Help on copper tubing for chiller

[Beau815]

I got SOFT copper tubing, is this correct? Im afraid its too "bendy"

 

[Mainebrew]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8EolKTDZUQ&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Immersion Chiller (IC) Build[/ame]

check out the video

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Soft copper is definitely what you want. Just be careful not to kink the copper by making too tight of a bend. I found that a 5 gallon bucket, or even a corny keg is a good diameter to go with.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

If you are worried about kinks, get a set of those spring tubing benders. You can make TIGHT bends with those, if you want.

 

[jmp138]

Yeah be careful, I just built Bobby M's counterflow chiller and on brew day as I was winding it into a coil around a kettle, I broke the 3/8 tubing and lost about 4 feet off my chiller. Other than that the counter flow is the way to go, really not too expensive and I took boiling wort down to 60 degrees over the course of only 20 feet. And copper prices are going way down, I just bought a 50 ft coil of 3/8 for 30 bucks.

 

[Beau815]

yup i RUINED it! I bent the hell out of it. after kissing my wifes @$$ for a week to let me spend money we didn't have and eventually she said ok if you REALLY NEED it, and off i was to get supplies. Now i feel like a complete moron. I should of bought it online like everyone else.

 

[jmp138]

Did you actually break that tubing or did you just bend it up pretty good, copper is a fairly forgiving metal, albeit a ****** to work with sometimes. Even if you did break it there are still solutions, let us know whats up and maybe we can help you out.

 

[Beau815]

its kinda folded in a few spots and ones kinda twisted so its kinda hard to let air through i blew into it. i tried water and one spot its squirting out so i almost just thru it out the door to get it out of my sight. I was super excited when i bought it now its just depressing.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Yeah, if you kinked it, or actually broke it in two, cut the kink out or cut the ends off the two "broken pieces" and use a coupler. Take the coupler and solder those to pieces back together...bam! It wont be pretty but it will surely get the job done. There is always a solution - KISS and Okaham's Razor prevail!

 

[jmp138]

If you have enough left on the ends of the kinks you can just cut it off and use that, so if you have a 50 foot coil, 25 foot should work, if less than optimal, for cooling down 5 gallon batches. I only use 20 foot on a counterflow chiller, so if you dont have alot to work with, you could just save up a little a go with a counterflow. You could do it for about $30 bucks more and its not hard.

How much usable tubing do you have left?

 

[Beau815]

Double posted...whoops

 

[DarkSide]

I am getting supplies to make my CFC tomorrow or Friday. So, what size copper tubing do I get. 3/8 ID or is it 3/8 OD? I am planning on getting a 5/8 Garden Hose.

 

[Beau815]

I have about 9 kinks in it... it bent pretty easy. I think it would be easier to buy a new coil and less expensive too. 9 kinks... its pretty bad, they arent fully closed but still kinks. Will some place buy the copper off me? dont people steal copper from buildings to sell? Maybe i can get some of the money back?

 

[Beau815]

OD.... and also... garden hose is heavy and ugly... any hardware store has clear tubing... mine was 3/8 and 19 cents a foot!

 

[ClutchDude]

I am getting supplies to make my CFC tomorrow or Friday. So, what size copper tubing do I get. 3/8 ID or is it 3/8 OD? I am planning on getting a 5/8 Garden Hose.

If you can wait, get your copper online! CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::. You need 3/8" OD.

It's $26 for 50ft of the refrigeration coil copper you need

You can make two CFC's with that length and the 50ft of RUBBER garden hose.

Beau, any place you can recycle aluminum cans will pay you for it. Since it's pretty pure and obvious what happened, you shouldn't get any guff. Just don't expect as much as you may have paid.

 

[Beau815]

i dont expect the 28 i paid if i can get 10 im a happy brewer

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

If you can wait, get your copper online! CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::. You need 3/8" OD.

It's $26 for 50ft of the refrigeration coil copper you need

You can make two CFC's with that length and the 50ft of RUBBER garden hose.

Beau, any place you can recycle aluminum cans will pay you for it. Since it's pretty pure and obvious what happened, you shouldn't get any guff. Just don't expect as much as you may have paid.

+100 on this. Make two, and sell the other for about $50. If you can sell it, you can build your chiller for about $25-35 bucks. That's less than most 25' immersion chillers...and it will chill faster! Can't say enough good stuff about the CFC. Add a pump and it's pure brewing heaven. :rockin:

 

[NJTomatoguy]

i dont expect the 28 i paid if i can get 10 im a happy brewer

copper at the scrapyard is bought by the pound and grade. This is new light tubing, so my suggestion would be to try to accomplish what you started and build your IC. Do you know how to solder? Friend that is handy? That would probably be your best bet, rather than taking a loss on the copper..

 

[GranillaNutz]

coppers less than a dollar a lb at the scrap yard now... so u won't get much at all there... just try to salvage as much as u can for things like a pickup tube, or make yard art with it.. u don't really need that much for a counterflow... i think mine is less than 15 ft 3/8 and it drops it down to perfect pitching temp. i actually bought mine from the scrap yard so u may even be able to work out a trade. they sold it to me for 2 bux a pound. they normally don't sell to individuals but i think they're having trouble getting rid of it right now and for lil pieces like that and if u bring them a beer, they'll hook u up.

 

[Beau815]

ill have to throw another one on the credit card and try again

 

[springer]

Beau if you weren't so far I would give ya a hand. I just built a 1/2" x 50' IC over the weekend .

 

[jspence1]

The 3/8 must be harder to work with than the 1/2 I had no issues with kinking.

I'd call the scrap dealers around you they get copper coils all the time.

 

[springer]

The 3/8 must be harder to work with than the 1/2 I had no issues with kinking.

I'd call the scrap dealers around you they get copper coils all the time.

I really don't think it is. Just have to go slow and with steady pressure to bend it. Also never straighten the coil it comes in. The copper is annealed and once you start bending or straightening the copper it will get stiff.

 

[Beau815]

yeah i found that out the hard way, i straightened parts and that was dumb. i ordered the 50 ft im gonna keep it in a coil and go SLOW and make the coil smaller i also got a 3/8 spring tubing bender but i tried it on my old one and once i made a bend it was like impossible to pull the dumb coil off it got stuck... idk how thats gonna work out. thanks for the offer springer, if we were closer id def would of trusted it to someone else!

 

[springer]

yeah i found that out the hard way, i straightened parts and that was dumb. i ordered the 50 ft im gonna keep it in a coil and go SLOW and make the coil smaller i also got a 3/8 spring tubing bender but i tried it on my old one and once i made a bend it was like impossible to pull the dumb coil off it got stuck... idk how thats gonna work out. thanks for the offer springer, if we were closer id def would of trusted it to someone else!

how tight are you trying to get the coil? the spring should slide off even at a 90° bend. Also dont pull on the spring think of it like those little toy Chinese handcuffs , you need to push it off or the spring shrinks and grabs the tubing.

all i did with one was wrap it around a corny keg

 

[Beau815]

that looks awesome... thats about how tight i want it... i dont have a cornie tho. I will have to find something similar. You do it like that video? have someone hold it up and start winding from the bottom? Thanks for the chinese finger trap thing i see what you mean... the guy at the store was showing me how and he tried to yank it off too and it took him a few min. lol so thats how i figured it was done... so ill try to push it off from the back... i got 50 feet and even tho i only do 5 gallon batches that cant hurt and it was cheaper on that site. It arrives tuesday according to UPS tracking. Im gonna take it SLOW

 

[Nitsua]

When I made I did not want to go through the trouble and additional expense of welding copper (That and I don't know how). I modded it on what the LHBS was selling. I got 20 ft of copper and coiled it around a lg coffee can (I lack a corny). I just went really slow and bent it all by hand. 10 ft of plastic tubing (cut in half), 3 hose clamps and a hose fitting. $35 from Home Depot. It works Great.

 

[Beau815]

that tubing and clamps looks identical to what i have, i am waiting for my 50 feet to show up... then ill do it slow by hand and use maybe a coffee can too because i also have no cornie. Looks really good. if mine looks like that ill be VERY happy. So it comes in a disc shape... you hold it above the can like in that video and lower it down while pressing in towards the can? and on bending the long part upwards... i bent mine bad... you just went really slow? im practicing on my ruined one and its still kinking pretty easily, maybe because i straightened it to try to make that "ribcage" one that coils from both sides.

 

[Nitsua]

I basically did the something as in the video, since I was only working w/ 20 it was a bit easier and I coiled it my self. To get the pipe through the center, I slowly shrunk the diameter of one loop at a time and fed it through the center. Then slowly in small increments I straitened it out and pulled it through. You can see in the pic how the base of the center pipe is coiling back through the middle.

FYI A paint can was also about the same size.

 

[Beau815]

Thanks a lot for that info. It will def help come Tuesday. I just hope that I can do it as well as you and not make any kinks... maybe mine was SO hard because like an idiot i straightened it all out.