Immersion Chiller with plastic tubing?

[boochuckles]

Is there any reason why I can't/shouldn't make an immersion chiller with some plastic tubing? I was thinking about attaching it to a pie tin or something else to weight it down. I have a bottling bucket with a spigot that I'm going to fill with ice water and place it up on a counter and let gravity do the rest. I don't see why this wouldn't work but I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has any other ideas or reasons why it wouldn't work? Thanks

 

[bknifefight]

I am not sure how you would use a plastic IC that would not involve it being placed in boiling wort. You could get high temperature tubing but it is expensive and probably wouldnt transfer the temperature as well as the metal would.

Can you please explain the setup you envision with this, because I am very curious of your full idea.

 

[ColdbreakBrewing]

Is there any reason why I can't/shouldn't make an immersion chiller with some plastic tubing? I was thinking about attaching it to a pie tin or something else to weight it down. I have a bottling bucket with a spigot that I'm going to fill with ice water and place it up on a counter and let gravity do the rest. I don't see why this wouldn't work but I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has any other ideas or reasons why it wouldn't work? Thanks

Its not rated for temperatures that high. The reason immersion chillers are made from copper, is its ability to transfer heat. I wouldn't recommend putting plastic into boiling wort.

 

[JrBeerGut]

Are we talking about Pex here? If so, I also think that it wouldn't transfer the heat well and act more like an insulator. It would probably handle the higher heat though, but I bet that copper would last alot longer for this application.

 

[kh54s10]

Mostly that it won't transfer heat well. If it cooled the wort, it would be very slow.

 

[brewing_wookie]

What everyone is saying about heat transfer is correct. The point if an imersion chiller is to act like ice cubes. Your drink gets cold because your drink is hot when compared to the temperature of an ice cube. Hot fluid has more energy than cold so the heat moves to the cold to balance out, this is your heat transfer. Same concept apllies to wort chilling and the plastic is an insulator so it is very pour and heat transfer. Plus, like mentioned above, anything that is heat resistant, will be pricey enough to just buy copper.

 

[cannman]

Wort boils at about 212f+, pvc is only good to about 140f.

Skip the plastic, buy copper, or use your sink/bathtub.

Good luck!