Copper Wort chiller leak

[alaskajeff]

I have a copper wort chiller that I have only used 3 times. It now has a very small pinhole leak near where one of the hoses screw on. The leak is not submerged in the wort at any time. What would be the best way of fixing it ?

It was leaking during the last batch of beer I made so I just put a sanitized wash clothe over it and squeezed it out a few times until the wort chilled.

 

[hottpeper13]

I would talk to the place you got it from,and if they won't do anything your going to have to sweat of cut off the fitting and sweat on a new one.

 

[brewfarmDan]

It should be a compression fitting where the hose connects? If so Remove the fitting, cut the tube below the leak and put the fitting back on.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

If it's a compression fitting leaking, break the torque, and re-torque it several times, before you cutting it off and replacing it.

Before you start, take a Sharpie marker, and index where the parts of the compression fitting line up, (one line across both parts), then start the above procedure.

Watch your index marks as you re-torque, and you should go past it as you break and re-torque.

Go 'til you think it's enough, and leak check it.

If you strip it, ( the threads), then you do your cut and replace.
If you don't, chill on!

If soldered, try cleaning, fluxing, and sweating on some more solder, before you decide to cut it off.

 

[alaskajeff]

When I tested the chiller to see exactly where it was leaking I found that it was leaking at the solder Joint of both fittings ! I wound up cutting them off slipping the hoses over the copper pipe then and applying hose clamps to both; it's no longer leaking ! I hope this fix will withstand the pressure down the road, I guess I could put compression fittings on if it fails again.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

You'll just have to watch carefully for leaks, if the connections are over your Wort.