Copper immersion chiller froze...

[Alemaker]

Well, I took a bit of time off of homebrewing, and I left my copper wort chiller outside with water in it. Apparently, last winter it froze.

There were four places that had ruptures, so I cut those out and was planning on soldering it back together again. It's in several pieces now.

This chiller is 1/2" in diameter. Now, from what I understand, the couplings that need to be used for 1/2" copper are 3/8" rigid. I bought those, and they were too small. I took those back, and got 1/2". Those are too big. I think the 3/8" are the correct ones, but the copper tubing expanded with ice inside it. So it's in between now.

How do I fix this? Can I fix it without buying really expensive tools?

Also, I'm really not fond of copper and struggling to keep it clean. How much could I expect to get for 50ft of 1/2" copper tubing at the scrap yard? If it's a decent amount, I might sell it for scrap and get a new stainless chiller.

 

[Runyanka]

Or, do what I did. In hot Texas summers, I use a plate chiller, and use my old copper immersion chiller as a pre-chiller. I sit it inside my mash-tun, that is already cleaned out, and filled with ice water. hook up my hose, it runs though the chiller, gets the water ice cold, and goes right into my plate chiller. I can go 180 to 70-80 in around 15 minutes for a 10 gallon batch.

A few tips, if you have a pump, recirculate you wort through the plate chiller, with it only running ground temp water. This should get you down to around 160 or so. Then switch over to the pre-chiller, making sure to slow your wort flow through the plate chiller down, and stir the ice water in the cooler.

 

[Alemaker]

That's similar to what I was doing, except I recirculated ice water through the immersion chiller once I got the temp down some with tap water.

I've always been concerned about cleaning a plate chiller and getting it clogged up with hop pellets. I know people say this really isn't a problem, but I usually find ways of encountering problems others avoid.

A stainless immersion chiller just sounds so easy to care for and clean up.

 

[Runyanka]

I usually run PBW through all my equipment for about 15 minutes after brewday. Also, to make sure, about every 3 brews, I'll submerge by plate chiller in a bucket full of PBW, then back flush. You would be amazed what comes out. Yuck.