Kinky Copper Woes

[calderp]

I just bought some copper tubing on the cheap that I'm planning on turning into an immersion chiller but it has a few kinks which are proving harder to get out than I expected, I figured I could just clamp down on them with a pair of pliers to open them back up but this copper is a lot harder than I expected. Anyone know a trick that works? Should I try heating it first?

[Payson]

Maybe a "C" clamp? More torque than pliers, that's for sure.

[MichaelM]

after you get the kinks out as best as possible go to your local hardware store and get some spring pipe benders.... only a few bucks a set and it will allow you to bend your copper without adding more kinks :)

[Beerbilly]

I second using those benders, they work like a charm.

[Red T]

Yes the benders work good. Another suggestion is to wrap it around something like a coffee can or a CO2 bottle. Something that is about the size you want to obtain. Then finish with the bender for the uprights. That is what I did and it came out fine, and "on the cheep."

[calderp]

Sounds great. Thanks guys!

[dparsons]

You'll also want to check the places where the pipe was unkinked for leaks. Copper is real ductile, but its still better to be sure. I should think a little solder would fix any that do show up.

[MichaelM]

Originally posted by Red T
Yes the benders work good. Another suggestion is to wrap it around something like a coffee can or a CO2 bottle. Something that is about the size you want to obtain. Then finish with the bender for the uprights. That is what I did and it came out fine, and "on the cheep."

Yea I used a 10pound nitrous tank for my form for the immersion chiller :)

[Battery Acid Bo]

Something I have found is that when copper is bent, the first time, it becomes “tempered” and it will be harder to bend a second time and more prone to kink. The spring tubing benders will be your best shot at reusing the copper. I have heard of filling up the tubing with water or something to take up the space, seal the ends and then bend away. I have not tried this approach; it seems problematic at best.

If I remember right, (my old shop class teacher said), the only way to prevent it is to “anneal” it. Not an easy task if the piece is bigger than an oven. If you cannot get it in to an oven, you very, very, carefully heat up the tubing with a high heat source and then quench it in water.

Good luck, every time I have a piece of copper, I try to save it for something later,:D

[HarkJohnny]

hmmm....

i thought this was going to be a story about some policeman's sexual escapades. oh well. :D

[HarkJohnny]

Originally posted by MichaelM
Yea I used a 10pound nitrous tank for my form for the immersion chiller :)

I used my old plastic ferm buckets to coil mine. thought I did it with the copper already in the garden hose for a CFC

[corkybstewart]

A kink here and there will create turbulent flow which will help cool your wort faster. The top shelf CFC's use convoluted tubing to prevent laminar flow, a situation where a boundary exists between the hot water adjacent to the copper and the cooler water in the center of the tubing. A kink will disrupt that, so if it isn't leaking that kink is a good thing.

[Mill Rat]

Or simply cut out the kink, find a copper fitting to match the OD of the tubing, and solder it in. Be sure the solder you use is lead-free. Today's plumbing solder is lead free, the old stuff wasn't and electrical solder is and was not. Be sure to thoroughly rinse out the soldering paste from the wort side of the tube.