Immersion Wort chiller bulk buy?

[JoshRunciman]

Hi,

I'm new to brewing and am currently putting an all-grain system together.

I've looked into immersion wort chillers and found a shop on Ebay (nybrewsupplies) that sells copper 3/8" 25 foot long chillers with hose connections for a bit over AUD$50. The only issue is that the cost of shipping 1 unit is $60+.

However, if 5 are ordered, shipping drops to $30 each unit (so that makes each chiller around $80+). If 10 are ordered, the cost for each unit falls to around $75.

I'm not sure if I will end up organising a bulk buy, but I wanted to see if there's any interest.

I'm based in Melbourne.

cheers

 

[treefiddy]

You can buy 50' copper coils for maybe $60?

It doesn't take a whole lot of effort to make a chiller. There are a bunch of threads on here with the how to's.

 

[JoshRunciman]

Yeah I know there's information on how to make a chiller. I looked up copper prices, and it would cost $70 for the copper alone, so I figured it would be easier to just buy a chiller.

Based on the lack of responses, I guess most people either have them, or prefer to make them.

 

[Mardoo]

Plate chiller bulk buy I would be interested in...FWIW

 

[5150]

Yeah I know there's information on how to make a chiller. I looked up copper prices, and it would cost $70 for the copper alone, so I figured it would be easier to just buy a chiller.

Based on the lack of responses, I guess most people either have them, or prefer to make them.

How about this. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Home-Brew-Stainless-Steel-Wort-Chiller/231003768985?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D261%26meid%3D8542796402817666525%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D261136044505%26

I'd also be interested in BB plate Chiller.

 

[Helles]

I'd go for a plate chiller too

 

[JoshRunciman]

Hi all,

thanks for the responses. I'm still considering making one myself, and I'm looking at copper. I'll let y'all know soon if I'm going to organise the BB. cheers

 

[Tex083]

+1 for plate chiller

 

[JoshRunciman]

Hi all,

I decided to make my own immersion chiller.

I picked up 6m's of annealed copper at Master's (Hawthorn East) for $39.95. Fittings to connect to a garden hose cost about another $15-$20.

If you want to know how my chiller goes, send me a pm.

Thanks for the interest nonetheless.

 

[thedragon]

Josh, once you've got it assembled it'd be good to see a pic. Cheers Daniel

 

[kahlerisms]

Yeah post pics man. I'm curious how the ends attach the copper (and I'm in Kew so I'm probably even gunna buy the bits from the same places you did). POST PHOTOS

 

[punkin]

1/2"Garden Hose attaches to 1/2"copper tube with just hose clamps if you don't want to solder on fittings.

I used to use my rough as guts immersion chiller all the time on a bilge pump and it never got hot enough to leak of cause any problems, even though i couldn't touch the copper on the out tube.

 

[431neb]

Don't want to hijack the thread but this might be helpful.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71974-ghetto-immersion-chiller/

 

[JoshRunciman]

The fittings simply slide on and I attached a fitting to the clamp to join to a standard garden fitting. I need to put silicone tape between the fittings and the clamps as it's leaking, but there's no leaking between the clamp and the pipe. It's pretty rough but will hopefully do the job. I didn't realise that the annealed copper hardens as you work it (or at least it felt that way) and I almost cracked the pipe. I probably should have had a hard round object to bend the pipe around (I just did it by hand) and been careful to make sure I got the shape right the first time as working it too much is likely to crack it. At some point, I think I'll anneal a section of the pipe myself and try to shape again. I'm planning on doing a brew this weekend, so I'll let you guys know how long it takes to cool to pitching temp.

 

[JoshRunciman]

Picture of the clamp.

I think my chiller qualifies as 'ghetto' .

 

[dago001]

I'd be very surprised if the copper hardened enough to crack unless you managed to put a crease in it by bending it too sharply. It wont work harden enough for you to not reshape it for a while. Just find a suitable sized round object and reshape to a more eye pleasing shape if thats what you want. The copper pipe looses its initial very flexible annealing quite quickly, but will stay annealed for a long time. Hard copper will just break when you try and bend it.
Looks fine to me as it is.
Cheers
LagerBomb

 

[jammer]

Yup. That's ghetto.
Awesome!

 

[JoshRunciman]

Lagerbomb, I think you're probably right. Not having something round to shape it was probably a mistake (not that I care about the look).

 

[JoshRunciman]

Quick update: Used this in a brew on the weekend. Cooled roughly 21 litres of wort to 18 degrees in about 13 minutes. The cold weather over the weekend obviously helped (I brew outside).

Making the chiller myself saved me about $60 on the cheapest chiller I saw online.

 

[431neb]

Awesome! There is a school of thought that favours wort chillers that are a little more eccentric. Love yours. Very efficient by the sound of it too.

Have a read before you tidy up your chiller.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/71974-ghetto-immersion-chiller/