1/4" copper tubing for an IC?

[J-Malone]

Found what appears to be a pretty good deal on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-724-1800030...ltDomain_0&hash=item2309a6e882#ht_2209wt_1189

I was wondering if I could use this to make a 50 ft immersion chiller? Are there any down sides that I am not seeing other than the reduced surface area of the 1/4" vs 3/8" or 1/2"?

I was thinking about doing a rib cage style IC with a Jamil style whirlpool return added. It will probably end up as about a 40ft IC after I do the return and any losses from cutting for cleaner angles.

Anyway, I figured I'd throw it out there and see what you guys thought...

thanks

john

 

[Hammy71]

1/4" is pretty small as far as surface area. Not a bad price, but I'm curious if anyone else has experience with a chiller of this diameter.

 

[J-Malone]

so was I ...I realize it is small, but I was thinking that with the increased length it might make up for the surface area difference and also with the rib cage and whirlpool return, it should help to make it work effectively

 

[joelshults]

I use a 20' IC made of 1/4" copper tubing to cool down my partial boils. I can cool down around 3.5 gallons to 70 degrees in less than 20 minutes. I figured I could save the money initially (I only paid about $17 for the tubing at home depot) and then if i needed to upgrade later, I could use it as a pre-chiller.

But the 20' of 1/4" works a lot better than I expected after reading through a ton of threads on HBT. I bet 50' would work fine on 5 gallons. The secret is to gently stir it around while it is cooling. That keeps hot wort constantly in contact with the cold coils.

Edit - Just saw that you were going to whirlpool... No need to stir!

Just my 2 cents. But I did want to chime in because a lot of the posts you will read on plenty of the home brewing sites make it sound like 1/4" won't work at all.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

The surface area of 50' of 1/4" is just a little less than 25' of 3/8" tubing. The 1/4" will most certainly be thinner walled, so will lead to increased conductivity. The problem lies in the decreased flow permitted. I don't feel like doing the calculations, but it is somewhere around 1/8 the flow permitted through the 1/4" tubing than 3/8". It's a compromise, and one I personally wouldn't make.