loss of flexibility on copper tubing.

[FromZwolle]

I've seen a ton of threads on building your own cfc and immersion chillers using flexible cu tubing. Almost all of them mention that the tubing will lose most of its flexability when striatening, but i can't find a single post referring to copper annealing, which restores all if not more flexability to the metal. After annealing and rebending into the desired coil, the metal should be at perfect operation hardness. Just utube copper annealing for a good demonstration. I you have a propane torch, a bucket of water, and another five minutes, you can get even the most stubborn pipe to behave. Just sayin.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I've seen a ton of threads on building your own cfc and immersion chillers using flexible cu tubing. Almost all of them mention that the tubing will lose most of its flexability when striatening, but i can't find a single post referring to copper annealing, which restores all if not more flexability to the metal. After annealing and rebending into the desired coil, the metal should be at perfect operation hardness. Just utube copper annealing for a good demonstration. I you have a propane torch, a bucket of water, and another five minutes, you can get even the most stubborn pipe to behave. Just sayin.

Annealing 25' of copper tubing is gonna take a while.

 

[Nova5]

Don't straighten it just to bend it again. just wrap it around your cylinder of choice (5gal bucket, etc). the more metal is bent the weaker it gets

 

[FromZwolle]

i'm dutch, i'll spend time to save money. anyway, just dropping some info for those who may not have heard of these thing. it isn't restricted to brew gear. this kind of know-how can be a real $-saver in all sorts of diy projects.

 

[shortyjacobs]

I had no idea you could reverse work-hardening. Thanks!

 

[Shepherd5]

Initially, copper tubing is very flexible and easy to bend, but the more you bend it, the more brittle it becomes because the molecular structure becomes more tightly bonded. It is amazing how hard the tubing becomes after a few bends.

 

[Bobby_M]

When I've made my CFC, it's really hard to work a coiled piece of copper into the tubing. After you straighten it, you could just hit it with a torch before stuffing it into the tubing if you wanted max flexibility. I don't think one straighten and recoil cycle is enough to be a problem though.