Homemade wort chiller

[KMalt]

I priced out parts to make an immersion wort chiller at Home Depot last night. Here's what I came up with:

20' of copper 3/8" copper tube: $13
10' of 3/8" inner diameter rubber tube: $2
3/8" sink adapter: $4
3 small hose clamps: $1.50

Total price: $20.50

Am I missing something? If that's all I need then why do people pay 2 and 3 times as much for pre-assembled wort chillers? Is it really that simple?

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by KMalt
I priced out parts to make an immersion wort chiller at Home Depot last night. Here's what I came up with:

20' of copper 3/8" copper tube: $13
10' of 3/8" inner diameter rubber tube: $2
3/8" sink adapter: $4
3 small hose clamps: $1.50

Total price: $20.50

Am I missing something? If that's all I need then why do people pay 2 and 3 times as much for pre-assembled wort chillers? Is it really that simple?

yes it is that simple. People pay for convience and in some cases they get some extra length on the copper coil.

[chris1kanobi]

I used 50 ft. of 3/8 in. copper. (I use a converted keg) I wrapped it around a 5 gallon bucket to get the shape and size. After using hose clamps, I would look into compression fittings instead. The hose clamps get loose, leak, break and can be a pain in the nards. You will be building all kinds of brew stuff now. Hau, haauu.

[vendejp]

i would use 50' if i were you... comes to about $19 i think for 50'.

in the end my price was about $30 which is what yours is. if you add compression fittings it will be up to $35 or more....

part of me thinks building it wasnt worth the $10 saved.

[hemogoblin]

I made a counterflow chiller, but it involved soldering and a lot more work. Still it was fun -- and I love the way it chills 5.5 gal from 210F to 81F in about 15 minutes! It's also less bulky. You can make them more cheaply with a garden hose, too, but I wanted mine all copper so's I could throw it in the oven to sanitize.

Mine came out looking like this one, from morebeer.com, (http://www.morebeer.com/images/wc80.jpg) called the Chillus Maximus.


Theirs costs $110; I made mine for about $40

[toneyc]

Originally posted by vendejp
part of me thinks building it wasnt worth the $10 saved.

Blasphemy!

:)
Toney.

[kevin]

I built my own and used 50 3/8 copper tubing with compression fittings. What's really cool is when friends come over and go "what is that?" it's pretty cool to tell them what it is and that you made it even though it was easy to make. Now I guess I got to come up with a pet name for it how about the Chiller Diller??

[YamahaXS]

btw, i used my chiller for the first time last weekend and it worked very well. FYI, I had used the exact parts list that Kmalt described in his first post. 20' is plenty here in WI where the tap water is cold year round.

[b3s]

Originally posted by vendejp
part of me thinks building it wasnt worth the $10 saved.

i concur with toneyc...building it yourself is well worth a 25% premium and a trip to ER! cuz then you can say "i built it myself, with my own 2 hands, and the red stuff is my blood" :D