stainless steel immersion chiller

[Liranc]

hi everyone, i'm thinking of buying a stainless steel immersion chiller.
the diameter is 3\8" and it's length is 26 foot (8 meter) or 49 foot (15 meter). now i know that copper is more efficient, but would it be reasonable to chill with with the chiller i described between 3-5 gallon of wort?
i'm not using a pump so no ice water only tap.
thank you

 

[Greytop]

It depends on your target temperature and the temperature of your tap water. I used a SS chiller for a long time, but it was best in winter. In the warmer months I used an aquarium pump from Harbor Freight in a cooler with ice water after the tap water brought the wort temp below 100°.

 

[Totally]

I use a stainless immersion chiller and would never use anything else now. Its a bit bigger at 50' x 1/2"
It chills super fast, is so easy to rinse clean and will never tarnish so I am not going to worry what might be going on inside the coils. I just use water from my outdoor hose tap, no prechill, but I stir quite a bit while chilling.

If you are looking at the 15meter just check that it actually fits in your pot, if more than half of it is out of the wort maybe the 8 meter is fine.

This is my brew note from my last 10Gallon batch of Kölsch.

"Chill wort from 208F to 74F time: 16 minutes"

 

[Liranc]

thanks for the answers. and you think that the smaller diameter will make it less efficient?

 

[chicken]

I have a stainless steel chiller, 3/8" x 25'. I've been pretty happy with it, although it isn't as efficient during the warmer months.

 

[hezagenius]

I just purchased a single piece 50' 3/8" SS IC and used it on my last batch. Prior to that, I used a 50' 1/2" copper chiller I made and soldered to keep the shape neat. I'm not going back to my copper chiller. Stainless is just way easier to clean, I don't have to worry about leaving it in cleaning solution too long, it's lighter than the copper one, and it doesn't bend as easily.

I put some SS compression fittings on it and some garden hose quick connects. Smooth sailing from here on out. The trade off for a less efficient chiller is worth it to me.

And the SS chiller was cheaper than the parts it took to build the copper one.

 

[Greytop]

I replaced my SS chiller with a copper Hydra by Jaded. It's amazing to me how much faster it is. The extra surface area and the conductivity of the copper make a big difference. I save the hot water in a couple of coolers and drop the hydra into one when I'm done. A quick brushing and hosing off is all it needs.