DIY vs Buying Commercial

[JMSetzler]

Greetings to the forum!

I have been struggling with most of my DIY projects because I really stink at building things. If I put my mind to it, I can usually get it done but the workmanship is usually poor. I'm re-living this idea this afternoon as I'm trying to build a counterflow chiller for my home brewery. I was successful several years ago building an immersion chiller and it works pretty well but the counterflow chiller is a bit more complicated for me.

When I shop around online for commercially available options for stuff like this, I usually find that I can buy something new for near the same price I can buy materials to put it together myself. That being the case, I keep asking myself why I would want to build it on my own rather than just buying it.

I think PRIDE may play a big role in it. Using something I have built myself seems to add value to the process for me.

Do any of you deal with this dilemma?

 

[b-boy]

I enjoy the build process, but if I didn't I'd have no problem just buying it.

 

[Brettomomyces]

I try to understand my own limits, and then the other part of me is like "Screw it, you'll figure it out as you go along". I've used some DIY projects to learn new skills and knowledge using tools. So for me, the biggest benefit is that at the end of the day I know a little more than I did before I started, even if that involves messing up or having to do something twice.

 

[dobes]

I try and build things as much as possible. I do take price into consideration and if I can find it cheaper I will buy it. But one thing I do is search for free things to use. I am always surprised at what people are willing to give away or even sell/trade for almost nothing.
Yeah sometimes my stuff doesn't come out perfect but almost always decent enough that I am not embarrassed by it.
I say if you can get away with building it go for it especially if you enjoy doing things like that. The internet is a great place to find info for almost any project.
Good Luck!!

 

[JMSetzler]

Right now I'm trying to fish 20' of copper tubing with the copper wire wrapped/soldered around the outside through a 5/8" braided hose... It's kicking my butt! I'm adding hot water and dish washing liquid to the tubing trying to get the copper through it...

 

[Brettomomyces]

Got any keg lube kicking around? I love the stuff for gaskets on kegs, but its a great lubricant for something like that as well.

 

[DonH]

DIY for me is what got me into homebrewing... So I keep doing everything DIY lol ONE thing i did skip was going straight into pumping and using a plate chiller over a DIY CFC.... I have little to no flow restriction. yay me

 

[JMSetzler]

Got any keg lube kicking around? I love the stuff for gaskets on kegs, but its a great lubricant for something like that as well.

No... I'm down to the last 6 feet and can't get any more through it... I'm going to have to think about this for a bit... lol

 

[JMSetzler]

Lesson learned... I kinked and split the copper tubing trying to get it in the hose! Back to the hardware store...

 

[Chrisl77]

Are you using a pull cord to get it through? I made a 4 product glycol line by pulling 6 3/8 lines through a piece of 1" solid foam pipe insulation. I put a few half hitch knots on the end of the line bundle and used a shop vac to suck the pull cord through with a piece of plastic bag tied to the end of it. I tied the end of the pull cord to a tree and pulled the insulation over the line bundle. It was a tight fit but it went through without to much difficulty.

 

[Jim_Holmes]

Right now I'm trying to fish 20' of copper tubing with the copper wire wrapped/soldered around the outside through a 5/8" braided hose... It's kicking my butt! I'm adding hot water and dish washing liquid to the tubing trying to get the copper through it...

just my $.02 but some other sites ive been on the wire wrapped around has been discussed and the general consensus was that for the trouble of getting it through the hose the benefit was not that great having the agitation. its a lot easier to get the copper tube through the hose without the wire on it

 

[max384]

Building my own stuff is half the fun of homebrewing! My fiance was amazed at all the stuff I built when she did her first brew with me. She asked if I bought anything, or if I made it all myself. I had to think for a second, and I looked around at all my equipment and realized that I indeed had built it all myself, rather than buying it. Cost was of course a big factor in why I built all my stuff... But the enjoyment of brewing with equipment I actually built is very satisfying (kinda like enjoying a cold glass of beer we make ourselves), and I genuinely enjoy sitting down, figuring out a solution, and making it.

Are you using a pull cord to get it through? I made a 4 product glycol line by pulling 6 3/8 lines through a piece of 1" solid foam pipe insulation. I put a few half hitch knots on the end of the line bundle and used a shop vac to suck the pull cord through with a piece of plastic bag tied to the end of it. I tied the end of the pull cord to a tree and pulled the insulation over the line bundle. It was a tight fit but it went through without to much difficulty.

I can't believe I've never thought to use a shop vac to get a pull cord through a tube before. Thanks for this great idea!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I feel your pain decided to reinvent the wheel on several projects and realized in my testing that i have accumulated a huge amount of parts that I really don't need any more but paid for and are just sitting in boxes lol. big lesson learned, if you can buy it its already been figured out for you and tested ...do it

 

[Chrisl77]

I can't believe I've never thought to use a shop vac to get a pull cord through a tube before. Thanks for this great idea!

It works surprisingly well the key is to tie a piece of a plastic shopping bag or similar to the end. I was shown it when helping someone pull a set of 4 ga cables through 150 yards of conduit that was buried under ground. What fun that was.

 

[max384]

It works surprisingly well the key is to tie a piece of a plastic shopping bag or similar to the end. I was shown it when helping someone pull a set of 4 ga cables through 150 yards of conduit that was buried under ground. What fun that was.

Ugh, that must have been miserable. The thickest gauge wire I've worked with was 8, and that's no fun. I couldn't imagine fishing 4 ga 150 feet. I hope there weren't any bends in that conduit...

 

[JMSetzler]

Well, after spending another $29 on another 20' coil of tubing, it turns out that i'm not good enough with soldering to make this assembly work. I'm writing this one off to biting off more than I could chew and ordering a pre-assembled chiller for $78.

 

[Brettomomyces]

Offtopic but I just clicked on your Kamado Joe link and watched a little bit. Looks like a pretty sweet all around outdoor cooker. Are you affiliated with them?

 

[Reaver]

It's probably too late, since you already said you would buy one, but for anyone else who tries, get yourself some "Personal Lubricant". Many of the basic ones are water soluble, and SUPER SLICK. Once you get the copper through (I covered the end of the copper line with electical tape to prevent it from getting inside), you can turn the hose on and run a bunch of water through it to clean it out. But since it's on the water side not the wort side, it's not a big deal.

I did 2x 25ft coils this way and it worked great. I laid it all out straight in the yard, and slid it in straight. You need double the length for space, but less worry of kinking.

 

[Chrisl77]

Ugh, that must have been miserable. The thickest gauge wire I've worked with was 8, and that's no fun. I couldn't imagine fishing 4 ga 150 feet. I hope there weren't any bends in that conduit...

Ya it was rough it was 1 1/2" conduit with 2 bends. I put a towel over my shoulder to sling the cord over it and use my legs to pull up. I still had marks for a few days from the cord pressure on my skin. The guy put in a generator big enough to power his block and wanted it far enough away from his house so he couldn't hear it.

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

I try to build where I can, but for some things it makes more sense to buy. I don't weld and I'm not going to coil tubing, especially 25' of the 1/2" SS tubing in my HERMS coil. I did learn to silver solider and some minor electrical.

 

[dkevinb]

For a lot of people the DIY thing is as much of a hobby as using the stuff they build. When I was seriously into astronomy (I was an astrophysics major before switching to electrical engineering) there was a sub-cult of that group that just liked to make telescopes. Some of them got to the point where they rarely looked through them. They just liked to build them. I've always liked to build stuff, and as an engineer that's pretty much what I do for a living. But that's not everyone's cup of tea. If you can buy it for just a bit more than you can build it, and building it is not turning out to be fun, then you ought to buy it.

 

[Beernik]

I like DIY in the sense that I can piece together a $3000 HERMS in $100 - $200 increments. I don't have to wait for that day I have an extra $3000 extra lying around.

However, when it comes to the PID and automation, I think I'm buying the $575 Blichmann Tower of Power control module. I'm pretty sure I can't build one better and installing pilot lights on propane burners sounds like a pain in the butt.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

It works surprisingly well the key is to tie a piece of a plastic shopping bag or similar to the end. I was shown it when helping someone pull a set of 4 ga cables through 150 yards of conduit that was buried under ground. What fun that was.

This, and a liberal dusting of talcum powder in a conduit!

I did it, but only 'bout 150 feet, for some Cat5 cables in a buried conduit!