soldering copper

[mmadia]

ok, i know squat about working with metal ... so this might give some of you a good laugh

to connect chunks of copper together, that aren't connected by joints, would they be soldered or welded?

here's an idea for making a whirlpool spoon.
Basically, its a length of rigid copper piping, threaded at the top. the bottom could be capped. near the bottom there's two fins somehow attached to the rigid pipe. the fins could either be flat or a 2 or 4" pipe cut in half length ways. (image below)

Ideally, it'd get dropped in at the same time as the IC to get sanitized and to help keep a closed system. The whirlpool spoon would sit in the center of the IC.

Once flame off, a huge funnel sits on top of the brew kettle --imagine the tin-man's head. The funnel is wide enough so that the condensation *should* roll down the sides and fall outside of the brew kettle, which should keep DMS and it's precursors from re-entering the wort.

The IC's hoses could be snaked under the funnel. The whirlpool spoon would extend through the narrow funnel opening. Then as the IC is doing its thing, the whirlpool spoon is slowly turned.

[Push Eject]

I think that's frickin' rad.

Built it.

Push E.

[beer_bear]

If you build it the whirlpool will come.



I'm with PE on this one. Build it and send us pics.

[mmadia]

Thanks for the votes of confidence even though you guys didn't answer my question

Since i'm a cheap bastard, copper's getting swapped out for SS. probably a 1/8" round bar and some 1/8" x 3" or 4" flat -- dunno for sure though.
edit: g.d.s.o.b. stupid stainless needs a special welder. /edit

Earlier today the kettle-funnel lid got its first water test.



It's a Stefan 40cm funnel from my LHBS.
There's a few tweaks in mind ... replacing the ricotta container with another smaller funnel that should drip onto the outside of the 40cm.
notching the mouth of the funnel to straddle the kettle handles and maybe use some spacers to keep it from shifting around.

[Homegrown Hops]

Very interesting idea, so the copper/Stainless arm-thing is an agitator of sorts? You could braze the pieces together but MIG or TIG would be the method if you are going stainless.

HH

[BeerMan]

If you use copper you can just solder the parts together. Even if you use stainless I would prototype it out of copper and test before going to the expense of stainless.

[breyton]

You can solder the copper pipe and fittings together pretty easily. I would practice on a few pieces first. The key is to properly flux all the joints to be soldered and apply heat to the joint and apply the solder from the opposite end of the flame.

What I mean is do not try to melt the solder with the flame of the torch. Heat up the joint until you see the flux start to evaporate and the copper will turn a slight greenish color. Then apply the solder while continuing to apply the heat.

Rule of thumb is that you only need to apply an amount of solder that is equal to the diameter of the pipe... 1/2 OD pipe needs 1/2" of solder. If you search on DIY network or This Old House you can find a bunch of videos and how to's on soldering.

As a backup you can also connect everything together with compression fittings.

[Push Eject]

Or just make Sven do all your soldering for you. That's what I do.

Push E.