Chia
Well-Known Member
wish i would have seen this a few weeks ago! love the thermometer! may have to retro fit mine!! great work!
wish i would have seen this a few weeks ago! love the thermometer! may have to retro fit mine!! great work!
I will be starting a build very soon. I thought I would post my plans and ask for opinions or tips.
I'm building a 25' cfc with 5/8" ID rubber garden hose and 3/8" OD refrigeration tubing and a 20-240 deg F probe.
The CFC will be semi-permanently mounted under my rolling brewing table. The water connections are shown opposite the wort connections but this may change. I intend to make water connections from the rear of the table but realize that I may need water flow control from the front. I was concerned about fluid being held in the chiller, so the lowest ports will be oriented low for drainage.
The CFC will be used in conjunction with a March MDXT-3 pump.
Camlock QDs will likely be used for the entire setup.
Any comments or tips are welcome. I want to build it right the first time.
Thanks
Chiller worked great with the new pump I implemented into my system this week. Solid 62 degrees coming out of the end. 3/8 refrigerator tubing works slowly with gravity feed, but is much better with some pressure behind it! Thinking about removing or capping the thermometer port. I know how efficient it is, and can easily measure the output temp upon leaving the pipe into the fermentor.
Still very happy with counterflow chiller! Thanks Tiber
Thanks for the feedback. I ordered the shortest probe available from Howe Gauges on ebay, which is 2 1/2" including the threads. I'll mount it so the tip is well into the wort flow of the tee.Overall looks good. You might want to shorten up the probe port a bit, so you're not measuring low flow or still fluid pockets. I'm not sure how long the probe is that you have in mind, but make sure it's taking its data from wort that's flowing in the same uniform manner as inside the rest of the chiller. That way you'll get the most accurate and applicable temperature feedback that you're looking for.
Good luck with your build!
I have seen many of these wort chillers that are 25 feet long and some that are 20 feet long. One question is, does the extra 5 feet make a difference. I am considering building one of these but only have access to 20 or 50 feet length of the copper tubing. I thought I would make 2 of them with the 50 foot tube and sell one, but no one seems interested, even at cost.
So, I was wondering if the extra length is good, maybe an alternative plan would be just as good. I thought I would make 2 10 foot long chillers and leave the copper tubing as one peace. I would take the warm water out at the upper half of the chiller and use new cold water for the lower half of the chiller.
Is there any reason this is a bad idea?
Just thought I would update my build:
Installed on my brewing cart with a fabricated mount. Thermometer angled up for better viewing.
Rear view showing water inlet (bottom left) and outlet (upper right). Extended them to reduce the risk of dripping on the pump mounted on the lower shelf.
Final copper configuration.
I don't know what it is in the summer, it isn't real cold. In the winter time, a minute ago, it is 50 F.
I want to be able to gravity feed. I have arthritis in both hands and can't lift very high.
Coiled type L is probably best due to being thinnest wall between type K and type L. Thinner wall means more efficient heat transfer.
I just went to home depot and the refrigeration tubing seems to be a nonstandard size. the 1/4" fitting come close to fitting but the gap is bigger then I am used to. Is this the size that works?
Ha... You got caught in a "I gotcha". Plumbing tubing is measured by the 'nominal ID' of the pipe & refrigeration tubing is measured by the 'actual OD' of the pipe.I just went to home depot and the refrigeration tubing seems to be a nonstandard size. the 1/4" fitting come close to fitting but the gap is bigger then I am used to. Is this the size that works?
The guy at the store said Refrigeration tubing is measured by the outside diameter and plumbing tubing is measured by the inside diameter. The refrigeration tubing is very soft and it could melt if it got too hot. I think that I use the regular tubing, as the diameter is larger and will give me better flow. And the fittings will fit.
I guess that explains why they work at lowes and home depot and not in their field. I'm sure lowes pays them competitively with the field to keep the best
Thanks all for your help.
I have been looking at so many options, I need to get it straight. I used to think I could track this stuff better. I got confused when I read the original build pages and they specified 3/8 reducers, but they won't fit the 3/8 od pipe.
So, one needs
5/8 water hose, 3/8 OD refrigeration tubing, and 1/2 x 1/4 reducers, 1/2 pipe.
Thanks Tiber_Brew for posting your tutorial. I finally took the plunge and unraveled my IC to make a CFC this weekend. Here's a couple pictures from my build. I Incorporated the thermometer option and also threw a ball valve on my water intake so I can adjust it if I need to. I ran a test with boiling water and ice water pumping through it and got 3 gallons down to 69 degrees in 4.66 mins. I usually do 10gal batches and have about 12 or so gals after the boil so I should be able to get it to temp in about 20 minutes as apposed to over an hour with my IC. My IC was 25' 3/8" dia. My CFC is just a little less than that.
I just ordered 20' of 1/2" od refrigeration copper tubing, and a 25' 5/8" id rubber hose on it's way. I can't wait to put this together.
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