cheaper to buy immersion chiller than to build?

[the_bird]

Pictures! We can't have no stinkin' pictures! What of our customers who haven't yet upgraded to them fancy new 28.8 modems?

My LHBS's site isn't much prettier. Never ordered online from them, don't know that I would.

http://www.beerbrew.com/

 

[Ol' Grog]

Played hooky from work yesterday and went by our brand new Atwoods. It's like a farming store but they have everything. Anyway, as I was walking the isles, I saw a 20 foot roll of 3/8 ID copper tubing for 19.95. Did I jump on that, HELL YES! Also found 10 feet of 3/8 clear plastic hose for 2.28. Jumped on that as well. I just now have to rig up some way of hooking that 3/8 hose to my kitchen tap. One thing that did concern me was the plastic hose has a heat rating of 175F. Is that too low for chilling wort? I figure I could adjust the flow so that the water coming out is not steaming hot. OR bend the copper in a way so that the exit line dumps directly into the sink. But now this problem, just how in the hell do you bend a copper line so that you have no kinks? I started messing with it yesterday and got the majority of it in the brew pot, but the in and out lines, I couldn't bend them 90 degrees with kinking up the lines. Any ideas???

 

[trinitone]

Somebody stop me if this is total BS, but my understanding is that if you fill the pipe with sand, you can bend it and it won't kink.

 

[Ol' Grog]

Got to be a better method that than, plus, I got no sand.

 

[Bobby_M]

There is a device made specifically for bending tubing without kinking. It's a relatively snug fitting spring coil that you slide over the tubing in the location where you want to bend. Then you bend the tube and slide the spring off. An auto parts store would have them because they're used to custom-bend brake and fuel lines. Of course, you'll need a big one for the 1/2 OD stuff.

In a pinch, try carefully bending it over a radius like a soup can rather than making a super-tight 90.

BTW, your output water will be very hot to the touch, but it won't be too much over 180. Even if it is, it will only be so for a short time so your vinyl tubing will be fine. You did pick up some hose clamps right? It gets mighty soft and will definitely leak or fall off without the clamps.

Bobby

 

[Ol' Grog]

Yeah, I got HOSE CLAMPS out the yeng yang. I bent it the best I could so I now need advice as to how to hook it up and what would YOU do? One piece, the top part, sticks out past the brewing pot, the other, goes straight up along the pot but I couldn't get it to bend over the pot. So, which line would you use for the in and which for the out? I plan on using two hose clamps on the line that comes up above the wort but doesn't get over the pot, that is the line that starts at the bottom. I know the most important thing is that no water can drip back into the wort, hence the need for two clamps, as an insurance measure. I kind of think to have the cold in start at the bottom and work its way up to the top. Or should I do it the other way around?

 

[Todd]

Got to be a better method that than, plus, I got no sand.

I bent my 1/2" around my argon bottle, nice and hard and pretty much the perfect size. It is still pretty hard to bend, I had a nice sweat going.

the hardware store shoud have a sink to garden hose adapter you can use, then get a garden hose fitting for your tubing.

 

[Ryan_PA]

I do web design as a side source of income and a creative outlet. I may need to parlay my abilities into getting free equipment...er uh, making some HBS sites more appealing.

 

[Truble]

My LHBS also has a site that could use some work. I have seen then filling the online orders, though, and they are pretty good guys. http://www.home-brew.com

Hey 'Bird-you use the one in west boylston? That is near my in-laws (Sterling)..I just give them a list at Christmas time.

 

[the_bird]

Nah, that's the other end of the state for me. I go out to Rensselaer, NY, it's a little more than an hour west of me. There's another place in Northampton that I've been to once (http://www.beer-winemaking.com/), I just like the place in NY a little better. Just a nice little shop, the guys who work there are real friendly (I forgot to have them ring up a bung plug for me, they told me to just take it on the house). I also know that they have pretty much everything I could need.

 

[Truble]

doh- completely forgot the NY angle. Don't really get west of Worcester anymore.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, I got HOSE CLAMPS out the yeng yang. I bent it the best I could so I now need advice as to how to hook it up and what would YOU do? One piece, the top part, sticks out past the brewing pot, the other, goes straight up along the pot but I couldn't get it to bend over the pot. So, which line would you use for the in and which for the out? I plan on using two hose clamps on the line that comes up above the wort but doesn't get over the pot, that is the line that starts at the bottom. I know the most important thing is that no water can drip back into the wort, hence the need for two clamps, as an insurance measure. I kind of think to have the cold in start at the bottom and work its way up to the top. Or should I do it the other way around?

In the long run, I don't think it matters. Thinking scientifically though, the coldest water should probably hit the hottest wort (at the top of the brew pot) because faster cooling of this hot wort will cause it to fall and contribute to circulation. If you hit the cooler wort at the bottom with the coldest water, it will have a tendancy to stay at the bottom.

Someone already mentioned about getting a sink faucet to hose adapter. I wanted to point out that Lowes/Depot sell plastic female hose thread to quick disconnect fittings in a two-pack for about $2. You can clamp your vinyl hose directly to this quick disconnect "nipple". It's a lot cheaper than a brass hose thread to hose barb fitting (4-6 bucks).

Bobby