50 foot 1/2 inch SS coil

[Snafu]

Good grief, where were you when I bent mine by hand lol, Mine looks like I salvaged it from some NASCAR event. Its all good, even with the dings, she heats/chills like a dream and no noticeable restrictions.

 

[CidahMastah]

I finally got around to bending a 50' spool. 12" diameter/ 9" tall. I think I'll do a couple more and put them in the classifieds.
You got a good deal...and you must be better at finding the services. I had no luck!

S-

You absolutely should. That looks stellar! Just curious if you would consider coiling to a rough diameter size and shipping?

I am going to try the jig I built as per vtwin, but you should make some $$ off that rig you bought for sure.

 

[Bobby_M]

Even .028 is hard to come by at .5" OD. The most common stock is .035. I guess the question is, with so much effort put into the gentle bending of .020, I wonder what the actual real world heat exchange difference is between the two wall thickness. .035 is just over a 32nd of an inch. Seems thin enough to me.

 

[kdigman]

Quick question for you all.

How do you get the coil to stay compressed. Mine keeps expanding on the end that is not connected. My diameter is about 16 inches, so it is not that small.

Thoughts.. Advice

Thanks in Advance.

 

[psbuckland]

Is it expanding vertically or horizontally? Are you connecting with straight or 90 degree compression fittings?

 

[kdigman]

I am using straight fittings.

I would say the coil is expanding vertically. The fitting side is 8 inches, the expanded side is like 14 inches.

 

[akthor]

Thats how I tried to do it since I bought straight compression fittings before realizing I needed 90's.

There is a Swagelock dealer in town they are $30 a piece but that only about $8 more than buying them online without having to wait for them. I did go to home depot and get some brass 90 degree compression fittings for $5 a piece to mock up the install and make sure they work before I drop the serious coin on the Swagelocks.

would

If its the 90 part you can probably get away with a street elbow to your compression fitting and save yourself a few bucks

 

[snackson]

Quick question for you all.

How do you get the coil to stay compressed. Mine keeps expanding on the end that is not connected. My diameter is about 16 inches, so it is not that small.

Thoughts.. Advice

Thanks in Advance.

How about using stainless steel wire? I was thinking about picking some up for when I make my hop stopper and thought about using it for this as well.

 

[CidahMastah]

I plan on using bargain fittings straight compression fittings with a 90 elbow through one of the soldered bulkhead weldless kits.

 

[wegz15]

Any one else have a hard time getting their coil to connect to the 90 compression fittings?

 

[Bobby_M]

Trouble in what way? Can't get the nut over the oval tubing?

 

[wegz15]

I cant get it to thread onto the 90. It doesn't want to catch

 

[psbuckland]

I was having the same issues. You have to ensure the tubing leading into the fitting is completely square. I achieved this by actually bending the tubing a bit more.

 

[Snafu]

I was having the same issues. You have to ensure the tubing leading into the fitting is completely square. I achieved this by actually bending the tubing a bit more.

Same with mine, that's why the top connection has that little dog leg bend on it to "square" it up. You also may need to "re-round" the tubing. I had this problem after using the tubing cutter. It made the round tube oval as Bobby mentioned earlier. Just use an adjustable wrench and keep spinning that around the tube while slightly tightening the wrench. It will make it round again.

 

[adivito]

Just finished coiling down 50 ft to fit in my keggle. wanted to thank V-Twin for the tool write up, and ask why didn't anyone tell me be ready for a serious forearm and wrist workout. If anyone in the chicagoland area wants to borrow my tool to coil just contact me, but Im not sure how many I want to do by myself after that one.

 

[CidahMastah]

Has any use one of these, or similar, to get a say 90 bend on the .020 diameter 304 tubing?

 

[StainlessBrewing]

Has any use one of these, or similar, to get a say 90 bend on the .020 diameter 304 tubing?

Yes and it works. Looks like an Imperial tube bender.

 

[CidahMastah]

Yes and it works. Looks like an Imperial tube bender.

Awesome - thanks for the info!

 

[Bobby_M]

Yes and it works. Looks like an Imperial tube bender.

I have a similar bender and I get buckling with .028, nevermind .020. It's a 3" radius mandrel. What's your secret?

 

[krazydave]

I have one that I've used on copper plenty of times with success. Never tried it on stainless yet though.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, copper is cake and I have no issue with .035 stainless either.

 

[StainlessBrewing]

I have a similar bender and I get buckling with .028, nevermind .020. It's a 3" radius mandrel. What's your secret?

No secret really. What bender are you using? If it's not the bender you're using it could be the tubing manufacturer. Sometimes the tube itself is just not as rigid or made as well as others. I've had problems threading sch80 smls SS pipe which you would think would be easier than because of the heavy wall thickness but the threads would just chip or chunk out. Tried a different brand...no problems. Welded and seamless may make a difference to. Possibly where the weld is located when you're bending it.

 

[CidahMastah]

If it's not the bender you're using it could be the tubing manufacturer.

so just to be clear though, you have actually used the bender on the 304 .020 stainless tubing from grainger that people have been buying (referenced through out the thread). Sounds like Bobby is saying he has tried it with little success (albeit with a different bender and different tubing).

 

[Pitbull1963]

Just wanted to say thanks to V Twin. I built your jig and it worked great. Recoiled my stainless steel coil to fit my keggle.

 

[StainlessBrewing]

so just to be clear though, you have actually used the bender on the 304 .020 stainless tubing from grainger that people have been buying (referenced through out the thread). Sounds like Bobby is saying he has tried it with little success (albeit with a different bender and different tubing).

That's correct. I would bend a piece if I had one in stock but it's not as common and more expensive because of that. .035 is standard. It also depends if you're bending straight or coiled tubing (beverage line) which is typically softer for bending applications without kinking. A picture below shows the most prone spot that I can imagine where the kink might occur. A small indent in the tube is common but has never been as far as kinking or collapsing. After that circled spot, there really is no room for the tube to do anything other than stretch because of the dies. This is all just from experience with what I've had.

By zjosey at 2012-04-20

 

[CidahMastah]

That's correct. I would bend a piece if I had one in stock but it's not as common and more expensive because of that. .035 is standard. It also depends if you're bending straight or coiled tubing (beverage line) which is typically softer for bending applications without kinking. A picture below shows the most prone spot that I can imagine where the kink might occur. A small indent in the tube is common but has never been as far as kinking or collapsing. After that circled spot, there really is no room for the tube to do anything other than stretch because of the dies. This is all just from experience with what I've had.

Thanks for the info. You say the .035 is more common and less expensive - I haven't seen roles of .035 for less than .020. I of course am referring to coiled tubing.

 

[StainlessBrewing]

Thanks for the info. You say the .035 is more common and less expensive - I haven't seen roles of .035 for less than .020. I of course am referring to coiled tubing.

It all depends on who you're buying it from.

 

[forcabrew]

going to attempt to install my 25ft herms coil today. it is 304 stainless steel from nybrewsupply that was coiled to approximately 10 inches in diameter. should i install the coil with the zip ties on or should i remove the zip ties and all the coil to expand before i start drilling hoes? I'm not sure if once the coil is installed with zip ties and then i cut them off if the fittings are strong enough to keep the coil in place or if the coil would expand. I'm worried about expansion as i don't want the coil to put pressure on my heating element.. i did remove the zip ties to see what would happen and the coil almost doubled in height then i immediately zip tied it back together. E-Herms build. any help would be appreciated. thanks all

 

[psbuckland]

You'll be fine to cut them now. It will expand very little. Do you have couplers welded or are you going weldless?


S-

 

[Bobby_M]

I wonder if there is a way, while manipulating the coil through the three-roller device, to encourage a tighter helix.