Looking at new immersion SS chiller. Worth it?

[jcs401]

Currently I have a copper immersion chiller and seems to be ok but am looking at the silver serpent stainless one since the bends over the top of the kettle and the fittings rather than just tuning onto the current copper chiller with clamps which the tubing starts to kink due to heat. Is it worth it or does anyone know a better way to mod my copper chiller so the tubing can go into some type of barb pressure fitting or some type of fitting I can add to the copper chiller? Basically is it worth the 65$ for the stainless nicely bent over the top kettle with good fittings that go to the tubing and no water drips into the kettle, worth the money or no??

 

[mongoose33]

I have one, I think it's very good. What I cannot determine is how it compares if it were a copper chiller instead of stainless steel. Stainless is not as conductive as copper, but how much difference that makes is not clear to me.

Back in early 2016, when our ground water was cold, I was able to cool a 5.5 gallon batch to under 70 degrees in about 8 minutes. Lately it's not so fast as the water temp has risen to 67 degrees. But if your water is cold enough, and you swish the chiller around, I would think you'd be happy with it.

I do like how it bends over the lip of the boil kettle. No drips into the wort. And the vinyl tubing on the "out" side fits snugly into a 10-foot section of garden hose I use to extend to a drain that runs to the street.

Given how its slowed down given the rise in groundwater temp, maybe I should sell you mine and buy a Jaded chiller.

 

[porterpounder]

Copper transfers heat better than stainless. It' also easy to modify with soldering or pressure fittings. For a couple bucks you can mod as needed without much hassle.