Homemade Wort Chiller

Devi

Anybody made their own wort chiller? Im thinking about it, looks easy enough. Any pitfalls to look out for?

azzeretti

Devi wrote: »

Anybody made their own wort chiller? Im thinking about it, looks easy enough. Any pitfalls to look out for?

Not really, that I can think of. They are very handy to make. I used a paint tin as a template and just slowly wrapped the copper around it, then a couple of garden connectors for the in/out hose and you're sorted! I would say there a loads of youtube vidoes on it, surely!

Devi

azzeretti wrote: »

Not really, that I can think of. They are very handy to make. I used a paint tin as a template and just slowly wrapped the copper around it, then a couple of garden connectors for the in/out hose and you're sorted! I would say there a loads of youtube vidoes on it, surely!

Yea ive been having a look, seems dead easy, cant seem to find 3/8" copper coil anywhere tough.

Edwardius

Woodies do 10mm copper, about €30 for 10m. Works fine for me

Devi

Edwardius wrote: »

Woodies do 10mm copper, about €30 for 10m. Works fine for me

Never thought of searching in mm, all the youtube vids are American and it’s all in inches.

Tube

When bending go nice and slow or you'll kink the pipe. Not the end of the world, but damn annoying to have an otherwise perfect chiller with an obvious straightened out kink.

Devi

Tube wrote: »

When bending go nice and slow or you'll kink the pipe. Not the end of the world, but damn annoying to have an otherwise perfect chiller with an obvious straightened out kink.

I think you can get pipe benders though can't yea? Had a look in bnq and woodies and couldn't find the 10mm coil although it's on their website. Going to try the local plumbing supplies Tuesday, usually half the price if the big chains anyway.

Tube

You can get pipe benders and I have a 10mm one, but being honest it was a waste of money, as it's not necessary.

rubadub

you can fill the tube with sand or salt to stop if kinking when bending, if its a large enough diameter you are bending it should be OK.

When doing "turbo yeasts" in hot countries some people throw in frozen 2L bottles of water to cool them down. Like giant versions of those plastic ice cubes you get which do not dilute your drinks.

BaZmO*

Couple of years back I made 2 (sold the spare one of Beoir) from a 25m Coil of 10mm Copper. Got it through work so can't remember how much I paid for the Coil.

I used a copper bending spring, because despite what people might say, it's very difficult to make sharp bends without the pipe kinking. The sand thing doesn't really work as the sand is just displaced when the pipe is bent, causing a kink.
I bent the Coil around an old piece of 6" Waste Pipe.

Devi

BaZmO* wrote: »

Couple of years back I made 2 (sold the spare one of Beoir) from a 25m Coil of 10mm Copper. Got it through work so can't remember how much I paid for the Coil.

I used a copper bending spring, because despite what people might say, it's very difficult to make sharp bends without the pipe kinking. The sand thing doesn't really work as the sand is just displaced when the pipe is bent, causing a kink.
I bent the Coil around an old piece of 6" Waste Pipe.

Looks as good as the shop bought one. You should start selling them. If you got a good copper supplier you could sell for a lot less than the shops.

BaZmO*

Devi wrote: »

Looks as good as the shop bought one. You should start selling them. If you got a good copper supplier you could sell for a lot less than the shops.

I actually spoke to one of the online Homebrew Equipment suppliers at the time about supplying them but it wasn't worth the hassle/cost of doing it.
Could probably sell them direct to homebrewers but again, probably not worth the hassle. The cost of copper can be a problem too. It's a commodity so the price can fluctuate quite a bit.