Simple Immersion Wort Chiller

[Blackhawkbrew]

I already have an IC, but it does not get my wort down much past 100*. I was thinking of making a pre-chiller to put in a bucket of ice water. Would I be ok to use 20' of 3/8'' tubing?

 

[LarryC]

Backing up a few dozen posts, someone mentioned that discharging into the grass might kill the grass because of the heat. Has anyone tried running the discharge hose to an impact sprinkler? I would think the blasting it into droplets would cool it enough to not hurt the lawn. I think the water police would give me a break if I'm running the sprinkler for 20 minutes once a month

 

[Schlenkerla]

Backing up a few dozen posts, someone mentioned that discharging into the grass might kill the grass because of the heat. Has anyone tried running the discharge hose to an impact sprinkler? I would think the blasting it into droplets would cool it enough to not hurt the lawn. I think the water police would give me a break if I'm running the sprinkler for 20 minutes once a month

I still think the water would too f'n hot. I'd bet the grass would get burnt.

 

[conpewter]

Run off the first 5 gal for later cleaning, then I bet it will be fine as long as it goes through the sprinkler, will cool on the way there and will cool evaporativly as it flies through the air to it's destination. If I didn't brew indoors now and use the water in the washing machine I'd give it a try (in the summer)

 

[hlumbard]

Do I need a flare tool or something to connect the fittings to the tubing? I can't figure it out. I've got my copper coiled up and I want to try it out tomorrow for brew day.

 

[hlumbard]

Never mind. I just torqued down on the nuts real well and it works! Brought 3 gallons of water to a boil and ran the chiller with 60*ish water and it got down to 75 in 5 min.s! I've got some really good water pressure on the kitchen sink man!

 

[Layne]

My water comes out of the hose onto the driveway, and by the time it gets 20 feet to the grass it has cooled off, and doesn't bother the grass.

 

[permo]

I am thinking about building one of these for my 12 gallon pot. Is this 3/8 inch copper tubing the inside diameter or outside diameter of the tubing?

Maybe you just go buy 3/8 inch copper tubing and you don't worry about it..its all the same?

 

[Labguy64]

I already have an IC, but it does not get my wort down much past 100*. I was thinking of making a pre-chiller to put in a bucket of ice water. Would I be ok to use 20' of 3/8'' tubing?

That should be plenty. You can check the discharge temp after the ice bucket just to make sure.

 

[caphector]

Thanks for these directions; built a chiller with 20' of tubing from Home Depot and it's a huge improvement over an ice bath.

Next time I think I might go for full soldiered connections to allow the uprights to look nicer.

 

[jusware]

Has anyone measured how much water you have to run through the chiller for a 5 gal batch to get it down to adequate temps? Also, how long does it take? I've thought about including a stainless steel chiller as a permenant solution in my new system. was also thinking about putting a copper chiller in a 5 gal round igloo filled with water and frozen as a pre-chiller. My current method is to just leave the carboy in my kegorator at 34F until it is cool ... roughly 8 hrs later. Never had a problem with DMS.

 

[thesanch]

For me, since I have very warm water from the tap (85-90*F during the summer), I collect about 20 gallons into a tub. That typically gets me down to 100-110 within 10-15 min. Then I recirculate ice water using a fountain pump. There's probably 5-10g of that. It probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to get down to 65*F.

 

[johnodon]

I think I am going to stop by HD on the way home and start my next project! =)

Quick question...any need for rubber washers? I assume they are already in the washer hoses but didn't know if they were needed anywhere esle.

TIA,

John

 

[johnodon]

Here is an updated price list from HD (all items available in my local store). I chose to do 50ft of the 3/8" coil since my kettle will be 15 gallons.

1x 3/8 In. x 50 Ft. Copper Pipe, Type Refrigeration, Soft Coil - $56.36
Model 3/8 R 50
Store SKU# 256897
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=100354212

1x Tube Bending Spring Set - $9.48
Model T073
Store SKU# 639246
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=100158906

2x 3/8 In. x 1/2 In. Brass Compression Adapter with Insert - $7.68
Model A-124
Store SKU# 544019
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=100637921

2x 3/4 In. x 1/2 In. Brass Male Hose x FIP Adapter - $5.74
Model A-668
Store SKU# 550388
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=100637795​

A couple of notes:

• Unfiortunately, it doesn't look like they have single sized tube bending tools so I have to buy the kit.
  
  
• I have a extra washing machine hose at home so no need to buy one. Unfortunately, it is only 5ft long so I may end up replacing it in the end with a 10ft one. I plan on doing all brewing in my garage which has a hose bib so I have some flexibility with placement of equipment.
  
  
• I have an old length of garden hose that I ran over with my tractor. :rockin: I will use this for the output. (damn glad I saved it).
  
• I also had the teflon tape already. Saved a wopping $1.18

Total cost for me is $79.26 (before tax). Probably not the most economical path but I do love my projects.

Please review guys and let me know if you think I have missed anthing. Props and thanks to Schlenkera for getting me started in the right direction!

John

 

[Schlenkerla]

No problem! It looks good. I use old garden hoses on the ends of the washer hose. Sometimes mine is connected to a sink faucet other times the its on outdoor garden hose. It just depend on the weather.

 

[johnodon]

Got all of my stuff. Time to start bending some copper!

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

You can get the copper cheaper on eBay if you spend some time. And I've read a few IC builds where people didn't need the bender. Using salt/sand in the pipe will help prevent kinks when doing a tight bend...

 

[Briansierra]

I just bought a 50' x 3/8" from NY Brew Supply for $79, best price I've seen:

http://www.nybrewsupply.com/products/wort-chiller-copper-immersion.php#c1250

Description Unit price Qty Amount
Copper Immersion Wort Chiller - 3/8 in x 50 ft
Item# W3850-CV $64.99 USD 1 $64.99 USD
Subtotal $64.99 USD
Shipping and handling $13.99 USD
Total $78.98 USD
Payment $78.98 USD
Charge will appear on your credit card statement as "PAYPAL *NYBREWSUPPL"
Payment sent to [email protected]

 

[NoisufnoC]

Bumping up an old thread. I'm researching the build today since I am in need of a chiller. My plan is to go 50' so that in the future I could cannibalize the immersion chiller to build a counterflow and maybe a HERMS coil if I end up going that route down the road. Anyway, just immersion chiller for today.

• Coppertubingsales.com has 50' of 3/8" copper for $63.42 shipped.
• eBay has 50' of 3/8" copper for $61.84 shipped.
• NYbrewsupply.com has the completed 50' 3/8" chiller for $82.98 shipped.
• I dont know if my local Home Depot or Lowes has the copper anymore.

I realize if I buy the coil I still need fittings and hoses, at this time does it still pay to go DIY?

 

[thejakeshow]

Bumping up an old thread. I'm researching the build today since I am in need of a chiller. My plan is to go 50' so that in the future I could cannibalize the immersion chiller to build a counterflow and maybe a HERMS coil if I end up going that route down the road. Anyway, just immersion chiller for today.

• Coppertubingsales.com has 50' of 3/8" copper for $63.42 shipped.
• eBay has 50' of 3/8" copper for $61.84 shipped.
• NYbrewsupply.com has the completed 50' 3/8" chiller for $82.98 shipped.
• I dont know if my local Home Depot or Lowes has the copper anymore.

I realize if I buy the coil I still need fittings and hoses, at this time does it still pay to go DIY?

I just built one a couple of weeks ago. My local Home Depot has 50' of 3/8" copper refrigeration tubing for about $43.00. I picked up a 3/8" spring tube bender (~$3) from Ace Hardware because they sell them individually. 3/8" plastic tubing will slide over the 3/8" copper, so I used some of that and a Watt's 3/8" hose barb to female garden hose adapter (~$8). Hope that helps.

 

[NoisufnoC]

Right on. I'm going to make a research trip to HD or Lowes in the next day or two to get a total cost for DIY. I did already get the SWMBO approval to just buy a prebuilt unit though

 

[NoisufnoC]

what do you guys think about this one? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FDVD5S/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I took a leap of faith after reading the customer reviews and ordered it. I figure Amazon is a safe place to get it from incase it isn't want is described.

I'll let you guys know.

 

[profallout]

I bought 50' of 1/2" copper about a month ago for 63.56 shipped. I thought that was a pretty good deal for 1/2" pipe. Bought some compression fittings and garden hose adapters from Home Depot to complete the chiller.

Here's the link:
http://fierychill.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=1/2+X+50ft+Copper+Coil&x=0&y=0

 

[NoisufnoC]

pretty cool, good find on tubing.

 

[sensibull]

So, here's a dumb question, but how are you guys using these outside with *2* male hose fittings. The female end of my input hose is attached to my spigot, so I only have a male end for the input. I saw at least one person mention a female adapter but I didn't see one at HD and I'm wondering how everyone is using the 2 male adapters.

Nevermind. I think this is the part I need:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[thejakeshow]

So, here's a dumb question, but how are you guys using these outside with *2* male hose fittings. The female end of my input hose is attached to my spigot, so I only have a male end for the input. I saw at least one person mention a female adapter but I didn't see one at HD and I'm wondering how everyone is using the 2 male adapters.

Nevermind. I think this is the part I need:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

My local HD had a Watt's adapter that I used. I do not see it on the HD website. I found it on the Watts' website, though:

http://www.watts.com/pages/_products_details.asp?pid=6514

 

[profallout]

I use something very similar to this on both ends: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VKIIKK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I connect the female end of the garden hose to the spigot. (Actually a kitchen sink adapter for this time of year)
The male end to the adapter in the link.
The garden hose adapter hooks to a compression fitting that goes to the copper pipe.

This is the same on both ends so I have another garden hose for the exhaust.

 

[mallob9]

Hopefully making one tomorrow. I'm going w/ 20 ft. 3/8" seeing as how I only have a 4.5 gal brewpot. When I upgrade to a larger pot I'll make a new chiller using more footage of tubing and use the 20 footer as a pre-chiller. Thanks for the post, it was the same idea I had it's good to see the finished product though. Cheers

 

[NoisufnoC]

Just and update on the one I ordered. Their default shipping is FedEx Smart Post (read: SLOW SLOW SLOW) so if you're in a hury try to upgrade to real FedEx shipping.

 

[NoisufnoC]