DIY Chiller

[Donny]

Have many of you built your own wort chiller. Is it handy to do and cost effective in comparison to buying premade?

[Andy Q]

I busted my hope & Grape one last month, and built a new one to replace it, works better than the shop bought one.
(I should qualify this by saying that the H&G one was 8mm diameter and never reached the bottom of their 10 gallon boiler) but the self made one is 10mm diameter and because I coiled it myself, goes all the way to the bottom of the boiler, is narrower where the elements are, and wider where the boiler opens up, and works like a dream(knocked like 20 mins off the cooling process)
Cost 30 quid in amazon(pipe and pipe spring free shipping/parcel direct) connected to a garden hose with jubilee clip and cuttings from an old syphon, I'm quite heavy handed and didn't make a Haems of it, so would say go for it. used a corny keg for wide coils and paint can for narrow ones, easy peasy and half the price.

Still have the spring if you are near Lucan/Ballymount, then piping can be got in Woodies/B&Q

[Bzfeale80]

Check your local builders merchants/providers for a coil of copper oil piping without the insulation it can be bent by hand and use the method mentioned by Andy Q and it should work a dream. I have not tried it myself yet as I recently purchased a second hand chiller which was homemade. The oil piping I mention is probably around 8 or 10 mm in diameter. More coils you manage to make the greater surface area and therefore quicker the chilling time will be.
At a recent brewing session the homemade chiller I picked up worked better than one which LordEoin had purchased from a shop despite mine having a 'kink' close to inlet connection!

[mac2k]

If you manage to pick up a coille of copper piping and are looking to coil / bend it into shape, fill it with water and drop it into a chest freezer.  The water will freeze and help prevent kinks when bending and forming....

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[eanna]

The copper coil from B&Q I found very good. 10mm OD or something. You can bend it by hand very easily, or around a corny to make the coil radius smaller.

[tommy]

Where are you based Donny? I have a spare coil already made up and bent into shape, 10 metres long and 10mm diameter coil. Im up and down between Cork and Tipp.