Immersion chiller

[theCougfan97]

Any recommendations or advice on what type of tubing to use on the ends of my chiller? I like the flexibility of have tubes rather than just the fixed copper ends.

 

[odtheta]

I am new to this and just made my immersion chiller I used the vinyl tubing sold at the store this isn't going to touch the wort anyways. The one twist I did is at an adapter so I can hook it up to my faucet so I don't have to run garden hoses or anything. I am a little worried about the temp of the copper damaging the tube prior to running water but one batch later it still looks good.

 

[TerraNova]

I am new to this and just made my immersion chiller I used the vinyl tubing sold at the store this isn't going to touch the wort anyways. The one twist I did is at an adapter so I can hook it up to my faucet so I don't have to run garden hoses or anything. I am a little worried about the temp of the copper damaging the tube prior to running water but one batch later it still looks good.

Vinyl tubing is supposed to be fine up to 180º. Unless it touches the boiling wort directly it should be okay. I would probably try to use caution to keep away from the burners and from touching your brew pow as well, though.

 

[BlackDogBrew]

Go to Home Depot and buy the Sharkbite fittings. I used them when I made my immersion chiller. I used the coupling ones, but they have 90 degree ones also. It goes from copper to vinyl tubing with slip fittings. No compression, no soldering... Easy breezy. They cost about $4 each, but when you factor all of the compression fitting adapters you'd need, you're probably far ahead using Sharkbite.

 

[bad67z]

Go to Home Depot and buy the Sharkbite fittings. I used them when I made my immersion chiller. I used the coupling ones, but they have 90 degree ones also. It goes from copper to vinyl tubing with slip fittings. No compression, no soldering... Easy breezy. They cost about $4 each, but when you factor all of the compression fitting adapters you'd need, you're probably far ahead using Sharkbite.

That is the most



first post I have been witness to. Thanks for the excellent suggestion.

 

[BlackDogBrew]

Thanks buddy! I learned about Sharkbite from a Master Plumber a few years back. Now I use them for just about everything around the house, especially when it comes to retrofitting. In this case going from one type of tubing to another, it really is the smartest choice.

 

[cah]

I recently built an immersion chiller and used the standard 1/2" I'D cheap vinyl tubing. It works well enough, but it does tend to kink easily which is probably not a huge issue but I have had to prop something up under the hose to keep the outlets supported.

If I were to redo it I would probably try to use something thicker, either just a standard garden hose or possibly just the thicker wall 1/2" tubing. I'm tempted to try using some left over silicone hose but I worry about the pressure that would be pumped through it. For now I'll deal with weak vinyl until it really gets obnoxious.

As for the flexibility, I soldered 1/2 NPT female copper fittings to the outlets which I screwed 1/2 NPT male with hose barb into it. That gives me the flexibility to unscrew the inlet and outlet hoses for easier storage or cleaning.

As nice as it is to unscrew the fittings I'm already planning on upgrading to quick disconnect stainless fittings for quicker and easier operation. My wife tried brewing by herself this weekend and opted out of using the cooler because she wasn't comfortable with thread tape and reinstalling the water inlet hose. So will make it easier for her and just use quick disconnects ala bargain fittings.

I know it's gross overkill, but that's just how I roll. Why do it the simple way when you can spend more and make it more complicated lol.

 

[BetterSense]

I have a 1/2" immersion chiller and I used silicone hose. That way I can sanitize the hose by boiling, it lasts forever, and I didn't waste any copper by having copper surface area by building my chiller with part of it sticking up out of the wort. All my copper is below the waterline. I just have the silicone hose go down into the wort because it's no problem to boil it. No fittings involved, just push the hose over the copper.

 

[HeadyKilowatt]

I use vinyl tubing on my IC. The one piece of advice I will offer is to bend the inlet and outlet ends of the copper coil downward so that any leaks that may develop at the copper/vinyl connection will result in water dripping down away from the kettle rather than running down the copper into the wort.