Convoluted IC

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edit1now
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Convoluted IC

Post by edit1now » Sun Mar 08, 2009 8:05 pm

Just made another immersion chiller to go in my shiny HLT, so I can try using it as a boiler (my previous ICs won't go down the hole and their arms are too short).

Here's the naughty shot:
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A coil of 8mm tube, wound round a jar of about the right size (not the one in the photo - a stainless storage jar which I've just blown some holes in with the MIG welder when trying to do an improved heat exchanger :( ):
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I've crimped the tubing with a couple of inches between crimps, following these tests.

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Here I've started sewing the tube onto the plywood spacers from the Quad IC project:
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and here I've added vertical supports made from extra 8mm tube with the ends flattened and bent over:
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Here it's been mostly soldered together:
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Finally here is the water test:
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Chilling results were inconclusive because I had problems with hoses during the brew (post now online) - it actually took 39 minutes to get from 97 degrees to 23 degrees C, including forgetting to start recirculating the hot wort, and the hose coming off the tap about five times :twisted:

The longer-term aim is for this chiller to be the inner coil of a twin-coil chiller plumbed permanently into the shiny boiler, when I get it together. I rather like the idea of just plugging the garden hoses onto the outside of the boiler :D

In case anyone was wondering about glamourous settings for shiny porn, here is the setup with the old Vivitar 283, with blue filter and telephoto Fresnel lens, clamped to the banister with a Gorillapod SLR, while I used the Metz 60CT1 for fill. I'm afraid I almost always use the on-camera flash for brewdays pics.
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WishboneBrewery
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Re: Convoluted IC

Post by WishboneBrewery » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:39 pm

might I suggest a bracing idea?

You've soldered some bits of 8mm tube as supports, if you got a couple of bits of 22mm pipe and drilled a series of 8mm holes in it for the amount of coils and sort of threaded them on while you were making it! *after thoughts n'all!!* Would that be possible while making it? :roll:

Oh, and a Blue Filter!! ;) Ooo Techie!! ;)

adm

Re: Convoluted IC

Post by adm » Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:51 pm

You naughty boy....I bet you didn't have the velvet all set up just for the IC. Did you manage to get a few of the missus at the same time? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Lovely looking IC though.

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mixbrewery
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Re: Convoluted IC

Post by mixbrewery » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:28 am

The coppermeister strikes again :lol: ... Fine piece of work.
M - do you have shares in BES or some copper mining company?
adm wrote:You naughty boy....I bet you didn't have the velvet all set up just for the IC. Did you manage to get a few of the missus at the same time?
He sure did - that gorilla tripod was clamped to the bedpost! :wink:
Check out the beers we have for sale @ Mix Brewery

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edit1now
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Re: Convoluted IC

Post by edit1now » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:47 pm

pdtnc - That's a fine idea. Ideally the 8mm holes in the 22mm tube would be slightly offset, or even drilled at a slight angle, so that one could thread the coil onto the supports. I think it might be a bit messy trying to pull the 8mm tube through while forming the helix, but if one wound the coil first it would be do-able 8)

Mix - no, I haven't. The spare bit of tube from the quad chiller, plus the spare bit from this latest chiller, will make the second coil when I plumb it into the boiler, eventually. 25 metres of 8mm at Screwfix costs 16 1/2 bottles of Herold at T*sco's.

Quite what Mix thought he was doing in my bedroom, to see the photo setup, is a matter for him and his minister of religion. I thought he didn't go upstairs when he came round for some malt :roll:

One day I might an IC which isn't lopsided!

fivetide

Re: Convoluted IC

Post by fivetide » Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:52 pm

I'm a bit shocked by this and the quad project! I just bent a load of microbore really roughly in a spiral shape and dunked it in.

Should I feel ashamed, or just buy a Therminatorand some blue velvet?

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Re: Convoluted IC

Post by edit1now » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:02 pm

edit1now wrote:Having used my single-coil IC in its originally wobbly state (the loose coils tended to Zebedee around a bit), then stiffened it with soldered-on brass strips,...
If it works for you, then great, and it's quicker and easier. From my other posts you may deduce that I'm something of a making-gadgets freak :D

There have been a number of discussions here on JBK about plate chillers like the Therminator, and I think the consensus is that they're a pain to clean properly. An IC can be put into the boiling wort 15 minutes before the end of the boil, and will be sanitised enough not to harm the beer. Mix (JBK member) has a huge plate chiller which works really well, but I think he uses some kind of filter before it so that no hop or other particles can make it into the chiller.

fivetide

Re: Convoluted IC

Post by fivetide » Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:10 pm

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm certainly jealous.

I would love a Therminator though. I'd just backflush it a few times with line cleaner then freeze the thing until brewday :)

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