26 replies to this topic

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

https://coppertubing...bing_prices.phpI'm not talking size, check the link for what I mean...

[DuncanDad]

Like the link says, the AC tubing has the best heat transfer.The thiner the wall, the better, I would think.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Like the link says, the AC tubing has the best heat transfer.The thiner the wall, the better, I would think.

I didn't know if there was something about that that would make it unsafe to use or something.

[AspenLeif]

K is thick wallL is standard wallrefridgeration tubing most flexibleI'd just go with the cheapest. The thing you need to be concerned with is that you specify that you need 'soft' copper. Different metalurgy. You can bend and shape it....where hard copper...not so much.I'd get the cheapest (thinnest) soft copper you can get. If you are bending any tighter than a 6" radius...use a flexible spring bender so you don't kink it....you'll thank me. :)MB

[DuncanDad]

I would not think so.When I built my chillers, I always ran hot PBW through them before I used them the first time. Just to make sure that all the "stuff" that might be in there from the manufacturing process was gone.That's the smart thing to do anyway

[dagomike]

Yeah, I think the stuff at the hardware stores is ac/fridge stuff. Easier to bend.

[BrewerGeorge]

My chiller is made from the AC tubing from that very site.

[Kremer]

Just remember that refrigeration tubing is sized on OD, where K and L are sized on ID. Trade sizes for the same piece of pipe are different.

[NWPines]

My chiller is made from the AC tubing from that very site.

George, I think you're the one that pointed me to that site, so thanks! Their prices are hard to beat. Even with shipping to Oregon, it was the cheapest I could find. I used 50' of 1/2" AC/refrigeration tubing.

[brewhead]

ac tubing is dehydrated and capped. i made mine from ac tubing but i'm in the biz. 50 foot with soldered in hose hookups

[shmgeggie]

ac tubing is dehydrated and capped. i made mine from ac tubing but i'm in the biz. 50 foot with soldered in hose hookups

Is there any problem with using compression fittings?

[NWPines]

Is there any problem with using compression fittings?

I've made a couple chillers over the years using compression fittings and have not had any problems with them.

[phloop]

I just made a new 50' chiller using 1/2" REF. copper and comp fittings. Had no issues with it at all. MAde my first full 5gl boil a pleasure.

[zymot]

Thinner wall = closer contact between wort and chilling medium = gooder.Thinner wall will not handle "high" pressure as well. But we are talking about next to nothing in terms for pressure.Get the least expensive and apply the money saved on other brewery upgrades, or buy zymot a nice birthday present, it is never too early. Your choice.You do not say what type of chiller you are making. But this looks like the first chiller post on the new blue board. Let me open a can of worms.IMHO: CFC, no reason to make it longer than 20-22 feet. The extra length will not get you more cooling power.If you are making an IM, larger is not automatically better. As you increase the tube diameter, you put chilling water father away from the heating surface, i.e. the walls of the tube. You are better off using a smaller tube and otherwise increasing the flow rate through the tube. Note increasing the flow rate through a smaller tuber could still be a lower "gallons per minute" rate than with a larger tube.On my last point, I welcome qualified opinions to support or refute what I said. I am doing this from memory and the concept is up for discussion. Any thermal engineers that can provide input on the dynamics of heat transfer as it pertains to cooling wort out there?zymot

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Thinner wall = closer contact between wort and chilling medium = gooder.Thinner wall will not handle "high" pressure as well. But we are talking about next to nothing in terms for pressure.Get the least expensive and apply the money saved on other brewery upgrades, or buy zymot a nice birthday present, it is never too early. Your choice.You do not say what type of chiller you are making. But this looks like the first chiller post on the new blue board. Let me open a can of worms.IMHO: CFC, no reason to make it longer than 20-22 feet. The extra length will not get you more cooling power.If you are making an IM, larger is not automatically better. As you increase the tube diameter, you put chilling water father away from the heating surface, i.e. the walls of the tube. You are better off using a smaller tube and otherwise increasing the flow rate through the tube. Note increasing the flow rate through a smaller tuber could still be a lower "gallons per minute" rate than with a larger tube.On my last point, I welcome qualified opinions to support or refute what I said. I am doing this from memory and the concept is up for discussion. Any thermal engineers that can provide input on the dynamics of heat transfer as it pertains to cooling wort out there?zymot

I already have a pretty good 50' IC. This is actually for someone else but will probably be something similar.

[HarvInSTL]

Also check ebay. CopperTubingSales has an ebay store and it was cheaper via their ebay store than it was via their online store.My 50' 1/2" tubing was $42 shipped for me via their ebay store.But I would also check your local big box repair stores. A few days after mine arrived I was at Lowes picking up some other items and noticed their 50' 1/2" tubing was $39 plus tax. Which after tax was a couple bucks more than CopperTubingSales, but without the wait.

[Seagis]

This is one item that I don't have that I really want to get. I've always sorta wondered about this, and about whether or not it is cheaper to go the mail order route or buy the tubing locally. I had never heard of that website, though, and there is a Lowes and a Home Depot not but about 2 minutes from my office. I may go take a look at their prices when I leave here tonight.

[Jimmy James]

https://coppertubing...bing_prices.phpI'm not talking size, check the link for what I mean...

Thanks for posting this. I think upgrading my wimpy chiller is in the future now.

[Seagis]

It seems to me that I read somewhere (possibly on the GreenBoard) that anything above and beyond a certain diameter was a waste of money because you realize little, if any, additional cooling efficiency. What diameter would be optimal? I'm guessing 5/8' would be as big as you'd want to go, right?

Edited by Seagis, 02 April 2009 - 07:15 AM.

[Zulu]

Also check ebay. CopperTubingSales has an ebay store and it was cheaper via their ebay store than it was via their online store.My 50' 1/2" tubing was $42 shipped for me via their ebay store.But I would also check your local big box repair stores. A few days after mine arrived I was at Lowes picking up some other items and noticed their 50' 1/2" tubing was $39 plus tax. Which after tax was a couple bucks more than CopperTubingSales, but without the wait.

Aaron's pricing varies almost weekly , he posts the current market price and boasts and I easily believe - he is the cheapest place in the USA . He is local to me and I have used him many times and our local club guys all call on him too. He also makes a number of IM chillers for some of the commercial HB sites. The one you see tied with copper wire , could have come from his workshop.I really would be surprised if the coil you looked at at Lowes was as cheap as you say, obviously i was not there at the time, but my experience has been they are 45% more expensive , maybe it was only 25 ft, but I'm not going to call you on it I have made 5 chillers in last 2 years - 2 for me and 3 for other people.