Thursday, January 24, 2008

Immersion Wort Chiller Project

So, with this new house, I get to learn/teach myself some new skills.
One that I want to learn is copper working.
I hate the utility sink in our basement. I wanna replace it with a double basin stainless sink, AND the friggin' hot and cold taps are switched. It's only like 15 feet from the hot water heater so whoever installed it was a goddam genius.

Last brewday, I was chilling the Galactic Senator down to pitching temps, and I realized a pre-chiller might come in handy. I mean the hose water was cold, but in the summer....
So I looked up how much copper I'd need, what size, etc., etc.
Here's my parts list:

- 50' of 3/8" Type L copper refrigeration tubing.
- 40' 3/8" ID vinyl tubing.
- 2 female hose connectors.
- 10 stainless Steel hose clamps.
Total Cost of these supplies < $80.

I also got a new blowtorch, some flux, lead-free solder, etc. And I learned a new skill.

I made two 25' wort chillers, similiar to the one I already owned. I used a corny keg to wrap the already coiled coil around and get the shape right. I used my older chiller as a guide for the bends. Then I lightly sanded, fluxed, and sweated the copper along the long edge where the in and the out touch. The idea is that water will come up the hose, into the prechiller sitting in a cooler full of ice water, the chilled water will then run into the immersion chiller in the wort, cooling it faster and more. Sweet.

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