Ideal Immersion Cooler Length

[jesutton3]

I have 100' of 3/8" copper laying around and I'm planning on building an IC with it. What is the ideal length for an IC? I've seen that 25' and 50' are the most common commercially available. I also know there comes a point when the extra footage just makes it harder to pump water and also does not aid in the cooling. So has anyone tested this or what is the general consensus? Thanks for the help.

 

[BargainFittings]

40 - 50 foot of 3/8" inch is about the longest you want for exactly the reasons you stated.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Really too many variables, cooling water temp and batch size. If you have warm summer tap water, even a very long chiller will be inadequate. If you have chilly well water year round, you can probably go w/ a shorter chiller.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Although slightly , this may still be a good place to ask this to benefit both of us... Does the shape matter too? I mean, I know it does to a degree, but, here is my thought. I know you have to stir the wort to keep the transfer going strong, so does making the chiller oval instead of round ensure better heat transfer (I mean to wrap the coils arouns a Corny and then smoosh them slightly oblong)?

 

[oxiderush]

search for the rib cage immersion chiller thread, i have one (i believe the LARGEST EVER MADE!!!) and they work great.

 

[tndave]

Here is a link man that is awesome. I have to build one!!:rockin:

 

[imrowe]

The two main variables in heat exchangers are 1) total surface area of the hot/cold interface and 2) the temperature differential. A longer coil will have a greater surface area but also a smaller temperature differential towards the end of the coil, so there is a trade-off. You can try to minimize this by flowing cold water at a faster rate but there is a practical limit with household line pressure.

Here's an idea I've been wanting to try to eliminate the coil length trade-off...

Make a ribcage chiller as shown elsewhere, but instead of running the water in series through the second coil, put a copper tee at the top and run cold water into both the coils in parallel. So you'll have essentially two 25' coils. This will maximize the temperature differential for the same surface area (and use twice as much water) since the water will be cooler at the ends of both tubes. To keep the water usage the same, it would be better to use 1/4" tubing in a parallel flow chiller which has the added benefit of a greater surface to volume ratio. I'm dying to do some experiments if I could spring for the copper tubing.

 

[BarleyWater]

Make a ribcage chiller as shown elsewhere, but instead of running the water in series through the second coil, put a copper tee at the top and run cold water into both the coils in parallel.

That's how mine works. I have an inner coil and an outer coil of refrigerator tubing, and they are fed separately after a split from the hose, works MUCH faster. It's like having 2-25' chillers, which is more efficient that one 50'.