Self contained immersion chiller

Well. Moved to an apartment with no outside access to running water so I built this. I have looked at a lot of different plans and ideas on here so thank you everyone!!!! This is the plan. And don't want to carry 8 gal of hot wort 70 feet to the apartment.

Fill with normal running water and run to get the temp down just a bit.

Drain and fill to the top with ice packs and water to finish cooling.

The PVC pipe in the middle is slotted so the hot water is evenly poured on top instead of going to one side.

Have not used it yet. And I only built this because I have about 50 ice packs i can use. I have read on here this will chew through at least 40 lb of ice.


Will let you know soon how well it works!

You may have to tweak your setup but it should work good.

I use a 70 quart extreme cooler for this and have no problems. But I do use 44lbs of ice. I start off with the ice in the cooler and 5-6 gallons of water in it. I can get down to 60 degrees in less than 25 minutes, (10 Gal).

Keep us posted on how it goes.


pb

Will do thank you for the input. I already know I have to do mods after a test run. But will do a smash on Sunday to try it out. Don't want to spend too much on a batch for it to ruin it.

mkenitzer said:

Will do thank you for the input. I already know I have to do mods after a test run. But will do a smash on Sunday to try it out. Don't want to spend too much on a batch for it to ruin it.

Click to expand...

I doubt you'll ruin it, more like not the best,... but good batch.

pb

I've been meaning to do something like this for winter brewing. That way I don't have to deal with all the cooling water in near freezing weather. And I can use ice/snow for cooling. Are those the Plastic QD's some of the vendors sell for brewing?

The key is by using a IC (heat exchanger), the two temperatures are trying to equalize, so having a large temp difference between wort and water in IC is better. The closer the temp of the wort is to the temp of the water in the IC, the longer it will take to equalize.

If you start with about 5-6 gallons of cold tap water (I have a well so it starts around 60f), and a 1/2" by 25' copper IC, with a pond pump pushing 264 gph, the wort goes from 210 down to 180 in mere minutes, give it a bit more time and down to 150 is pretty easy, but it slows down considerably because the IC water is quite warm by this point. Start adding ice by the 7 lb bag, and even on a summer day outside I can usually use 2-3 bags, and within 30 mins my wort is at 60-70f.

One thing I learned, use the IC to stir the wort in the kettle, if it sits there undisturbed it will eventually work, but if you feel the outflow side, and it is cool water coming out, give a stir and feel the temp rise in your hand. I stir a lot, and can sometimes chill to 60f in 20 mins. Pretty impressive for a 25' IC.

Sorry i have not replied to this yet.

plumber_bob,
It worked out perfectly. I started out with the cooler about half way with regular tap water. Ran it for a few minutes and it took about 3-4 minutes to get it down to 160. After that i drained out the hot water, added in about a few gallons of water and filled almost to the top with ice packs and ran it. i got down to low 70's with in 10 minutes or so. I am glad i did this.

Reaver,
Yes those are CPC HFC35 Series Polysulfone quick disconnects. Im sure your LHBS could order them. They could get them at LD Carlson or Foxx. I like them a lot. And they can be used from -40 to 280 degrees.

Doongie,
That is why i used about 40 lb worth of ice packs after the second running. Worked great!!

The only time I had any issues with my setup was after a long hard freeze this past winter. Got my setup in place and ready. Time came to use it and nothing would come out the discharge end of the IC. found out quick that my IC had froze and burst during the cold weather. The wort was still at 170 when I got the IC pulled. Just put it all in the fermentor and waited till the next day for the O2 and yeast.

Came out at 3% instead of 6%, but other wise I was surprised that it was still good.

pb