Immersion Chiller Leaks?

[Aleforge]

No matter how tight I try to clamp down the hoses to the copper it seems to leak! And when I tighten them as much as possible they slip and strip out. I was hoping to go the quick route and have the clear plastic tubing clamp onto the barbed hose fittings but for the life of me I can't see how others keep a tight seal.

Thanks for any advice, I couldnt find the weld on hose fittings at Lowes?

 

[pahiker6]

Do you have the hose shoved on the IC as far as it will go? My IC came with two clamps for each hose. Also, you might want to look into getting new clamps if the ones you have are stripping out when you tighten them down.

 

[Bigsnake]

I've had problems before with clamps on barbed fittings starting to leak when I put clamps on them. I'm actually going to see if I can get one of the fittings that isn't fully barbed but just has a smooth hump in the middle.

 

[Bouza]

I had the same problem when I purchased my used IC. I ended up buying some heavy duty tubing and two brand new clamps per connection (stripped a couple in the process).
That worked for me.
The other thing that I had considered was using silicone to coat the IC ends just before I pushed the tubing on. I never did do that but thought that it may help?

 

[Bouza]

At work, this is the best that I can do...

It is just braided pvc tubing... you can pick it up at any hardware store.
Hope it that helps.

 

[TeleTwanger]

I've had problems with the cheap hose that came with mine, namely it melts as it rests againts the pot while submerged during boiling, it doesn't melt enough to leak but it gets flattened out from being so soft and causes too much pressure. Replace the crappy hoses with high-temp hose used for pumping hot wort out of kettles.

 

[Bigsnake]

I've had problems with the cheap hose that came with mine, namely it melts as it rests againts the pot while submerged during boiling, it doesn't melt enough to leak but it gets flattened out from being so soft and causes too much pressure. Replace the crappy hoses with high-temp hose used for pumping hot wort out of kettles.

Are the high-temp hoses just the reinforced ones Lowe's sells?

Or do I have to look for something else?

I'm wondering because the output hose of my wort chiller usually gets really soft and wants to slip off during use. It could use replacing with something that stayed stiff.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I just replaced the hose on my chiller with silicone hose which should not have the issue with softening at high temps. The leaking problems I had with braided PVC were definitely due to high temps; I would leak test with no leaks, but it would leak like mad when turning it on after submerging the coil in the boil to sanitize it. I am also going to two clamps. Hopefully my problems will be coming to an end.

 

[Baron ken]

This may work better for you.

Chiller copper tubing to compression fitting:

Then to barbed adapter:

You can hose clamp the tubing to the barb for a better seal. be sure and use teflon tape between the compression fitting and barbed adapter.

 

[KiltLifter]

I have a brass compression fitting on mine, no leaks there. I've never seen compression fittings with barbs on the other end, but you could screw on a barbed fitting. Don't know if that's clear - my fitting has a compression on one side and pipe thread on the other - I screw an air hose fitting to the pipe thread - but you could buy a pipe to barbed fitting and slip your hose on the barb. Price? comp/brass = $4.49 @ACE - pipe/barb = $2

No I don't cool with air - my air hose fittings are what I use for quick disconnect water fittings. Only problem is the locking balls in the female sometimes rust (cuz they're cheap HFT connectors).

(I guess I'm slow, now there's a picture in the Baron's post)

 

[Aleforge]

Thanks for the tips, I did go ahead and get extra thick walled tubing to replace the thin stuff I had, maybe with 2 clamps it will work. If not I will try and find that compression fitting setup!

 

[jds]

I did something similar, but I went from copper to compresion fitting to hose adapter.

That way, I have nothing but metal in the pot to sanitize it, and I can hook up the hoses once I kill the flame on the burner. I do have to watch it so I don't burn myself on the copper -- it's awfully hot after boiling it for ten minutes.

 

[Bouza]

After you tighten down your clamps initially, run hot water through your new hose/IC... warming the hose up... then tighten again.
Good luck!

 

[Saccharomyces]

This may work better for you.

Chiller copper tubing to compression fitting:

Then to barbed adapter:

You can hose clamp the tubing to the barb for a better seal. be sure and use teflon tape between the compression fitting and barbed adapter.

Ohh that looks like money there... If I can find those fittings that's what I'll try for sure. Where'd you find the F MIPS to barb?

 

[Baron ken]

Ohh that looks like money there... If I can find those fittings that's what I'll try for sure. Where'd you find the F MIPS to barb?

Lowes or Ace Hardware should have them.

I actually did something like jds except I went from the compression fittings to a pipe thread to garden hose adapter then to a "Y" garden hose fitting so I could control flow to different ICs (see here) and then a garden hose quick disconnect from there to the garden hose (also have a quick disconnect fitting on my recirculation pump hose).

Click image for larger size.

I would recommend the compression fitting -> pipe to garden hose adapter -> quick disconnect setup. Then you can use a quick disconnect with an off/on knob on your garden hose. With the off/on knob, you don't have to run over to the spigot on your house to turn the water off and on.

EDIT: you will notice that I still use the tubing with hose clamp on the outlet tubes for mine, LOL. If those start leaking I may replace them with compression fitting setups like I mentioned above.