Cleaning copper for immersion chiller

[nhindian]

Hi all, just getting into home brewing and will be doing my first batch tomorrow, hopefully. I am planning on building my own chiller and my father-in-law gifted me some copper and plastic ID tubing to use for it.

However, they are not in the best of shape, cleanliness wise. What's the best way to get them up to speed? PBW? Oxyclean? Something else?

Thanks!

 

[Hang Glider]

for Ceaning, Oxyclean is good, and less expensive than PBW (although if you have it, I'd use the PBW myself).

As far as getting that copper bright (temporarily) - a short soak in a StarSan solution will brighten it up inside and out. pump it through and you're good to go.
If the plastic tubing is old and dingy, just go get fresh tubing. It's not expensive and you'll be happier with it - they sell it by the foot at the big-box home improvement stores.

Oh, and Welcome to HBT!

 

[blefferd]

Vinegar should clean it up pretty nice also!

 

[USAFSooner]

Build a chiller, chuck it in a bucket of star San and let it sit for 30 min. It will take the oxidation off. Try to get some in the tubing as well. ( ie via siphon)

 

[nhindian]

Yeah.. I'm just going to buy new plastic tubing. I drew a hot Oxyclean bath to soak my copper and plastic, and the plastic is yellowed and retaining electrical tape.

The copper, however, went from nasty to shiny easily after hitting it with a kitchen sponge and some elbow grease. Going to empty the tub and do another soak soon to really get it cleaned up.


What should I be asking for when looking for the faucet adapter to hook the tubing up to my kitchen sink? Home Depot didn't have the part in 3/8ths, and the local store had no idea what I was talking about...

 

[BostonianBrewer]

Garden hose adapter with a barb to fit the ID of the tube you buy which will be the OD of the copper pipe

 

[blefferd]

I know you are asking about the sink hook up, but I used a brass barbed garden hose adapter from home depot in the correct size for the tubing that is on my chiller.

Could be an option, I leave the other side blank so I can plug it into a small submersable pump and cycle the water through an ice bath once the temp gets down to about 150* or lower. It works but I am looking to upgrade here real soon because it usually takes an hour+ to cool my wort down below 100* on a 5 gallon batch.

*I recycle the water off my initial runnings to water my tree in the yard. It gets alot of water on brew days (and hops also lol)

 

[banks412]

I agree, nhindian. Just replace the tubing and give that copper a good soak. Make sure the inside of the tubing is clean too. Hate for you to find out there's some weird clog in there the day you go to use it....

My yard and trees do too, blefferd. Built my own immersion chiller with some copper tubing from the local hardware store and some plastic tubing and a barbed hose end. Super easy once I found something round to shape it around as I don't keg yet so I didn't have a corny keg handy.

However, several folks have mentioned hooking it up to a pump and cycling ice water through it - how are y'all doing this? I'm having trouble picturing it in my head. I set my wort in an ice water bath, then I hook one end up on the chiller to the faucet via garden hose adapter. The other end is blank and i just stick it in a five gallon bucket and fill 'em up till I hit my temp. I fill about three buckets or so, but I don't waste it. I let it settle out to room temp overnight and then water the bushes with it. I'd love to find a way to run ice water THROUGH the chiller.

Wait a minute....what if I filled up my sink with ice water (big laundry tub style) and then stuck the pump/tubing into that and pumped the ice water through the chiller? I'd lose my tub to set the wort in then. Wonder if it would be worth it....

Sorry to hijack the thread...

 

[dgr]

Take your aerator with you to HD and find a hose adapter that has the same threads. They are near the faucet parts. Then turn around and grab a washing machine supply hose. It's female on both ends but a knife to it's center will take care of that (knives are sharp, get an adult!). The internal diameter of it is suspiciously close to 3/8" copper tubing.

If you're going to do this outside, you can skip the faucet adapter and screw your garden hose into the washing machine hose.

 

[blefferd]

I agree, nhindian. Just replace the tubing and give that copper a good soak. Make sure the inside of the tubing is clean too. Hate for you to find out there's some weird clog in there the day you go to use it....

My yard and trees do too, blefferd. Built my own immersion chiller with some copper tubing from the local hardware store and some plastic tubing and a barbed hose end. Super easy once I found something round to shape it around as I don't keg yet so I didn't have a corny keg handy.

However, several folks have mentioned hooking it up to a pump and cycling ice water through it - how are y'all doing this? I'm having trouble picturing it in my head. I set my wort in an ice water bath, then I hook one end up on the chiller to the faucet via garden hose adapter. The other end is blank and i just stick it in a five gallon bucket and fill 'em up till I hit my temp. I fill about three buckets or so, but I don't waste it. I let it settle out to room temp overnight and then water the bushes with it. I'd love to find a way to run ice water THROUGH the chiller.

Wait a minute....what if I filled up my sink with ice water (big laundry tub style) and then stuck the pump/tubing into that and pumped the ice water through the chiller? I'd lose my tub to set the wort in then. Wonder if it would be worth it....

Sorry to hijack the thread...

I use a small submersible pump I bought from Harbor Freight, its like a fountain pump or something. Once the temp of my wort is around 150 or less I turn off and unhook the garden hose, stick that end into a cooler full of ice water, then attach my pump to the "exit" hose of my wort chiller and drop the pump in the ice water, turn the pump on and it cycles the ice water back through the chiller in reverse flow as the garden hose water.

Works like a champ, its not my orignal idea, it came from someone on this board several years ago. I would say it probably shaves at least an hour off my cooling time, my tap water is not very cold, and being in FL it takes for ever to cool off wort with out the ice water cycling in it. Even with ice water it takes for ever, that is why I am looking to upgrade to a chill plate and pump soon.

 

[USAFSooner]

I do the same thing as above combined with whirlpooling the wort chills it down in no time

 

[nhindian]

How careful should I be when swirling the wort to cool it? Isn't it bad to aerate it while it's hot?

 

[Hang Glider]

Swirling doesn't introduce much oxygenation - just keep the splashing down.

Yes, Hot-Side Aeration should be avoided, although when it is cool, you want plenty of oxygen for the yeast. Then leave it be and avoid all oxidation. (sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but you never know who will read this and pick up something new).