Immersion chiller blocked

[nigelnorris]

Come to chill my brew today and even on full tap pressure only a trickle passed through. It's not the source or the connectors, I stripped everything off and can't blow though it. Definitely no crimps in the tubing either, nice and smooth all round. So there must be an actual blockage in it. It's only ever been connected to a tap and had water put through it so I can't imagine what it might be.

Ok it's only a homemade bent copper tubing affair, but throwing it away will mean spending money on a replacement.

Any ideas? I have a litre of high concentrate sulphuric acid drain cleaner under the sink, is that safe to use on copper?

Failing that any recommendations for a cheap and reliable commercial replacement?

 

[Callumbo]

Any chance a creepy crawly could of made its was in there and made a nest?

As for cleaning, I'd suggest boiling it but aounds you did that with the wort. Get a coat hanger and pack in the end and hope the blockage is close to the ends

 

[nigelnorris]

Any chance a creepy crawly could of made its was in there and made a nest?

As for cleaning, I'd suggest boiling it but aounds you did that with the wort. Get a coat hanger and pack in the end and hope the blockage is close to the ends

Yes I got it well hot and that made no odds, and it lives in a kitchen cupboard with all the other brewing gear, no earwigs in there. Not optimistic about the coathanger idea, it's ten meters of tubing and is too bent for incursion any further than about 6 inches. 1 in 30 chance of it being in reach and then odds on if I strike lucky all I'll do is push it further in.

 

[nigelnorris]

This looks like a bargain replacement. only £25.52

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01L8E49FI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Callumbo]

This looks like a bargain replacement. only �£25.52

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01L8E49FI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Im going to hazard a guess that you didn't see the £270 shipping cost. Always a catch Haha

 

[nigelnorris]

I saw it, alas sarcasm never works well on the internet.:thumb:

 

[Razor]

Im going to hazard a guess that you didn't see the £270 shipping cost. Always a catch Haha

Where are they shipping from, the Moon?


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[stigman]

Find somewhere that has commpresed air and blast it through.

 

[nigelnorris]

Find somewhere that has commpresed air and blast it through.

Good idea, I have a bike track pump that can generate plenty of pressure if I can find a way of connecting it.

Meanwhile google says that sulphuric acid is safe to use with copper so I'll give that a go too.

After the compressed air I think, don't want half a litre of 100% acid blowing back in my face.

 

[nigelnorris]

Thinking about it if all else fails I can just cut it in half, guaranteed to remove the blockage and a 5 m chiller will work well enough.

 

[Callumbo]

If you use compressed air then please keep me posted on what comes firing our of it. Im really curious now :lol:

Great idea about cutting it in half if all else fails.

If you have a mate whose a plummer I'm sure they have some kind of telescopic cable that might help you out

 

[Rogermort]

Thinking about it if all else fails I can just cut it in half, guaranteed to remove the blockage and a 5 m chiller will work well enough.

Push a length of really heavy fishing line down to find how far in the blockage is. Then, cut there and clear before soldering a straight joint.


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[Rogermort]

Thinking about it if all else fails I can just cut it in half, guaranteed to remove the blockage and a 5 m chiller will work well enough.

Push a length of really heavy fishing line down to find how far in the blockage is. Then, cut there and clear before soldering a straight joint.



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[Rogermort]

Push a length of really heavy fishing nylon down to see how far in the blockage is. Cut there, clear blockage and then solder a straight pipe fitting in to rejoin.


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[Steved53]

Try the compressed air, and if that doesn't work get a blowtorch on it, or just put in a fire - that should do the trick.

 

[Rogermort]

Sorry about the multiple posts. Really don't like Tapatalk


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[Dutto]

I would plump for a spiders egg sac type of web in there.

They are incredibly tough and an absolute bugger to remove with just water or even compressed air.

They resist hot water as well, so I reckon the best bet is to stick it on top of a gas stove and heat it until it gets hot enough to burn the blockage out.

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[nigelnorris]

A good shout those who came up with the heat idea, a couple of hours in the oven on gas mark 11 seems to have made a difference. It's not perfect yet but air is flowing through now. I'm optimistic that a good blast with some pressurised air might help shift the rest.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

[Razor]

A good shout those who came up with the heat idea, a couple of hours in the oven on gas mark 11 seems to have made a difference. It's not perfect yet but air is flowing through now. I'm optimistic that a good blast with some pressurised air might help shift the rest.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Gas mark 11? That's about 274°C!


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[chewie]

Submerge the copper in very hot water then try to blow water or air through it, the hot water should expand it enough to clear it, best this time though to try it with the opposite flow on it from when it was in the wort earlier as whatever it is has most likely been pushed further in until it jammed.

You could try to locate the blockage by pushing a roll of solder down around inside the pipe until it hits something solid, if it isn't to far in it would give you a ballpark area to chop the offending piece out if blowing it out doesn't work.

Edit
Lol, didn't realsie there was a second page, my bad, glad its sorted.