were a pain. I used Dawn/vinegar mixture with a brush and scrubbie. I also filled my BK with 27 gallons and Oxy and heated it up.

I usually use the heated waste water for cleanup but I noticed an oily film coming from the discharge. Hopefully, that will clear up after my next brew. The Bk is a 30 gallon stainless kettle to give you an idea of the size of the IC. I Mc Gyver'd the plastic bin lid to fit the IC in and out tubes.

The pipe insulation helps with the heat when I'm moving the IC up/down during cooling.

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Kampenken · Nov 27, 2018

First time I made a chiller about 5yrs ago, I had excess tubing so I built a 2nd smaller one and put it inside the larger one. Two separate coils that I ran with a splitter from the hose. I would move it constantly during the cooling process and it chilled 5.5 gal of wort in under 10 min. Worked like a charm, but now I use a CFC. I occasionally use the smaller one as a pre chiller in the summer, I freeze it solid in a bucket a few days before needed, best pre chiller approach I've found, try it!

DIY Interwoven "Rib-Cage" Immersion Chiller

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