Well, that was an ordeal

[FedoraDave]

I brewed a fiver of 100 Years War IPA this morning. It should have been a really short brew day, since it's an extract recipe.

But when I started to set up downstairs for chilling the wort, I made an awful discovery. As I usually do, I hooked up my copper immersion chiller to the water line and to the waste line, which feeds directly into my sump pump. I turned the water on to fill the whole thing with water, and discovered a leak in the chiller, at the bend near the intake. I slid the intake feed further down to try to cover it, but it still spurted a steady stream of water. I couldn't use this without risking A) contaminating my wort and B) having a real mess in my basement.

So I was reduced to chilling my wort with nothing but an ice bath. I had to run out to get another bag of ice, too. It took nearly two hours to get it down to 66 degrees, when it usually takes only 15 minutes or so, with the immersion chiller and ice bath combined.

So I need to head out and see if there's something like a caulk, only for copper tubing, that will seal the leak and allow me to continue using this immersion chiller. Doesn't need to be food-grade or anything, since it's not going to go anywhere near the wort. And I don't want something that requires solder or other equipment/skills, since I don't have any of those.

Suggestions? Or do I have to buy a whole new immersion chiller next time I go to the LHBS?

[MrBandGuy]

I don't have any suggestions, Dave, but I'd be interested. My chiller had a small leak at a soldering joint, discovered as I chilled. I let it ride and the beer turned out fine.


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[BlackDuck]

How about some Flex Tape? Works on boats!!!

[FedoraDave]

A couple of my Facebook friends suggested Flexseal, actually. It's not food grade, but I know that part of the chiller will never touch the beer.

When I go to Lowe's tomorrow, I'll ask and shop around, because I know I'll probably use a small amount of whatever it is just this once, then lose the container in the Labyrinth of Junk that is my basement. So I don't want to wind up buying a huge container of it. I also won't need to use the wort chiller for a while, since I'm not planning any five-gallon batches for another couple weeks, at least.

[dbrowning]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/BLUE-MAGIC-1 ... 3=&veh=sem

[FedoraDave]

dbrowning, that may be just what the MD prescribed! Thanks large. I will look for it at Lowe's, and if they don't have it (or something similar) I will definitely stop at my local (but slightly further away) Wally World.

Or I could order it online; as I said, I probably wouldn't need it for another couple weeks.

ETA: I just checked the website for my local Lowe's, and they have JB Weld. It claims to do what I want it to do, and it says "Drinking Water Safe" on the packaging. Not that it would be an issue, but it's good to know. Guess that's what I'll be looking for tomorrow morning!

[LouieMacGoo]

My father and brother have been sailors for many, many years and being out on the water we have had occasions that we needed to patch various holes or leaks and make sure they were water proof. To do the job we have used marine epoxy to create a worry free seal to patch said holes.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-0-85 ... /100371825

[RickBeer]

JB Weld

[Dawg LB Steve]

Tubing cutter and a union compression fitting, cut out the bad area install compression fitting and tighten the nuts!
https://www.google.com/search?q=compres ... 9nRTzAs%3D

[FedoraDave]

Well, I found some JB Weld at my local Lowe's, so I have that. But it seems there really isn't any breach in the chiller after all.

I connected the hoses the opposite way of how I usually connect them, thinking that it might be easier to see where the water was coming out if it wasn't as close to the source. I ran water through it at low pressure, but didn't see anything. I increased the pressure and still didn't see anything. So I reconnected the hoses the way I usually do and used full pressure. Nothing. So it seems I simply didn't tighten the hose clamps completely BOTH TIMES yesterday.

Well, I'm keeping the JB Weld handy, just in case something happens at some point. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[Inkleg]

Glad you got it squared away.
After awhile hoses rubber/vinyl can become hard and brittle making it difficult to get a good seal. New hoses can be cheap insurance over ruining a beer.

[Tabasco]

If the chiller was sanitized, I doubt it would have been a problem. Oh yeah, putting it into hot wort sanitizes it, heh.

65 deg? I chill mine down to about 80 after the boil, but I'm doing less than 5 gal mash, and bring it up to the 5gal line in the fermenter by adding cold water which I tap into the brew pot which is obviously sanitized as it had been used for the boil, so that further brings it down to pitch. It's like the Mr. Beer method, only after a mash and hop boil. To get it down to 80 after the boil, I just set the brew pot in the slop sink and surround it with cool water. Drain sink and refill a couple times. No ice. Takes about 20-25 mins, but the volume is about 3 gals til I dump into fermenter and add more water.

So you did the right thing not taking a chance, but I never had signs of any goobs in my tapwater. Look at all the MrB batches we've made adding water.

[FedoraDave]

Good point, Tabasco. I just like doing full-volume boils. When I do a 2.5 gallon batch, I chill it the same way you describe; just put it in the sink with tap water and change out the water whenever it gets too warm. I do use refrigerated water toward the end, to get it into the mid-60s, though. All part of the process I've developed over the years.

[Tabasco]

Good point, Tabasco. I just like doing full-volume boils. When I do a 2.5 gallon batch, I chill it the same way you describe; just put it in the sink with tap water and change out the water whenever it gets too warm. I do use refrigerated water toward the end, to get it into the mid-60s, though. All part of the process I've developed over the years.

Nice.

[FedoraDave]

Whatever works, right?