Those green patches on an immersion chiller

[cochised]

I assume they're some form of oxidisation occurring but are they unsafe or risky for you beer?
Usually put IC in for last 15 mins of boil to sanitise it but noticed those earlier and wasn't sure about them

 

[Dr_Jeff]

it is where the copper has tarnished

You can put it in for however long you want to, but after a few seconds, it makes no difference, if you feel good with 15 minutes, and it makes you feel better, go for it. A couple of seconds in the boil, everything is dead. Just be sure to put it up clean.

 

[firerat]

I always keep my chiller (when I actually use one) in a bucket of starsan on brewday until it's time to use it. I use that bucket of starsan through out the brewday.

I'll clean it off real good before dunnking it in there. It makes it nice and shiny and the green crud falls off. I still put it in the boil with 10 minutes to boil just out of habit. After I rinse it real good and stash it away.

 

[kiwipen]

I think it's called verdigris.

Is it dangerous? I have no idea, I'm not a doctor.

 

[bracconiere]

the tolerable upper limit for copper is 10mg a day....and it's best to get about a 1:10 ratio of copper:zinc.....

not sure if that helps....(they use copper for drinking water all the time?)

 

[RPh_Guy]

I always keep my chiller (when I actually use one) in a bucket of starsan on brewday until it's time to use it.

Not a good idea. Acid will eat through the copper.

 

[firerat]

Not a good idea. Acid will eat through the copper.

Really? In the course of a few hour brew day? I mean I wouldn't store it that way or anything but I've been doing this for 10+ years with the same chiller and there isn't any noticeable pitting or sign of corrosion. It only sits in there for like 2 hours then into the boiling 5.2ish ph wort to boil for half an hour then is rinsed thoroughly.

Maybe I'm missing something but I've done this no less than 30 times. You'd think I might see some sort of corrosion or pitting by now.

 

[mbg]

I've been thinking about the process of using an immersion chiller lately. I've always done the 10-15 minutes before end of boil but I recently bought an Anvil Foundry and even on 240V with my massive triple coiled copper chiller (not the small SS one included with the Foundry) it takes quite a bit of time to achieve a good rolling boil again after dropping it in. Guess it's not a good idea to have the copper in the wort for the whole boil but if you drop the chiller into the boiling wort is it really necessary to soak it for 10-15 minutes? What if you dropped it in and soon thereafter flamed out?

 

[wsmith1625]

I typically give my immersion chiller a quick scrub with a Chore Boy after brew day. Nothing intense, but the regular maintenance has kept it clean and shiny. To sanitize, I put it in my brew kettle for the last 15 minute of the boil.

I used to hate cleanup on brew day. I used to drag my gear into the kitchen and deal with water all over the place while trying to work with large gear in a small sink. Now I simply wash all the hot side gear at the end of my garage with the garden hose. You wouldn't believe how much better this has made my brew day.

 

[bracconiere]

I've been doing this for 10+ years with the same chiller

Maybe I'm missing something but I've done this no less than 30 times.

you only brew 3 times a year?

 

[firerat]

you only brew 3 times a year?

No, I generally no chill brew. And sometimes I use my plate chiller just because I have it.

So to be more precise, I use my chiller on average 3 times a year. When i bought my plate chiller, I didn't use the immersion chiller for a few years and actually converted it to a worm for my still. I recently started using it again as it seems more efficient to my plate chiller and I'm trying a few new things like recirculation as my ground water right now is around 85F.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Really? In the course of a few hour brew day? I mean I wouldn't store it that way or anything but I've been doing this for 10+ years with the same chiller and there isn't any noticeable pitting or sign of corrosion. It only sits in there for like 2 hours then into the boiling 5.2ish ph wort to boil for half an hour then is rinsed thoroughly.

Maybe I'm missing something but I've done this no less than 30 times. You'd think I might see some sort of corrosion or pitting by now.

Short contact is probably fine. I've seen people get holes in the chiller though. Maybe they were doing something different. YMMV.

FYI there are different types of corrosion, like "uniform attack", which is more likely occurring in this case -- wearing away the copper across the entire surface. If there's a thin area in the copper tubing, you may find out about it sooner or later.

What if you dropped it in and soon thereafter flamed out?

Microbes will die in seconds at those temps.

 

[firerat]

Short contact is probably fine. I've seen people get holes in the chiller though. Maybe they were doing something different. YMMV.

FYI there are different types of corrosion, like "uniform attack", which is more likely occurring in this case -- wearing away the copper across the entire surface. If there's a thin area in the copper tubing, you may find out about it sooner or later.

Maybe. As pointed out in my last post I don't use it every brew day but it has been used this way plenty over the course of a decade. Mine is also home made from copper tubing used in refrigerated trailers (I work for Thermo king and got a lot of free copper tubing) so it may be a bit thicker than what is used in a standard off the shelf chiller. I have no idea if that is actually the case or not though.

With my luck you'll be right and I'll have the damn thing burst in a special super expensive batch of something. LOL

 

[bracconiere]

With my luck you'll be right and I'll have the damn thing burst in a special super expensive batch of something. LOL

i've used mine in 5.2 wort 50 times a year for 15 years....i only had a leak that filled my pot when one of my hose clamps started dripping into my brew pot....had to bring it back to a boil! but in my case for a $8 10 gallon batch that still came out beer, i think the new hose clamps were more expensive.....

https://www.livescience.com/32487-why-does-copper-turn-green.html
interesting read, green lady's still there.....