Immersion Chiller Build

[Jbug]

I'm kinda just getting the items gathered up to build a chiller... I was able to get my hands on 25'-30' of copper tubing (1/2")... If I were to use this to make the coils, would it work well enough to not fuss with tryin to get another 30' or 40' of tubing?

Also I plan on changing this to a jamil style chiller when I get a pump later on down the road...

Any advice would be a great help!


Josh

[BadRock]

It all depends on how fast and efficiently you want to cool. The 25-30' will do but it's going to take long and be less efficient than if you were to double your surface area. I'd probably lean toward getting more, you'll be happier in the end.

[Jbug]

I think your right... Especialy if gonna convert it to a whirlpool immersion chiller later..

Josh

[maxwell]

It depends on how much wort you're chilling. Is this for a 5 gal batch? The coolant temp is also really important. I can get to pitching temp in 15 minutes with ice water flowing through the chiller and stirring (I pick up the chiller and stir the pot with it), but using tap water and no agitation it can take an hour. My sense is that agitation of the wort and coolant temp may be more important than doubling surface area.

[Jbug]

I will be doing 5 gal batches for a long time I feel... So I could make a tub of ice water and hook up a small pond pump? Copper is high dollar and I'd rather nit spend the $$$

Thanks
Josh

[Mylo]

LINKY


Mylo

[Jbug]

Wow... That thing was a beast!

[curtisfishes]

Here is a summary of my experience with IC's:

I live in Chico CA and my current tap water temp is 57 degrees. In the summer it is much warmer probably around 70 degrees. I originally started with a 25' X 3/8" IC in a 8 gal pot for 5 gallon batches without a Jamil recirculation system. It took a long time to cool the wort down to 67 degrees. If I kept the lid on and swirled the pot (danger of spilling hot wort on your parts) or moved the IC around in the pot, or stirred it with a sanitized spoon (danger of infection) it helped speed things up. I ended up using tap water for the boiling to 100 degrees part then I would use a bilge pump recirculating through ice water to bring the temps from 100 to 67 degrees.

Then I moved to 10 gallon batches and bought another IC that was 50' X 1/2". I attempted to build myself a Jamil recirc system but I used too big a diameter of a copper pipe and could never get the flow velocity in the whirlpool high enough. So this would do fine in the winter, but in the summer I still used the bilge pump/ice water through the IC to speed things up.

I finally built a "true" Jamil recirc setup last week by bending about 3 feet of 1/2" copper. The difference was astounding. I brewed a couple 5 gallon batches using the 50' X 1/2" IC with a good whirlpool and just using tap water at 57 degrees I was able to go from boiling to 62 degrees (undershot my pitching temp) in 15 minutes.

After having no Jamil recirc system, then going to a poorly working one, to a system that really recirculates well, I have come to believe as long as you have a decent amount of IC length, that having the entire volume of wort mixing across the IC is much more important. An IC is all about heat transfer, and if there is not a difference in temperature between the IC and the wort (because the wort is not moving) then there won't be efficient heat transfer.

It is my opinion that you would cool 5 gallons of wort much faster with 25' of 1/2" copper and a Jamil recirculation system then you would with twice the length without recirculating.

Again, this is my experience and your situation might be different. Looking back, I wished I would have tested different things using boiling water to figure out what works for me instead of doing this with multiple batches of beer. If I had been systematic, I could have come up with my optimal setup much quicker. Good Luck!

Curtis