Homemade wort chiller?

[JimH]

Well, I think I might be ready to start thinking of making a wort chiller. I am a little rusty on my thermodynamics, so if anyone wants to chime in, I am all ears. So, I am thinking I can do this in stages to help spread the investment costs. The copper tubing right now is the biggest expense. I was thinking of going with 3/8" OD copper tube. Will this work?

Now the hard parts of this. I don't brew outside (yet), so the garden hose route is not an option right now. The faucet adapter is out as well. But, I was thinking of submersible pump in the sink in an ice bath. Some of those can be pricey. I do have in my possession a small fountain pump. Not big or powerful, 66 gallon per hour (really tiny). But, for now I am on two gallon batches. This might be a place to start, the pump was free, and I think I have everything to make it work right now. My existing hoses fit nicely, and should work with the copper. My out of pocket expense right now would be the copper tube. Then, when I get some funds and maybe do bigger boils, I would upgrade the pump. Swamp cooler pumps can be had about $15 at the hardware store. But they use 1/2" ID discharge hoses. I could neck down to the 3/8" copper with a few $5 adapters. The 1/2" copper is a bit more pricey than the 3/8" but maybe I should go that route, although I think most chillers I see are 3/8" I think.

Opinions?

[John Sand]

I made one. I used 3/8 copper, I got 50' on ebay for $32, iirc. 3/8 fits nicely in washing machine hose, I already had hose clamps. With 50' I had enough for double coils, but many are 25'. For a 2 gallon batch 25' would be fine, if you don't mind making another if you move up in batch size. I believe your fountain pump will work with small tube and a low lift. If not, pre-fill the chiller, then it will only have to create flow. Look online or in Palmer for instructions. Copper work hardens slightly, so try to do it only once or twice. You can do this, many do.

[dbrowning]

Your 66 gallon per hour pump will work just fine pumping ice water through chiller
You may have to add more ice as the water warms
That's what I use except my ice bath is in a BIG Styrofoam cooler
Will cool a 5.5 Gallon batch below 85 pretty fast

Why is faucet adapter out of the question?
Only about $4

[gwcr]

Go for it. Absolutely one of the easiest DIY projects I ever did. Built mine about 3 years ago for $31 and change (all from Lowes), so I'm sure prices have gone up since then. Here's how I did mine.

Parts:
3/8 OD Copper Tubing (20 ft)
3/8 ID Plastic Tubing (~20 ft, cut in half)
1 hose barb end
3 clamps


Formed the coil around a paint can.


Inflow and outflow bends.


Finished product.


If you decide to go this route, take your time when bending the copper. You don't want to get any kinks that could restrict the flow. If I were to do it again, I would use a longer length of copper and probably 1/2" OD instead of 3/8" OD, but this was what they had available at the time for a reasonable price. Regardless, I can get my 5G batches to pitching temp in about 15-20 minutes with this thing. Would probably go even quicker with a pump in ice water (which I hope to rig up this summer).

[JimH]

Your 66 gallon per hour pump will work just fine pumping ice water through chiller
You may have to add more ice as the water warms
That's what I use except my ice bath is in a BIG Styrofoam cooler
Will cool a 5.5 Gallon batch below 85 pretty fast

Why is faucet adapter out of the question?
Only about $4

I would have thought the 66gph was a little low. But, it is what I have, and it seems to work well for you. I might just have to give this a try. The faucet adapter won't hook up to the faucet on my sink, and I rent, so replacing the faucet isn't gonna happen just for a wort chiller.

gwcr, thanks for the pictures. I think the 3/8 and a paint can will work perfect. Even with the small pump, if I were to ice bath the pot and pump through the wort, combined will be a pretty effective cool down.

[DaYooper]

Not sure how much the tubing is going for but on anothre forum someone gave their cost to make a 25' copper cooler and this was actually cheaper than buying the parts:

http://www.homebrewing.org/25-38-Econom ... _2734.html

[dbrowning]

Your 66 gallon per hour pump will work just fine pumping ice water through chiller
You may have to add more ice as the water warms
That's what I use except my ice bath is in a BIG Styrofoam cooler
Will cool a 5.5 Gallon batch below 85 pretty fast

Why is faucet adapter out of the question?
Only about $4

I would have thought the 66gph was a little low. But, it is what I have, and it seems to work well for you. I might just have to give this a try. The faucet adapter won't hook up to the faucet on my sink, and I rent, so replacing the faucet isn't gonna happen just for a wort chiller.

gwcr, thanks for the pictures. I think the 3/8 and a paint can will work perfect. Even with the small pump, if I were to ice bath the pot and pump through the wort, combined will be a pretty effective cool down.

Youve taken the aerator off your fcaucet and adapter wont screw on?

[JimH]

Haven't taken the aerator off to try it, but the aerator threads are recessed into the head of the faucet. It looks like there is very little clearance for an adapter, since the aerator is such thin plastic.

[RickBeer]

Fancy faucets like the one below are not intended to have aerators taken off and on.

faucet

[John Sand]

We have a new fancy faucet. The aerator unscrews, but anything I screw into it leaks. I suspect that it is designed to draw air in through the threaded part. I still attach a wort chiller and bottle washer to it, I just watch that the leaks go into the sink.

[Dawg LB Steve]

This was my Thursday night project, 20' 3/8" copper roll, 16' 1/2" clear vinyl tubing, couple hose clamps and a 60-80gph fountain pump from Lowes came to $54 and change. Gave it a "dry run", (no hot wort) pumps sufficiently.

[Banjo-guy]

Northern Brewer sells a 3/8 25 ft. copper chiller for 70.00. Of course you have to add shipping.

I went with stainless steel which is slightly less efficient but I can store it in my stainless steel kettle and not worry about the interaction of different metals.

I bought it for about 50.00

[John Sand]

SS is cheaper and stronger. I store my copper one in an aluminum kettle, I just put it in a garbage bag first.

[DaYooper]

SS is cheaper and stronger. I store my copper one in an aluminum kettle, I just put it in a garbage bag first.

Glad I read this. I have just been leaving my copper in my S/S kettle. Although I havent noticed anything, it looks like I may want to use a garbage bag as well.

[John Sand]

Yoop, SS is fairly non-reactive. In general, the presence of an electrolyte is necessary for decay. For instance, my front door lock is brass and mild steel. It may be 70 years old and still works fine. But I store my gear in the basement, and to keep it clean I cover it. Of course, separating dis-similar metals can't hurt.