Alumanium Immersion Chiller Creation

[MTHarrington]

I couldn't stomach spending $45 for copper tubing...
so I bought 25' of 1/2" OD aluminum tubing from Summit Racing (they use it as fuel line)
Summit® Aluminum Fuel Lines - summitracing.com

total cost delivered to my door for ~$25
Added flare fittings etc...

Just a simple chiller, but I can cool 5 gallons of wort from boiling to ~70 degrees in less than 15 minutes.

So, for those that wonder if it could be done - it can. And as far as the rate of cooling - I think aluminum is perfectly acceptable. I LOVE not having to use an ice bath in my tub and wait forever for the wort to cool.

 

[slimer]

Nice solution.

 

[MTHarrington]

Oh, and remember to use a tube bender for 1/2" aluminum - you'll need it for those 90 degree bends, the metal is thin...

 

[Jaybird]

picts??????

 

[orangeandblue302]

good idea. did you use the same style as most of the copper IC's?

 

[Jimbob]

Great idea!!!! I would love to see some pics when you get it set up

 

[Parker36]

First aluminum IC I have heard of. I've seen copper and SS. Now it is time to wait for somebody to tell you that you are going to get aluminum poisoning (which reminds me, you may want to put it in some boiling water for a little while before you use it)

 

[Superman3278]

Great idea, I use aluminum pots and pans for food preperation and the NSF gives aluminum thier seal of approval. For the price I'll make two, one for the wort and the other for pre chill to maximise the aluminum's thermal conductivity. It should result in half the time to chill then you have reported.

Cheers

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

The aluminum is a good idea but is softer than copper or SS in my experience. You will have to be very careful with it to avoid stress cracks.

Al fatigues very quickly. I would consider designing a carrier for it so you are not moving it around by grabbing the upright extensions. Just an idea.

 

[Revvy]

This is a great low cost solution, but this thread does indeed sux without pictures of your new creation.

 

[MTHarrington]

Yeah, I did boil the chiller before use and let some oxidation build. I'm personally not worried about the AL factor - I'll let others worry about that.

The tubing is hard to bend, or at least pretty easy to screw up. 3/8" might be easier, but I wanted more bang for my buck.
My theory was a bit more surface area with the 1/2" tubing.. and it's still thin walled.

 

[MTHarrington]

pics added, for those that care. I could have bent the "straight tubes" a bit better but they work for my squatty 8 gallon boil kettle...

I put a flare fitting on the input side of the chiller and a 1/2" barb for some hose. The output side I just slipped some 1/2" ID hose over the the tube and used a hose clamp to keep it on (tight enough to add some resistance, did not torque it down as not to crush the tube).
I guess I did this as a test, and I feel better with the flare fitting on the "input" side of the chiller... more pressure I think? but maybe not....

I tried to raise the coils up to get to the top of the wort - but I am sure you could tame the tube with some AL or CU wire...
And, although i know AL tube maybe more fragile, I think it won't be THAT delicate. I'll see how it goes.

 

[TommyBoy]

You can get copper tubing cheaper...

Summit-aluminum - $25 for 25' delivered
Coppertubingsales.com - $48 for 50' delivered

 

[MTHarrington]

True... but what if you don't want 50' of tubing? Or don't feel like selling the rest after you made your 25' chiller?

 

[StoutFan]

I'm willing to bet you could make another chiller and see if your LHBS would take it off your hands for a price, or direct you to someone who needs one.

 

[MTHarrington]

That's if you do have a LHBS that's near. Not all of us are that lucky.

Anyhow, if you want to become Ebay-matic or sell stuff, or make a huge chiller then by all means, buy the copper from Coppertubingsales.com and do it!

If someone wonders if they can make an effective and cheap immersion chiller with aluminum, then hopefully this thread helps. Copper is not the only solution.

 

[TommyBoy]

True... but what if you don't want 50' of tubing? Or don't feel like selling the rest after you made your 25' chiller?

You can use that copper for many other items.

 

[MTHarrington]

Go for it Tommy!

 

[TommyBoy]

Go for it Tommy!

Sorry for raining on your parade man.

 

[MTHarrington]

Sorry for raining on your parade man.

Hey, to each their own, as it's said.... If someone wants to go buy $48 worth of copper, they can go for it!

I actually bought my AL for closer to $20 and I didn't feel like buying more crap that I didn't need... I have amassed enough stuff through my many hobbies. (Do any of you know that feeling?)
Sometimes simplicity and economy has it's place...

I guess talking about this subject is akin to glass versus plastic carboys, aluminum versus stainless steel kettles, batch sparge verus fly.. etc...
Whatever...

But, as a matter of simplicity and economy....for less than $25 I got a chiller made at the size I needed (hey, I'm making 5 gallon batches) for far less than you can buy one from most stores.
And it works well - and that's what I wanted to report on the DIY forum.

If I'm going to make a big ol' chiller or make a counter flow, then sure, I'll use copper. But, for me that won't happen for awhile.

 

[McKBrew]

I don't understand the opposition to the OP's product. He did what many of us claim to want to do, and build homebrewing equipment at a low cost. He's also probably one of the few people who have built an aluminum chiller, so he can definitely let us know how it holds up and if there are ways to improve it. Good job, MT way to save some bucks and build what you need.

 

[bendavanza]

Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat/cold. My immersion chiller is stainless, only because I pulled it from an unneeded jockey box. Stainless is not as great of a conductor aluminum or copper but it was free for me. I did end up making a prechiller out of copper for those warmer brewing days, I have them both in the wort in my avatar pic.
FWIW my stainless tubing is a much smaller diameter (1/4"?) but it's super long. It would make warm beer ice cold by the time it reached the tap.

 

[StoutFan]

I couldn't stomach spending $45 for copper tubing...
so I bought 25' of 1/2" OD aluminum tubing from Summit Racing (they use it as fuel line)
Summit® Aluminum Fuel Lines - summitracing.com

Could a person use some of the anodized aluminum tubing instead?
Russell Anodized Aluminum Fuel Line: RUS-639270 - summitracing.com
Custom colored chillers, that would be sweet.

 

[cabot]

Question, I'm pricing out aluminum and copper...I checked out that coppertubingsales.com ...is refridgeration copper what I want? It is insanely cheap! From what Ive read, type L and K are thicker walled...and more expensive.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

You want refrigeration tubing.

 

[TommyBoy]

I just placed my order.

50' 1/2" refridgeration tubing
$44.50 delivered from NC to OH.

If for some reason I can't cram all this in my kettle (shouldn't be a problem), I am going to swap out my current pickup tubes with new ones made from the excess so I can get more wort from the kettle than I do with the ones I bought from B3. I am also going to make a hook out of some of the tubing for my hose on my water filter so I can just hang it over the rim of the kettle when filling.

 

[RedIrocZ-28]

The tubing has very thick walls from what I remember when I was running the new fuel lines for my Camaro. Any significant bend needed to be done with a bender. I would absolutely guarantee that this chiller will never crack from handling. In fact, I think I may make one out of AL since Cu is so expensive these days.