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Last Herms coil plea for help.

 
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Feurhund




Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 89



PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 5:20 pm    Post subject: Last Herms coil plea for help. Reply with quote


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This is approaching the level of personal crisis and it may be a voodoo curse or karma. I finally have the coil in the HLT. I positioned and installed the compression elbows and got the tube in, but after leak testing realized they were not in far enough.
The combination of the curve of the tube and the roughish cut I made with a hacksaw are not allowing the tube to insert all the way into e compression fitting. I have filed the tubing to no avail.
Please, any tips for those that accomplished this. Is there a tool or way to taper the tubing so it fits through?

Thanks.
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rosenjm




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 249
Location: Ballston Spa, NY


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get a tubing cutter. You can get them at home improvement stores for about $10. They use a cutting wheel to make a nice clean cut. When using it, tighten the wheel down so it just makes contact with the tube and give it a full rotation. Then tighten the nob no more than a quarter tun and give it another full rotation. Repeat until the cut is complete. DOn't try and taper the ends, the compression fittings won't make a seal. Make sure the flares are installed the correct way too. I had to tighten the compression fittings down pretty good to stop the leaking too, certainly more that the one turn past finger tight.

I spent a lot of time getting the ends of the coil bent just right to allow them to fit in the compression fitting and not have the sides of the kettle get in the way. I know it pissed me off when people kept telling me this, but got slowly, very slowly. Make very minute bends. It took a lot of trial and error.
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Feurhund




Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 89



PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks. I will try the cutter. Trust me I am hours and hours of trial and error. To make things worse I cut e zip ties because it seemed to be sealed, so I am having to really torque the coil to get it to the fitting. This whole coil process has been like a 2 day wrestling match with a robotic boa constrictor. My hands are like raw meat and my chest is bruised from leaning into the kettle. God I can't wait till this part is done.
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crush




Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 706
Location: Telemark, Norway


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Feurhund, you have my sympathy. I really hope mine goes easier than yours, though somehow I doubt it. So I've filed for divorce just to be on the safe side. All I can say is this: think ahead to each brew day when you can look into your HLT, and look meanacing/proud/exuberant/derranged at your herms coil and say to yourself "I, yes me, I put you in there, you little ****".

A clean edge is important - those compression rings aren't very forgiving and need an even surface to crimp to. I'm no expert here, but you might be able to use a suitably sized O-ring, which might adapt to the shape of the rugged cut.

It seems like a fair number of people have struggled a lot with the herms coil. Electric Kal's instructions, as clear as they are, make this look like a walk in the park, while others are clearly close to divorce, suicide, or maybe even giving up the hobby. Is there anything that could be added to the instructions to make this less painful?

Summarizing what I remember from this and the other thread:
1. go slow. no, not as quick as that, go sloooow.
1. get the person helping you go to slow too.
2. fill the coil with rice/sand/water/blood (using compression fittings on the ends to keep stuff in?)
3. build a jig/frame to hold the coil, and coil slowly. take breaks. be patient. go very slowly.
4. cut the nylon ties when fully water tested, but not before
5. no matter how instinctive, getting divorced won't make a herms coil.

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rosenjm




Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 249
Location: Ballston Spa, NY


PostLink    Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't forget to go slow...

I feel you pain, I was on the edge of sanity for several days trying to get that @#$&%* coil built and installed. I can tell you, it is VERY satisfying to watch the HLT and MLT PIDs track each other as your wort whirls away in that coil! You'll get it in!
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Again, you're not so much BENDING the coil but COAXING it into a tighter coil position and then holding it with tie-wraps.

Look at this picture:



What I was doing was holding the loose coil up at chest height and pulling it to the right enough so that it lined up with the rest of the coil down at the left of the already coiled stuff. Then I'd add a tie-wrap (having someone else do this would probably help), turn it 90 degrees and keep going. The whole thing took me about 30-60 mins.

I should have made a video of me doing this... it would have helped!

Kal

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rcrabb22




Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Posts: 462
Location: Illinois


PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll send you a fresh coil so you can make the video, then you send the finished product back to me Very Happy
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rcrabb22 wrote:
I'll send you a fresh coil so you can make the video, then you send the finished product back to me Very Happy


Better yet, wait a bit more and then hopefully we'll have pre-coiled units available for sale right here on our Products page!

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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Sparky




Joined: 17 Dec 2010
Posts: 217
Location: Muir Beach, California


PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kal wrote:

Better yet, wait a bit more and then hopefully we'll have pre-coiled units available for sale right here on our Products page!
Kal


Have your Uncle Spike put me on the list for one! Very Happy
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