Beer Gear On Trademe

[Sparky]

Seen something on Trademe that others maybe interested in...post it here

[Ralph]

Have you had a look at the local hardware shop? They have brass hose fittings at most Mitre 10 and Bunnings?

[Chris Banks]

All you want is a brass hose coupler cut it in half and braze/solder to your copper tube.

[JoKing]

That's a 1:1 copy of my design! Same hardware and all...

 

Oh well...

[JoKing]

Piece of cake mate.

 

So - that brass piece above gets cut in half then prepped with a wire brush - make sure it's really clean. Don't forget to take the o-rings off.

 

Then you have to anneal the end of the copper tubes once you've formed the chiller. This is done by heating it to the point where the copper changes colour and the oxidative layer starts flaking off. Then you let it cool down slowly (not fast by dousing with water - this will make it hard again).

 

Once softened, get a hole punch or screwdriver and flare the ends to the point where the brass hose fittings fit snug into the copper. Make sure everything is free of contaiminants.

 

Finally - you need some 15% silphos (15% silver minimum - makes it really easy to braise). Get some easyflow flux from a plumber, and get your silphos stick nice and hot and dip it into the easyflow. Get your torch on to the copper end (not onto the brass) and get it nice and red. Then rub the silphos/easyflow onto the join - apply a bit more heat if you need it. The flux should take onto both the copper and brass, and if it doesn't use more flux and more heat. Once you can see the flux over all of the areas you need to be filled with silphos - put the stick on the join. Don't point the torch directly at the stick - just keep the heat pointing at the copper - the silphos should melt into the join and take onto both the copper and brass.

 

Tips:

 

1. If it takes the copper only, move the heat a little closer to the brass - but be careful not to melt it.

 

2. If the silphos turns completely liquid (looks like mercury) and falls off everything - you've got too much heat on it. Wait for it to cool down and start again.

 

3. Keep all surfaces spotless.

 

4. Be patient.

 

5. Easyflow is your friend.

 

6. Sell me your copper, and buy this guys complete chiller - it's gonna cost you the same in the end!

 

Good luck!

[JoKing]

Hrmmmm....

 

"springloaded valve opens when the pair are coupled together and closes off stopping liquid flow when disconnected"

 

Sounds like a hop blockage waiting to happen to me....

[JoKing]

I don't think so - those are high pressure hydraulic / compressed air fittings. Check out C-DAX on google...

[JoKing]

No big deal I suppose - you could just use hop bags. Problem solved then...

[Pilgrim]

"Then you let it cool down slowly (not fast by dousing with water - this will make it hard again)."

Sorry Jo, not true. I served my apprenticeship as a gas fitter many years ago and I've annealed heaps of copper. Rapid cooling doesn't harden copper, you're thinking of high carbon steel. I have always just doused the copper in water after brining up to temperature. Makes no difference to letting it cool slowly and a heck of a lot quicker.

And we're talking about an immersion chiller not a counterflow chiller so only water going through, no hops in my town water supply :-)

That said I would steer clear of pneumatic/hydraulic fittings.

There's a better method than the hose joiner and I'll photograph my solution and post it soon.

[Pilgrim]

My solution involves a couple of brass plugs. These can be drilled out and then provide a nice sleeve which can be brazed onto the copper pipe. No need to anneal and swage the pipe. Take the hose pipe fittings with you to the plumbers merchants. The square part allows you to hold the fitting firmly with a spanner whilst you tighten the hose fitting. Works a treat.

 

[JoKing]

I wasn't talking about for the water lines - I was under the impression that this would be a whirlpool immersion chiller.

[JoKing]

 

yes - it would, but those high pressure hydraulic fittings would block up with hops if you decided to use them on your wort lines, unless you used hop bags. Dont use plasetichosefittings on the wort lines either.

[Duncan]

Nate, I decided on the heavy duty silicone hose available from Craft Brewer in Brisbane.  This is the specific product.  It's certainly not cheap, but it's the best I could find.  It's rated for high temps, and has a thick wall so won't collapse under pressure when pumping.  They also have a 'light duty' version in the same material - it's got a thinner wall, so is quite a bit cheaper, but isn't recommended if you're using pumps.  It would be a good option if you're gravity feeding everything, though.