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immersion chiller question
i finally got around to buying the materials and making a new 50' copper immersion chiller over the weekend (way easier to do than i thought, and not too pricey, less than 50 bucks in parts. wish i didn't wait so long!)
anyways my question is about what kind of cleaning/prep to do before using it for the first time?
my last one was a smaller 25' coil that i got used, so not sure if theres any special treatment the copper needs between the store and the kettle.
thanks for any advice!
I would just soak it in hot PBW for 10 minutes or so, then hose it off. Should be good to go then.
Or at least that was my plan for my new IC.
Love the kegerator in the kitchen osky- you rock!
brewchez wrote:
I would just soak it in hot PBW for 10 minutes or so, then hose it off. Should be good to go then.
Or at least that was my plan for my new IC.
sounds good, thanks. didn't think there was any special treatment needed (like the debatable "pickeling" of brass) but thought i'd throw it out there.
thirsty wrote:
Love the kegerator in the kitchen osky- you rock!
ha, thanks. had to pull a few strings to get that one to fly! can't wait to hear what she says when i install the next tap...
How hard was this to make? Any advice on where to get the proper supplies and how to make one? I need to get one capable of cooling ten gallon batches.
i'd say making this was about a 5 out of 10 on the difficulty scale, not bad at all. i usually stay in the range of 5 to 8 gallon boils, and i used to use a 25' coil chiller. it worked fine for 5 gallons, but i wanted to speed things up for cooling larger boils so i upgraded to 50'. i haven't gotten a 10 gallon batch kettle yet, but plan to keep using the 50' chiller once i do.
i bought a 50' coil of 3/8" outer diameter copper tubing at lowes for about 35 bucks. i straightened out about 2-3' at the end then started tightening the coils around a corny keg. the trickiest part was hand bending the straightened out bottom end up through the inside of the coil, and then bending both ends so they would hook over the outside of the kettle. the easiest way to ruin your copper coil is by bending it to much over too small of a distance and kinking it. i just went really slowly and didn't bend it too much at any one point.
i also bought 20' of 3/8" inner diameter vinyl tubing, 6 hose clamps, and a garden hose adapter with a 3/8" barb. this was all about 10 bucks. i run water from the garden hose through 14' of the vinyl tubing in an ice bath before going into the chiller. vinyl isn't the ideal material for prechilling, but 20 cents per foot is a hell of a lot cheaper than copper, and it works fine for me. i have 6' attached to the other end for drainage. i double clamped all of the hoses to help prevent leaks, and i keep the water flow as low as possible.
it really is much easier to make than you would think, and way cheaper. i've seen 25' coil chillers being sold for 20-30 bucks more than what i paid to make this 50' coil chiller. just take it slow, and don't kink the copper and you'll be good.
Thanks!
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