immer wort chiller..buy or build?

[talljetsfan]

after reading several posts about what the total price would be to build one yourself, and seeing them for sale at several retailers, it doesn't seem like that much difference in price to go thru all the hassle of building it!
Comments , ideas, suggestions are al welcome.
Thanks

 

[poislb]

If money is no object, buy one....if ya wanna save 30 bucks then build. I build them for my local HBS and its crazy what the markup is....i build mash tuns as well, i say build if ya can. Plus ya can say "I made that"!!!!

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

I built mine for about 25 bucks cheaper that what it would cost to buy one. (40 bucks vs 60-70 bucks to buy) plus you have to factor in shipping.

Building it wasn't that hard, but OTOH $25 ain't much extra to spend to know you'll get it built for you the right way.

 

[rockgardenlove]

I would say the hassle is so minimal that it's definitely worth it. Really easy. Granted I'm not into aesthetics so it's easier if you don't care about a pretty coil.

 

[Palefire]

Somewhat cheaper to build your own, but really, it all depends on how much you like building things. If building your own sounds like a fun project for you, then do it! If putting something like this together sounds like a nightmare, then you're probably not saving enough dough to make it worthwhile (unlike some other projects, for which you can save lots and lots of money doing it yourself).

 

[jrnyenhuis]

Yeah. With the price of copper what it is now, the savings aren't that great. It's a really easy project, though. Pick up a tube bender, garden hose to barb attachment, some plastic tubing and some hose clamps, and it's just a few minutes to put it all together. Not much reason NOT to do it yourself, really.

 

[Peter_h]

I say build it. I built mine and the reasoning is the immersion chillers on the market are a one size fit's all. For most, this means half of the chiller is sitting out of the wort.

I ended up building a rib-cage style IM Chiller that is designed to fit my pot to maximize the surface area of the chiller that is immersed in the wort.

 

[Beezy]

I have seen them around 50 bucks online. I don't mind building my own stuff but I'd rather have a ss pretty chiller for not that much more than an ugly diy one. Probably easier to resale too if I moved to a plate or whatever.

 

[JoshuaWhite5522]

I bought mine, and the entire coil sits submerged in my coverted keg. If I was to do it again I would build my own, but that is just solely for thhe satisfaction of having one more portion of my system build by my hands

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

I built my own... there is a thread on it (not sure how to link it on here)... I spent about as much as one of the ones you buy but it is significantly faster at cooling... we might have done some aditional calcs to figure out how much legnth we needed in each coil.

On the stainless vs. copper... deffinatly go with copper unless money and time are no object. Copper's heat transfer rate is much better, the extra they charge you for stainless in my opinion is not worth it unless you have an outlet controller to reduce your cooling medium (water) loss.

 

[talljetsfan]

Thanks for all the comments, I'm gonna build one, I built the S of F chiller and it's just a satisfying experience.

 

[talljetsfan]

any chance of getting your directions, plans to build what you made, I really like the looks of that!

 

[cjham9985]

I just built mine this weekend. I was fearful of doing it as my homebrew shop owner said if you pinch the pipe, your money is already wasted. But after checking out https://coppertubingsales.com/storefront/product_info.php?products_id=945 , with shipping my kit for a 50 foot coil was $70, vs. $75 at my homebrew shop for a 25 foot coil. Save 5 bucks for double the surface area (needed for 5 gallon boils), was a no brainer for us. We just wrapped it around a corny keg.

 

[jimmyt951]

1/2" x 60' copper tubing for 5.89 plus 7.99 shipping here

 

[poislb]

1/2" x 60' copper tubing for 5.89 plus 7.99 shipping here

That add is deceving, its per linear foot at 5.89. So ya dont get 60 ft for that price but its still a decent price for 1/2 copper..3LF still would make a nice chiller for under 20 bucks.....

 

[poislb]

1/2" x 60' copper tubing for 5.89 plus 7.99 shipping here

That add is deceving, its per linear foot at 5.89. So ya dont get 60 ft for that price but its still a decent price for 1/2 copper..3 LF still would make a nice chiller for under 20 bucks.....

 

[Hopleaf11]

I built my IC for about $30 but I already had soldering equipment. It works like a charm.

 

[sudsmcgee]

I just bought a 25" one for $39.99 http://www.learntobrew.com/store/item/10n6c/-_Chillers_Pumps/Copper_Immersion_Chiller_or_Cooler_25_Feet_with_Garden_Hose_Fittings.html

I built my first 50 footer, and it was fun, but I need an pre-chiller soon and I won't have time to make another one before my next brew day.

 

[Sacrilicious]

That add is deceving, its per linear foot at 5.89. So ya dont get 60 ft for that price but its still a decent price for 1/2 copper..3 LF still would make a nice chiller for under 20 bucks.....

Whoa whoa whoa... how would 3 linear feet be enough for a chiller? The minimum seems to be 20 or 25ft. Also, 5.89 per LF is a rip!... HD has 50' of 1/2" OD type L for about $80.... that 60' length would cost about $400... Am I not seeing something right?

 

[Beezy]

HD I notice has a 20 foot coil of 3/8" for less than 15 bucks... Is that too thin? I was thinking of grabbing it to make a cheap one then turn it into a pre-chiller once I get a better one.

 

[RichBenn]

HD I notice has a 20 foot coil of 3/8" for less than 15 bucks... Is that too thin? I was thinking of grabbing it to make a cheap one then turn it into a pre-chiller once I get a better one.

I built one out of one of these 20 ft. things. It's too little; doesn't cool fast enough. So I added another 20 ft., with a compression fitting. Now it cools fast, but the compression fitting has leaked, so I leave that section out. (will have to sweat on a proper fitting sometime.

For those thinking buy vs. build, this is one of the reasons to buy. Not getting it right the first time.....

 

[outside92129]

1/2" x 25ft for $16.75. It took me less than an hour to coil it around something round and attach fittings.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM2673663502P

Thinner the better for heat transfer.

 

[Beezy]

I built one out of one of these 20 ft. things. It's too little; doesn't cool fast enough. So I added another 20 ft., with a compression fitting. Now it cools fast, but the compression fitting has leaked, so I leave that section out. (will have to sweat on a proper fitting sometime.

For those thinking buy vs. build, this is one of the reasons to buy. Not getting it right the first time.....

Yeah if you ruin 25 dollars worth of wort then you could have just bought one. I don't mind making the stuff I just haven't found the right length/price. I'll check this last doods post tho.

 

[poislb]

Whoa whoa whoa... how would 3 linear feet be enough for a chiller? The minimum seems to be 20 or 25ft. Also, 5.89 per LF is a rip!... HD has 50' of 1/2" OD type L for about $80.... that 60' length would cost about $400... Am I not seeing something right?

A linear foot is 12 in, 3x12"=36ft

 

[sudsmcgee]

A linear foot is 12 in, 3x12"=36ft

Uh, that would be 36 inches, not feet.

 

[poislb]

Uh, that would be 36 inches, not feet.

Your right silly me, confused and can't add this morning I guess...don't know what I was thinking, probably had beer on the brain...

 

[Mrott]

A "linear foot" is the equivalent of just saying "a foot" long (1 dimensional... 12 inches). It should really only be used in comparison or when used in a similar conversation with cubic feet (3 dimensional area... 1ft x 1ft x 1ft = 1 cf) or square foot (2 dimensional area... 1ft x 1ft = 1 sq ft) . When used in a conversation like this it just confuses people.

This is the lesson of the day... carry on.

 

[Beezy]

By that math my tool is 2 foot long. I can allow that.