50 foot 1/2 inch SS coil

[Texan]

It's hard to tell in the pictures but I used a tubing bender I linked earlier to make slight bends in the tubing right before entering the 90* fittings. If you hold a 90* fitting to the inside of the keggle wall you will see what I'm saying these bends centered the coil in the keggle.

Yep, I had the same result Max, Once the tubing was coiled, I used my tubing cutter to cut the coil in the correct spots then I had to slightly bend the tubing back to make the compresion fitting fit properly.

 

[Texan]

Due to a question I am posing the response here for clarification about how my coil is attached in the Sanke.

You can attach them to the side wall either the way maxout did in his picture how I did in the picture below. I had planned originally to do something different but it worked out fine. ( that is why it was not centered as well as I would like) If I were to do over I would have made a little larger coil and connected it the way maxout did to save a couple compression fittings.

 

[sv_1]

There is a solution.

I coiled 35' of thin walled 1/2" stainless tubing to aproxamately to a 10" to 11" diameter. Without kinks!

A piping bender will not work as I tried that first. You will most likely need to use 90/45 degree compression fittings once coiled as it is to thin to bend.

I had to spend close to $400 for the tooling to do this. (I had already bought the SS tubing and did not want to use copper) (I am stubborn to boot)

FYI, once kinked, forever kinked. Probaly used up 10' of the tubing trying different methods. With my tooling now I can coil that tubing in about 20 minutes of work.

Care to share any more information about your tooling? Name, source, etc?

 

[akthor]

Yes i would like mine coiled like that but the actual tubing at the top and bottom to go straight across into the kegwall into a straight compression fitting as opposed the 90 degree fitting and piece of tubing you used.

FYI anyone who needs SS 1/2" compression fittings I bought a lot of 5 I only need two so I would sell the other 3 for $10 ea. Plus shipping (which can't be much)

PM me if interested in a few days I will put them in the classified but for now I will give you guys first crack at them.

Due to a question I am posing the response here for clarification about how my coil is attached in the Sanke.

You can attach them to the side wall either the way maxout did in his picture how I did in the picture below. I had planned originally to do something different but it worked out fine. ( that is why it was not centered as well as I would like) If I were to do over I would have made a little larger coil and connected it the way maxout did to save a couple compression fittings.

 

[DeNomad]

Ok just how hard is it to coil 50' of 1/2" SS? I have seen pictures of people doing it by holding the coil in place with zip ties and just tightening the coil the tubing comes in with feet and hands (no mandrel to wrap around). Would you expect to encounter kinking with this method?

Also regarding the coil springing out after your done wrapping, couldn't you just use the zip tie method, then once it is in the HLT cut off the zip ties and allow the coil to spring out and rest against the kettle wall?

 

[jay jay]

To coil tubing you really need a tubing roller. They can be expensive but you can build one yourself. Here is one that a guy made on an offroad 4x4 forum.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=788408

A little over kill for what is needed here but it gives you an idea of how they work.

MillWerks over at the EB forum made a simpler and cheaper one to coil his HERMS tube. It looks like it works nicely.

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=283218&highlight=#283218

 

[Frogger42]

I've never thought about using a germs coil to also cool the wort, but it makes total sense. If you filled the keg up with ice water, about what temperature is the exiting wort?

 

[Texan]

Ok just how hard is it to coil 50' of 1/2" SS? I have seen pictures of people doing it by holding the coil in place with zip ties and just tightening the coil the tubing comes in with feet and hands (no mandrel to wrap around). Would you expect to encounter kinking with this method?

Also regarding the coil springing out after your done wrapping, couldn't you just use the zip tie method, then once it is in the HLT cut off the zip ties and allow the coil to spring out and rest against the kettle wall?

My experience with coiling SS tubing is that you are tryin to change the "memory" of the metal. You are taking 50" of ss , which is coiled when you get it, and coiling in into a small diameter. The smaller the diameter the harder it is to coil without kinks. Add to this the wall thickness of the tubing. The thinner the tubing the chances of failure go up drasticly.

In essence you are making a new metal spring. To achieve this you need 3 points of contact as you roll the tubing to give it a new "memory". Also remember, as you decreas the coil diameter, you are increasing the height of the coil. (that 50' has to go somewhere)

Is the thinner tubing cheaper and does the thinner tubing bend easier? Yes but the risk of kinks go way up. I can coil the thin wall tubing with my set up. Bending it results in the images below. You can achieve about 30 degree angle but anythng greater than that will kink with my experience.

The thicker tubing cost more and you can use benders on it to get 90 degree angle but it is also harder to bend by hand or by the zip tie method.

Some examples of of trying to bend 90 degrees using thin wall 1/2" tubing. **edit** these bends were attempted with a Very expensive Swagelock 1/2" bending tool on loan from a fabricater friend of mine. It is how I learned the hard way about wall thickness on tubing. **

 

[Texan]

I've never thought about using a germs coil to also cool the wort, but it makes total sense. If you filled the keg up with ice water, about what temperature is the exiting wort?

Using a pump, valve it to recirculate to you boil kettle to you reach you desired temp while adding ice as needed.

 

[kal]

I did mine by hand.

The trick is to go very carefully - very slowly! Use tie-wraps to keep the coil in position. I wasn't trying to get it to stay in the proper shape by itself. I was only coaxing it enough (slowly) by hand and foot and then using tie-wraps every few feet or so to hold it together. The tie-wraps were doing a lot of the work. Had it cut the tie wraps the whole thing would have sprung open to 2-3 times the size.

You're not 'Bending' the coil. You're 'repositioning' the tubing into a different sized radius and then holding it in place with the tie wraps. Don't try and bend it.

Hold it a few feet out from the point that you're attaching with tie wraps as you work around:

So in the picture above, I would pull the coil lose end to the right until the left side of the lose end lines up with the left side and then attach a tie-wrap at that point. I would then turn the coil 45 degree and continue.

Kal

 

[akthor]

Honestly for as much of a hassle this appears it can be and given the chance of ruining the tubing the price Texan is asking to bend this for me is very reasonable. I ordered my coil and it is on it's way to him right now. I gotta say I am relieved to not have to try this

 

[DeNomad]

Now that is what I am talking about! Wicked site btw Kal.

 

[Polboy]

This is probably stupid question but im just asking out of curiosity, why not to go with copper coil, looks like its much easier to bend and heat transfer is wayyyyyy better with copper (so im guessing you can use smaler coil) ??

 

[kal]

Same reason why people go with stainless for other things brewer related: It is a durable, food-grade metal that can withstand caustic chemicals and can be effectively sanitized.

The heat transfer coefficient difference between the two metals in fluid flow like this is not relevant and will not make a difference. It matters in something like a CPU heat sink but not here.

Kal

 

[Bobby_M]

Some examples of of trying to bend 90 degrees using thin wall 1/2" tubing. **edit** these bends were attempted with a Very expensive Swagelock 1/2" bending tool on loan from a fabricater friend of mine. It is how I learned the hard way about wall thickness on tubing. **

Mandrel benders can't really even handle .028 wall without buckling. The thinnest I've worked successfully is .035.

 

[barhoc11]

Dumb question without reading through the entire thread... why are you bothering with SS when you can get copper cheaper and not have to worry about all these issues?

 

[A4J]

Dumb question without reading through the entire thread... why are you bothering with SS when you can get copper cheaper and not have to worry about all these issues?

it was answered 2 posts up from yours.

 

[MaxOut]

I've never thought about using a germs coil to also cool the wort, but it makes total sense. If you filled the keg up with ice water, about what temperature is the exiting wort?

This is how I cool my wort because I all ready had an ice machine and I cool to 50* (lager) in 12 min. If I had to buy ice I would use a plate chiller.

 

[Bobby_M]

Even with a plate chiller for the first chill step, pushing through the herms with a small amount if ice can be a big difference. My tap water in summer is 80f.

 

[akthor]

And stainless for purely sanitary reasons. Used to be copper was A LOT cheaper than SS but breweries and other food related businesses still used SS. Surely they did not care about cool blingy looks.

Hell copper house plumbing can get all sorts of nasty crap happening inside the pipes and they are just transporting water. Do a google search and check out the images. Its gross. Causes:

• Low pH (acid water) typically found on private well water, but is also present in some small municipal water systems.*

• Other water chemistry causes, such as high levels of dissolved oxygen, high levels of salts dissolved in the water, and/ or corrosion-causing bacteria such as sulfate or iron bacteria.

• Electrochemical causes, such as improper grounding of electrical appliances to the copper piping.

• High velocity of water, relative to size of piping, causing hydraulic wear on the piping, for instance a recirculating hot water system with a pump driving the water through pipes that are too small in diameter.*

• Poor plumbing installation practices, including not cleaning or de-burring the pipe properly and the use of excessive flux in soldereing the pipe fittings.*

• Sand, sediment or other grit causing hydraulic wear on the piping.

• Lightening strikes to utility poles where the electricity travels to ground wires connecting to piping systems.*

Do it once and do it with SS and be done with it with no worries.

 

[P-J]

...
Do it once and do it with SS and be done with it with no worries.

???? Is this a -"Ban the use of copper" post?

If so, most of the world is in serious trouble.

Just saying...

 

[Gear101]

OK I made one the other day, it turned out pretty good, only thing was the bottom bend didn't turn out as I would have wanted it to, out side of that, looks really good. I used 3/8s in place of the half inch.

 

[sasky7777]

???? Is this a -"Ban the use of copper" post?

If so, most of the world is in serious trouble.

Just saying...

That reminds me of the Simpsons episode where the kids watched this video at school. It showed what the world would be like in a world with no zinc.

 

[akthor]

Ummmm no not at all just there has been a few posts where people are asking why use SS over copper. Just posting info.

???? Is this a -"Ban the use of copper" post?

If so, most of the world is in serious trouble.

Just saying...

 

[spearko520]

try using an adjustable wrench opened to the exact OD of the tubing (set it on unkinked tubing) and you can work it around small kinks and "re- round" the tubing. It takes a little practice to work them out- and real bad kinks are probably goners, but you can fix the little ones...

 

[Gear101]

try using an adjustable wrench opened to the exact OD of the tubing (set it on unkinked tubing) and you can work it around small kinks and "re- round" the tubing. It takes a little practice to work them out- and real bad kinks are probably goners, but you can fix the little ones...

Nice I will have to give at a try, I only got one in mine, where the bottom coil comes back to the top.

 

[akthor]

My coil is on it way to Texan to bend for me and I gotta I am relieved I'd have been so pissed if I ruined a $70 coil of SS

 

[forcabrew]

Any updates I want to be in line for texans coiling skills

 

[akthor]

Texan has my coil, we talked on the phone, he's feeling a bit under the weather so I told him no rush. He's going to send me pics when he's done and I'll post them here.

 

[Gear101]

man up get your a@@ in the shop.. LOL

how it's nothing serious, and you feel better fast