Counter flow chiller build

[Garry]

I straightened out 6.5m of 10mm copper.





The outer tube is going to be ¾" pex (6m long) so I wrapped some ø3mm solder wire around the copper to act as a spacer between the inner tube and outer tube. The solder would also give the cooling water some turbulence.





I put washing-up liquid into the pex pipe for a bit of lube and ran some water through it.








Then slide the copper pipe into the pex until I have 250mm of copper sticking out both ends.








I fixed one end of the pex to a gas cylinder with cable ties. Then wound the pex around the cylinder tying it every 90° or so.














Next I put the fittings together.








I had to drill out the shoulder in the 10mm reducer to allow the 10mm pipe to pass through it.














Next job was to test it out. The cooling water coming from the tap was 19-20°C. The "wort" was 21-22°C coming out of the chiller. I was a little worried using pex pipe as it is not supposed to be used at high temperatures. When the cooling water was on full the water exiting the cooler was only around 31-33°C. I was expecting it to be much hotter! You could turn down the flow of the cooling water and then the water exiting the chiller would start steaming while the wort would come out at about 25-30°. It's probably more efficient this way and you could recycle the hot water for cleaning the gear when you're finished.





[Edit 10/6/2013, revised size of solder wire, should be ø3mm]

[johnrm]

Super job Garry!
Next trick is acquiring Silicone ie similar hose between boiler and chiller.

[Will_D]

At the ends you could have used a 10mm compression fitting to 1/2"BSP no need to drill and you have the compression olive to seal the copper!

[alealex]

Good job Garry!  Is the soldering wire wrapped around full lenght of copper pipe? I like your posts as well. Plenty of pics, everything explained enough to copy a home if anyone wants to. Thumbs up!

[johnrm]

@Will, most fittings I have come across have a 'stop' in there. I have filed these out in the past to go 'through' rather than stop.

@Garry, how are you securing the solder at each end? Is there a risk that over time you could end up with a blockage if the solder moves in the cooling circuit?

[imark]

Nice job!

What is the procedure for cleaning counterflow chillers? I'd be concerned about build up of copper sulfate in them.  You wouldn't really have any way of knowing what condition the interior of the pipe is in. I find it difficult to get the water out of my immersion chiller and usually put it in the oven to get it dry.

[Garry]

Next trick is acquiring Silicone ie similar hose between boiler and chiller.

Definitely, the garden hose doesn't like the heat. Can't imagine it would do the beer any favors either.

At the ends you could have used a 10mm compression fitting to 1/2"BSP no need to drill and you have the compression olive to seal the copper!

I didn't know that Will. A few months ago, I didn't even know how a compression fitting worked  I'm learning as much about plumbing fittings as I am about making beer.

Is the soldering wire wrapped around full lenght of copper pipe?

Yes, it's wrapped around most of the inner tube. There might be 100-150mm at the ends which aren't done.

@Garry, how are you securing the solder at each end? Is there a risk that over time you could end up with a blockage if the solder moves in the cooling circuit?

I just taped it with some electrical tape on one end! I can't see the solder moving too much especially when the whole thing is coiled in a helix. I was going to put a spot of solder every few inches but I couldn't get any flux or gas torch on time. I think it will be ok, time will tell.

What is the procedure for cleaning counterflow chillers?

My plan is recirculate the wort for about 10 minutes through the chiller with the cold water turned off to sanitise it. For cleaning I'm thinking of pumping some oxi cleaner through it, then rinse with hot water? I'd like to hear how others do this actually?

[johnrm]

Maybe a length of copper wrote soldered [EDIT:showered] at the ends...

[Garry]

Maybe a length of copper wrote showered at the ends...

Me no understand   F'n' autocorrect 

[johnrm]

Edited above.
Maybe it you use the core from that 2.5 household wire. (Live, Neutral and Earth in one flat cable )
Its copper, so should solder easily to the copper pipe.

[DEMPSEY]

Garry,I like your can do attitude. If it needs doing,do it.
I built one of these and then Cathalbrua and I built one for him and took some pic's. I was planning a wiki for it but maybe we could do this with what we have learnt. Here is Cathalbrua's one.

[DEMPSEY]

The inner pipe is 10mm stainless steel, the pipe bender pole is courtesy of Celbridge train station but any train station or Tesco will do. The outer pipe is 18mm ID and fits a 1" copper fitting.

[johnrm]

Have you a bit more detail on the outer pipe Brian?
Type and Source
Thanks

[DEMPSEY]

The outer pipe is clear plastic pipe that I got in B&Q but it is not easy to get there. Cathalbrua got his up at the old airport road at
http://www.jjgillan.ie/ The pipe is 25mm OD and 18mm ID. Not cheap but allow plenty of cooling water to flow through it and around the 10mm pipe. Although we used 10mm S/S pipe the copper will work better on heat exchange and is much easier to bend. Went for S/S because I was not comfortable with not seeing the inside of the copper regarding cleaning.
Just noticed that the above mentioned company have a Cork branch.
Cork Branch: Unit G, Sitecast Industrial Estate, Pouladuff Road, Cork.
P +353 (0) 21 4965654 - F +353 (0) 21 4965656

[Garry]

Edited above.
Maybe it you use the core from that 2.5 household wire. (Live, Neutral and Earth in one flat cable )
Its copper, so should solder easily to the copper pipe.

Yes, that's the way I've seen it done by a few youtubers. I used the solder because it is 3mm diameter (I said 4mm above, that's wrong!) and it filled the gap nicely between the 10mm pipe and the inside of the pex. I wanted something 3 to 4mm ø. A 2.5mm² copper wire is only 0.9mm diameter.

Cost was a factor too, a 500 gram reel of solder is only €5 and I still had some left over. You could probably get 7m of twin and earth cable for a similar price but a 500 gram reel (about 7.5m) of 3.25ø copper costs about 15 - 20€ (delivered).



The 2.5mm² wire would be fine if you just wanted it for turbulence but my main reason for using the wire was for a spacer. I was worried that the copper tube would just be pushed up against the inside wall of the pex in places. It probably wouldn't effect the cooling efficiency too much but I wanted the copper to be in the centre of the pex as best as possible.


I could/should have soldered the wire to the copper but didn't have the patience!