Help w/voting... best place to put chillzilla for flow arrangement

I'm having trouble deciding where to put stuff around my march pump. As far as march pump performance goes... what's more important... tube resistance or gravity?



Option A: In-line after pump (Flow always goes through the chillzilla)
Option B: Valved after pump (Flow only goes through chillzilla at the end)
Option C: In-line before pump
Option D: Valved before pump

I'm leaning towards option C or D. I feel like working with the gravity to bring the wort through the chillzilla will help. In C and D the march pump would be oriented towards the bottom of the chillzilla. In A and B the chillzilla will be above the march pump.

In all cases the output of the loc-line will be towards the bottom of the kettle (but only during the cooling process).

Piping will either be stainless steel or silicone The height of the kettle is probably about 2 feet.

Edit: I'm going to go with the After the Pump/Valved Configuration. Should be easier on the pump for the times when I'm not using the chillzilla.

I'm also going to add another T at the start, after the kettle valve, for another outside input.

Thanks for the feedback!

You want the chillzilla after the pump because if it's before you're going to a) have too much restriction on the pump inlet, and b) you'd be running cooled wort through your pump, which is one more thing to worry about being clean. The pump impeller is a great place for bacteria.

I like how you bypassed the chillzilla....I had mine on a separate line. now you've got me thinking.......

ScubaSteve said:

You want the chillzilla after the pump because if it's before you're going to a) have too much restriction on the pump inlet, and b) you'd be running cooled wort through your pump, which is one more thing to worry about being clean. The pump impeller is a great place for bacteria.

I like how you bypassed the chillzilla....I had mine on a separate line. now you've got me thinking.......

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Can Chillzilla's get it cooled down enough in one pass? If yes, what about out cold-tap water? I figured I might need to do multiple passes... hence the bypass. I'd just keep recirculating it until it's the right temperature and then move the loc-line to the fermenter. I'd also try and have the loc-line whirlpool it, but I don't think it's really necessary in this setup.

You COULD recirc....some people do it just to whirlpool trub. It will cool everything in one pass, you just need to crank the coolant and/or turn down the wort....depending on temps.

I think Loc-Line is cool stuff...but i'm just not sold that it's food grade at high temps....I really want to use it in my rig, but if my beer ultimately suffers because of it, then I'll have a huge chunk of steel that makes crappy beer

ScubaSteve said:

You COULD recirc....some people do it just to whirlpool trub. It will cool everything in one pass, you just need to crank the coolant and/or turn down the wort....depending on temps.

I think Loc-Line is cool stuff...but i'm just not sold that it's food grade at high temps....I really want to use it in my rig, but if my beer ultimately suffers because of it, then I'll have a huge chunk of steel that makes crappy beer

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I understand the concern for the loc-line, but I was searching around and found this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/loc-line-colors-181036/

Post #9 in there say they talked to the manufacturer and then to a chemist for it and the melting point is 340 degrees. After 170 degrees they may not be able to bend as designed (which I'll be very careful about) BUT I am also not trying to put boiling water through it, it'd go through one pass of the chillzilla first at the least.

Yeah, I remember reading that. I guess it's safer than using vinyl tubing. I'd at least want to boil it all before using, just to get that first release of manufacturing chemicals.

I'm a bit biased, because in my build I would be using it with an on demand RIMS water heater. Alternatively, I could just fill the tank and fire the kettle that way, but then I'd lose my hot-sparge capabilities. But then this is YOUR build....not mine. I think it'll work great for your application, and will definitely make your brewing easier. Hell, I may just say screw it and buy some

As stated earlier, you want the pump output going into your chillazil.

I'm going to put it valved after the pump. It should make it easier on the system that way. Thanks for all the feedback!

You could probably get away with just one valve on the "main line" instead of 2. Keep one valve on the inlet and outlet of the chiller. See what I'm saying?

Probably, but it prevents wort from falling back down, granted it's a tiny amount. Plus vie already ordered the valves

OEHokie said:

Probably, but it prevents wort from falling back down, granted it's a tiny amount. Plus vie already ordered the valves

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You would just put the valve at the bottom of a tee that is coming off the top of the chiller. But I hear you about the order, you gotta use what you buy. I seem to be collecting a lot of extra parts from the builds I've been doing, mainly because I change my mind, etc..