Home Distiller

I have spent an unhealthy amount of time trying to source one of these, I am being a picky bastard, and maybe I'm using the wrong search terms but all I can find are custom fab shops.

I would like a single 3/4" hard copper coil ~10+ feet long spiraled with a max outside diameter of 8".

There are counter flow chillers from the beer industry that have minimum distortion at this radius with larger then 3/4".

Youtube examples:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hT4Uv8LKMRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrJP3JB ... l=treblmup

I'm not overly confident I can make this myself, there must be a premade one out their somewhere in either the HVAC world or otherwise.....

Any Ideas?

Find something that is sturdy 6" round. Put it in an open area where you can walk in circle's. Buy a 10' copper pipe, pinch the end fill with dry sand pinch the other end. Secure one end to your cylinder lean outwards and walk in a circle. It took less then 20 min total to make my coil by myself.
Or order one from AliExpress and wait 3 weeks.
Tōtō

Tōtōchtin wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 8:15 am Find something that is sturdy 6" round. Put it in an open area where you can walk in circle's. Buy a 10' copper pipe, pinch the end fill with dry sand pinch the other end. Secure one end to your cylinder lean outwards and walk in a circle. It took less then 20 min total to make my coil by myself.
Or order one from AliExpress and wait 3 weeks.
Tōtō

Using 3/4"?

I've done 3/8 and 1/2". I didn't see that the 1/2" was more difficult just a bit slower as getting the coils spaced out well. 2 people would not have been slower.
3/4" would be more difficult for me but I have two broken wrists. Two people with one of them over 200 lb I don't see as a problem, just lean out and walk slowly around. I used a 4" steel pipe that was filled with cement to protect a propane tank for the 1/2", no kinks or flatten spots. I didn't anneal the pipe either. If you had someone with a torch by the cylinder your bending on preheating it I think it would be no problem. The hard part is finding a sturdy object to wrap around.
Here I would go to a used scrap yard and rent a 6" pipe, use it and return the pipe.
As you can see I'm a cheap bastard with more time then money.
Tōtō

I may have to just give it a try, I wish I could find one on Ali Express or Alibaba, $65 for 12 feet of 3/4" where I am.

I went to all the rental stores in our area trying to find a pipe bender to rent. No luck.

Born_Free wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 8:17 am

Tōtōchtin wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 8:15 am Find something that is sturdy 6" round. Put it in an open area where you can walk in circle's. Buy a 10' copper pipe, pinch the end fill with dry sand pinch the other end. Secure one end to your cylinder lean outwards and walk in a circle. It took less then 20 min total to make my coil by myself.
Or order one from AliExpress and wait 3 weeks.
Tōtō

Using 3/4"?

You don' want to use hard copper tube to do this. You need soft ACR copper sold in rolls.

If you have a shop that builds dune buggies, they would have a tubing bender for small pipe.
Copper is very forgiving if you take your time and have a plan.
Me I have a bunch of parts I've made but no gumption to put them together.
If I remember right the largest I have noticed on AliExpress is 1/2".
This is a good place for parts
https://www.coppertubingsales.com/colle ... -x-50-ft-1
Tōtō

This is what happens without a plan, but watch it so you do better.

Tōtō
If money isn't a problem look for people who make heat exchangers.
AliExpress price 5 m without shipping in peso's about 115 bucks.

Maybe contact this company and see if they can wind you one based on your specifications.

EDIT: Bummer, they're in China. Sorry.

acfixer69 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 9:09 am
You don' want to use hard copper tube to do this. You need soft ACR copper sold in rolls.

Definitely need soft tubing.
3/4" hard tubing is much cheaper than soft ACR.
I'm a tight wad when spending money, I'd build a fire and anneal the 3/4" ID

If your rich and want perfection maybe call a company like this.
http://www.coppertubecoils.com/about-co ... ubing.html

Born_Free wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:50 am
I would like a single 3/4" hard copper coil ~10+ feet long spiraled with a max outside diameter of 8".

Does it have to be copper ? You can wind CSST faster than you can make a sandwich.

greggn wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 12:35 pm

Born_Free wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 7:50 am
I would like a single 3/4" hard copper coil ~10+ feet long spiraled with a max outside diameter of 8".

Does it have to be copper ? You can wind CSST faster than you can make a sandwich.

Needs to be copper, for heat transfer.

Just out of curiosity, what is the coil going to be used for?
Is it a worm, wortchiller or are you building a monotube steam boiler.

shadylane wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 1:17 pm Just out of curiosity, what is the coil going to be used for?
Is it a worm, wortchiller or are you building a monotube steam boiler.

Steam coil. Not sure I've heard the term monotube before.

It's the boiler design that's least likely to go Boom.
A mono tube boiler is just that, a long coiled up tube that fire blows on.
It's commonly used on steam cleaners.