Copper pipe for cooling

[Cqr]

Good morning
I'am going to buy some 10mm soft copper pipe to make a cooling coil from
It's to used in a 70litre pot
Will 10 meters do the job, or should I get 25 meters
my pot is 45x45 cm, about
Would it be best to do a big diameter coil or keep it small'ish
Any advice would be great

 

[GeezyPeezy]

I was lucky and got mine as part of the listing on eBay when I bought my boiler.

I'd imagine that it depends on your boiler and volume of wort to cool. It's all well and good making a large one but if you've got half of it out of the wort when cooling then it's just wasted.

I would think that larger coils would cool the wort faster that tighter coils.

My cooler is almost the diameter of the boiler.

 

[Notlaw]

Good morning
I'am going to buy some 10mm soft copper pipe to make a cooling coil from
It's to used in a 70litre pot
Will 10 meters do the job, or should I get 25 meters
my pot is 45x45 cm, about
Would it be best to do a big diameter coil or keep it small'ish
Any advice would be great

Well, the circumference of your pot is about 140cm, but you wouldn't want the cooler to be wall to wall. If you base it on being about 10cm in from the wall all around, you'd need coils of about 80cm in circuference for a 25cm diameter. So if you spaced the coils out to about an inch apart, you'd get about 12 coils in total, plus a bit for the feed pipe out of the 10m length. I reckon that'd just about do it.

 

[Sbond10]

I'm in same boat apart from I have 100 litre pot and usually about making a clover design involving 3 coils joined together so then I have 3 10cm each 12cm high in a triangle formation.

As of yet I have many idea s but neither the cash or skill to want to attempt such a project. Just wish I knew someone that's a pipe bender and could understand my vision and the problems involved in such a project.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

I made my own with a 10mm pipe coil from Wickes. I just wrapped it round a tin of paint. And job done. Small pipe vender to do the vertices needed and job sorted. I'm useless but even I found this simple.

 

[Sbond10]

I'm in same boat apart from I have 100 litre pot and usually about making a clover design involving 3 coils joined together so then I have 3 10cm each 12cm high in a triangle formation.

As of yet I have many idea s but neither the cash or skill to want to attempt such a project. Just wish I knew someone that's a pipe bender and could understand my vision and the problems involved in such a project.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Why so intricate? Just keep it simple.

 

[nbpicklesno2]

I would definitely go for the full 25 metres. If each coil is 40 cm in diameter you will have about 20 coils total in the wort. Maximum cooling area and fastest cooling is best for the cold break.

I've got 18 coils on mine and only use a 16 litre kettle.

 

[Notlaw]

I would definitely go for the full 25 metres. If each coil is 40 cm in diameter you will have about 20 coils total in the wort. Maximum cooling area and fastest cooling is best for the cold break.

I've got 18 coils on mine and only use a 16 litre kettle.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why would you have 40cm coils in a 45cm pot? There will only be an inch between the pot wall and the coooler, so the wort on the outside will cool quickly, whereas you'll have a large quantity in the centre that will cool down much slower. I'd have though you want it fairly even distribution so it cools at the same rate throughout.

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong here.

 

[Sbond10]

Why so intricate? Just keep it simple.

I wanted as much copper cover as much wort as possible to aid cooling

 

[nbpicklesno2]

I can't imagine that the difference in temperature between the outside wort and inside wort will be very different. Also can't imagine what difference it would make in the 10-15 minutes or so it would take to cool it down.

 

[Sbond10]

Yea a 40cm coil stacked as high as a 10 metre of copper will get me

 

[nbpicklesno2]

Yea a 40cm coil stacked as high as a 10 metre of copper will get me

Up to you. It'll take about twice as long to cool as the 25m length i.e. 20-30 minutes I reckon

 

[Sbond10]

My biggest issue and it might the same for the op with using such a big pot I only have around 15cm of liquid in the pot so too high and half of it will just poke out the top

 

[Alan_H]

I'm in same boat apart from I have 100 litre pot and usually about making a clover design involving 3 coils joined together so then I have 3 10cm each 12cm high in a triangle formation.

As of yet I have many idea s but neither the cash or skill to want to attempt such a project. Just wish I knew someone that's a pipe bender and could understand my vision and the problems involved in such a project.

Just go to your hardware store and buy copper coil, it should already be stored as a larger coil and it's easy to make it more narrow. I got 7 metres of 10mm copper coil, vinyl hosing [2m each] and clamps for a total of 30€.. that's less than 30£, compared to store prices.

However, I do use it in a 27 litre pot so for 100l you'll probably need thicker copper and longer..?

 

[geetee]

I have a 100 litre pot and made my coil from 10 metres of 10mm pipe.
It chills down to 30°C in 20 minutes or so if I stir in the centre of the coils at the same time.

I made big diameter coils and also left a long straight piece to allow the coils to sit near the bottom of the kettle. This helps if I am only making 40- 50 litre batches the coils do not stick out above the surface.

 

[TartanSpecial]

I used 10 metres Wickes 10mm tubing for a coil for my 27 litres pot cooling a volume of 23-24ltrs, so if I had a 100 litre pot and was wanting to cool batches of 50lrs+, I'd definitely go for a 25 metre coil.

 

[Cqr]

It seams its personal preference
Some 10 m and others 25m
I think I will wait for a 25m coil
Thank you very much to all for your input
This all grain move is proving I need deeper pockets

 

[Spoon]

I used a 25m coil and used about 2/3 or it (the remainder is set aside for a future HERMS).

I'd not get too hung up on the length, IME (using it once) you get more efficient cooling if you stir the wort than adding more coils. Even at that length if just left in the wort the outlet was a good 10C cooler than the wort around 50C, stiring the wort made the cooling water almost equal the wort.

My plan is to brew outside and use the water buts for cooling. So a lot of coils, and a lot of water which might not be quite so cold as tap water. Just need to find a s/h central heating pump and a spare 300l butt (plan to pump from one to the other, then it can be used again next time).

 

[Cqr]

I've seen some 1/2 inch pipe would that be better than 10mm