Yep, that is the same stuff I bought. 12.7OD is perfect for slipping a garden hose over, I didn't even have to flare the end of the pipe, just use good quality hose clips and tighten them with a ratchet, I haven't had any issues with my hoses slipping off and it cools 23 litres from boiling to pitching temp in about 15 minutes. The hot water that comes out of the hose is handy for washing the mash paddle and rinsing the grain bag etc, waste not want not.
Just yesterday Chris helped me make my immersion chiller. We used 15m of 3/8 line. What is cool about this is that the double male brass hose coupler can be cut in half, and it fits right onto the copper tube. Just solder/braze, and it is ready to go!
Do you get good flow through the 3/8? I am in the middle of making a heat exchanger out of 3/8 (for passing wort through) and am now beginning to wonder what the flow rates might be like, will be a bummer if I have to redo it in 1/2.....
I reckon the flow is pretty good. I am easily chilling 23 liters down to pitching temp in less than 15 minutes. I never measured how many liters per minute though.
3/8" 15m copper - 100c to 20c in 15 min for 23L me to!
As martin says its not just about flow rates - types of flow,surface areas and conductivity
play a big part to! Whirlpooling can only help
3/8 has heaps of flow.i couldn't tell you a volume per minute but you only need to run it slowly anyway, if you open the tap to maximum your really just wasting water, heaps will be coming out at a cooler temperature or less coming out at a higher temp- i run it slowly and use all the hot water for cleaning and dump any excess on the garden.
it probably takes me 20- 25 mins at the moment to cool 40 litres, the initial cooling is quite rapid, its the last 15 or so degrees which take the time, i havn't tried whirlpooling yet as i havn't been setup for it but by next brew i will be, hopefully its quicker
Old man sent me a link to this: 65 litre stainless steel vat with cradle. Pickup Rangiora. The Drunken Pope Brewery has been looking to move to a 50-60 litre brewery setup... this looks perfect! Thoughts on this for a kettle?