Chiller Design...the results are in

JohnQ · April 11, 2011, 09:22:14 AM

Here's an interesting blog with a homemade counterflow chiller design, I think I'll give this a try...

http://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/homebrewing/wort_chiller/

JW

JohnQ · April 17, 2011, 08:11:41 PM

Just finished the build...here is the breakdown...

1. I made it 20 feet instead of 30, some of the posts on the blog had said they'd done 20 and it was fine, I had plenty of hose and the copper at Home Depot comes in 20' coils, so I figured I'd give it a go.

2. Instead of soldering hose connectors onto the chiller, I used hose clamps and the connectors that came with the hose that I had just cut up.

3. I used the "hot water trick" that is mentioned in the blog replies from someone who hooked the hose up to hot water and ran it opposite to the copper once the pushing of the copper into the hose got hard, worked like a super hot damn.

Cost breakdown...

I already had everything needed for the soldering, so that cost is assumed near nil. The parts to be soldered I've given approx cost.

Copper Tube $29.89
Hose on special at HD today, $13.99
2 Tee's $ $1.48
2 Reducers instead of end caps $3.08
4 Hose Clamps $3.76
6' of 14/2 Wire which when stripped of all insulation and using the ground gives 18' of wire, had it, but it's worth $2.00

Total about after adding some solder, flux and propane, say $60 with taxes in.

The only results that matter...

Heated 21 litres of water (not going to test on wort) to boiling, used a siphon to remove the "wort-water" from the kettle.

Cold water entering the cooling jacket at 52F. Was exiting at 90ish, when I slowed the tap down I saw the exit temp get up to 110F, but didn't have enough water in kettle to experiment too much with the exit "wort" temp in relation to exiting water temp.
"Wortwater" was entering at close to 210F, and exiting at 61F.
Time to cool 21 litres of Water pretending to be Wort from boil to 61F, about 5 minutes.

The thing seems to work like a hot damn, or would that be a cool damn!

JW

Kyle · April 19, 2011, 10:08:09 PM

thats good to know, I was thinking of going the plate chiller route , but now I'm reconsidering.

Incidently, 25' of 3/8" tube immersion coil is not enough, it takes me 1/2 hour to completely chill.

Kyle · April 19, 2011, 10:10:18 PM

twas enough for partial boil extract brews though.

Gil Breau · April 20, 2011, 09:10:21 AM

I really gotta try this. Seems pretty damn good.

JohnQ · April 20, 2011, 09:15:50 AM

I'll bring it along to the next meeting I get to so folks can have a look...if the host wants to have a brew on the go at the time, we could even try it out.
Don't think I'll be at the next one, I'm scheduled to work the Evening shift on that day.

JW

Brian_S · April 24, 2011, 04:47:07 PM

My 20' (1/2" tube) immersion chiller with a well water temp input will cool from 100C to ~28C in 15 mins (stiring counter to water flow the whole time).

I bought all the part at Canadian tire for about 50$.

B

Richard · April 25, 2011, 11:08:31 AM

Seeing a trend here... 50 bucks being about average; I got mine mailed from the US for about $75 all-in, fully soldered (lead free) etc. Of course this observation is fairly useless now because I can't seem to figure out where I got it from any more. At Dave's place it brought water from boiling to pitching temps in about 20 mins; my place about 30 mins. Water temperature (of course) makes a fair difference.

Kyle · April 25, 2011, 11:39:57 AM

Is anyone considering a plate chiller, which is essentially a compact version of the CFC that John built:

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/servlet/th ... ort/Detail

JohnQ · April 25, 2011, 12:59:12 PM

That plate chiller is what I was originally planning for the system, but after talking with the guys at Adventures in Homebrewing and reading the Electric Brewery site I decided to go counterflow. The AIH guys said they get lots of complaints of clogging if you don't do a super job of filtering out the wort, and the guys on Electric Brewery list a few issues that made them decide to go counterflow, FWIW...
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/wort-chiller
JW

JohnQ · May 04, 2011, 06:30:14 PM

OK,
First real wort test is over...
Given that I was siphoning (need to put in ball valve), don't have a hop blocker (must include hop blocker) here were the results...

Took longer than running straight water through, the line got a little clogged with the hops leaves and that slowed the wort down. Total time was 15 mins.

As a result of the slower wort, the heat exchange went up. As recommended by the various CFC websites, I ran the full hot wort through for the first couple of mins to make sure it was good and clean in there, then turned on the water. The output temp rapidly dropped quickly and as the flow through the partially blocked siphon hose was reduced, it eventually got below 58F, with the cooling water exiting at over 90F. The wort got so cold that I slowed down the water stream to increase the output temp up a bit and even shut it off for the last 2 or 3 litres because the primary was down around 65F, when I was done, the primary was at 70.5F, same as my yeast starter.

All in all, aside from the longer time which should be solved when the hop blocker and ball valve are installed it was great. Of course, I think 15 minutes is still very respectable as far as cooling times go!

JW

DandyMason · July 24, 2012, 08:58:27 AM

Sorry to bring up such an old thread...

After having one of my beers infected with wild yeast I figure its about damn time I move on from an immersion chiller. Currently I chill 10-12 gallons with a 50 foot immersion chiller, takes forever and uses a bunch of water.

My plan was a plate chiller too.. Is Everyone who went to CFC rather than plate still happy?? Anyone have a plate chiller and would liek to comment?

These guys have some pretty good prices on plate chillers...

http://www.dudadiesel.com/search.php?qu ... erchillers

Kyle · July 24, 2012, 09:37:45 AM

I have the 40 plate Duda Deisel chiller. I really like it. With a drop of about 3 feet from the kettle drain to the chiller, I can use gravity to feed. In the inside of the kettle I use a SS hose to filter hops - and some sort of fliter is needed here or the chiller will clog. Will a SS filter hose, it does take about 10-15 mins to fill a carboy with chilled wort, but if you use a false bottom, you can get a higher flow rate on the wort side, and the 40 plate can certainly keep up.

Cleaning it is super easy. If you don't have a pump, wash with warm soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and immmerse in boiling watter for 10 minutes. If you do have a pump, its even easier, I just use the pump to circulate the wash and rinse, then I turn it on for the last 20 minutes of the boil and it sterilizes the chiller, pump, hoses, and fittings all at once.

DandyMason · July 24, 2012, 09:59:15 AM

Awesome Kyle.

I was thinking of getting the 20 plate chiller... but the longer version. Apparently its pretty well the equivalent of the 40. I have the SS braided hose too so filtering is no problem.

How was the shipping with them?

I do have a pump. So to clean you just recirculate your boiling wort through it for 20 mins?

10 mins to fill a carboy is only slightly faster than what im currently doing with an immersion chiller though... I was hoping to have the wort chilled and in the carboy really quick since I do it all outside in my back yard.

Chris Craig · July 24, 2012, 10:07:56 AM

The difference is that with an IC, you need to wait the 15 minutes or more for the wort to chill, then another 10 or so to transfer to a carboy. With a CFC/plate chiller (They're the same thing, just a different design), this all happens at the same time. I can fill 2 carboys in about 20 minutes, and I'm able to cover my kettle while I do this.