wort chiller

[Mark1964]

making a wort chiller is a doddle - and bloody good fun!!

Tested mine today - 98c to 28c in 15 minutes :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Here it is being leak tested just after I built it :

COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT DIAMETER THE COPPER PIPE IS ALSO IS IT THE BENDABLE TYPE USED FOR REFRIDGERATION DID YOU USE SAND TO FILL THE PIPE TO STOP IT KINKING IM GOING TO MAKE ONE AT THE WEEKEND

THANKS

 

[Muddy Funker]

To aereate your wort your better off maybe running the wort from your boiler in to your fv from a bit of a height as it goes in your fv it will aereate etc

I was just worried if leaving to cool overnight some of the air will have disipated? I'll do both :-)

 

[BigYin]

Mark, stop shouting :lol:

Have a read of the how-to I did - the link is further back in this thread :thumb:

The coils are 10mm soft copper tube. So long as you bend it around a former of some kind - maybe a bucket or a pipe of suitable size - it will bend without kinking. Just take your time.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics :mrgreen:

 

[Mark1964]

priced up all the bits its really cheap at plumb centre about £15 for the 10mm pipe and around 40 to 70 pence for the joints etc will be making the chiller in about 3 weeks ill upload some photos when i make it. How do you upload photos any way??????

 

[Muddy Funker]

priced up all the bits its really cheap at plumb centre about £15 for the 10mm pipe and around 40 to 70 pence for the joints etc will be making the chiller in about 3 weeks ill upload some photos when i make it. How do you upload photos any way??????

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5745

This should help.

 

[BigYin]

priced up all the bits its really cheap at plumb centre about £15 for the 10mm pipe and around 40 to 70 pence for the joints etc will be making the chiller in about 3 weeks ill upload some photos when i make it. How do you upload photos any way??????

I went to my local plumb centre and was quoted a discounted price of £6 per metre for the 10mm tube :shock: - and I know I use between 8 and 10 metres in one double coil chiller - so how you are getting enough for only £15 is a mystery to me!!!

 

[Aleman]

PlumbCentre can be a bit of a rip off Screwfix have 25m of 10mm for 50 quid so 2 quid a metre . . . and they are not the cheapest since being taken over by BnQ . . . Bes are doing 25m of 10mm for 43.60 and 8mm for 27.60 . . . OK plus VAT . . . don't know what my local trade place is selling for at the moment . . . but I think it's cheaper than that

 

[Mark1964]

ok thanks ill take a look :

 

[Mark1964]

Mark, stop shouting :lol:

Have a read of the how-to I did - the link is further back in this thread :thumb:

The coils are 10mm soft copper tube. So long as you bend it around a former of some kind - maybe a bucket or a pipe of suitable size - it will bend without kinking. Just take your time.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics :mrgreen:

Ok thanks, didnt realise i had caps lock on my pc :lol:

 

[Muddy Funker]

So surely with the prices of copper it's cheaper to just buy one for £40?

 

[Mark1964]

I still think it would be cheaper to make but not sure how much cheaper. Dont forget the homemade one has 2 copper coils i dont think the bought ones are the same more coils = better cooling. Ill make one soon and post up the cost etc :

 

[BigYin]

I went with the double coil design as I believe it will be the most efficient of the homemade designs.

I've seen them with the coils all touching each other - but to me that is a waste of the copper since every bit of pipe not in contact with the wort isn't cooling it, so the best compromise is slightly fewer coils, but not touching each other.

Given the physical limitations on size - i.e. it has to fit within the boiler - having two sets of coils is going to almost double the available heat exchange surface area - so for every litre of water used you will get a better cooling effect.

I see that as two big advantages - firstly water use - with only a moderate water flow, the cold water going into the chiller was being heated by 60c in the 5 seconds or so it took it to get around the chiller and back out :shock: - that's a very efficient use of water - so if you're on a water meter, any increase in efficiency can only be a good thing.

Secondly, time - having gone through all the time it takes to do an AG brew, do you really want the cooller to be slow?? Get it chilled, get the yeast pitched, lid on, open a beer and relax!!! :drink:

Lastly, the only commercially made one I've seen was a stainless steel single coil one, for around £40 or £45 - for the same money you can make your own double coil copper one - and I believe (could stand to be corrected though) that copper is a better heat conductor than steel, further improving the efficiency of the copper cooller

 

[Mark1964]

 

[Mark1964]

This wort chiller is probably not as efficient as the one described earlier but if your strapped for cash its probably a cheaper option just the 12 metres of 10 mm pipe and if you want to use a garden hose just solder a 10-15mm adapter to the top ends and thats basically it. :

 

[Aleman]

That chiller is fine for a 5 gallon batch . . . but won't fit a 10 gallon boiler with a 5 gallon batch in it . . . and don't be surprised to see the cost of those go shooting through the roof once they have sold the old stock

 

[oz11]

I have a brupaks chiller (picked up for £30 which I thought was ok) as shown above and the coils are easily separated if you want to make it longer, re-shape it etc...

 

[Mark1964]

i agree 5 gallon would be ok and thats all i need for the moment. Maybe when i progress a bit will definately seek a bigger chiller for bigger brews

 

[gsidford]

don't know what my local trade place is selling for at the moment . . . but I think it's cheaper than that

From my local plumbers merchant in Studly, 10m roll of 10mm microbore was £17.something.