Therminator vs 60 plate CFC

Keg cowboy offers a 60 plate chiller for less than $200. Is this any more efficient than the Therminator? Anything else I need to know before pulling the trigger on either one?

I bought the 40 plate from Keg Cowboy and love it. Used it two weeks ago and chilled 5 gallons to 75 degrees and into GE fermenter in under 15 minutes. I did use a pre-chiller (I live in TX) but have used it in the winter and it didn't take much longer. I have never used the Therminator but have heard from others that the 40 plate is about equivalent.

One trick I did was actually putting the plate chiller in the ice bath with my pre-chiller. It really seemed like it made a difference. Next batch I will try to remember to take a picture.

Yes. If you are looking for efficiency, the LONGER ones are better than the ones with more plates. More plates means more flow at high pressures (not important to us). Do yourself a favor and go for the longer ones. More plates mean a bit more efficiency (measured in surface area) but longer means exponentially more efficiency. Get a longer one with less plates (or as many plates as you want to afford).

This is a typical misconception re: plates. If you want, call the manu. of the plates that KC sells - dudadiesel.

I use the 30 plate small for 15 gallons and do a recirculating plate chill whirlpool (really tough on filtering) and get 10 mins to 120* and 10 more mins to 70*.

Living in south Texas I want the most efficient one I can buy for a moderate price point. I was shooting for around 200 buck to chill the wort.

@sankepanky- How does KC sell the Dudadiesel CFC for almost half the price?

Thanks for your help, I almost have everything to start my first batch, just caught up in wort chillers. I almost bought a immersion until I read about how CFC are better for really hot climates, now just narrowing it down so I don't have to upgrade later on.

Try this: instead of using a 40 plate chiller, use 2 20 plate chillers. The wort is run in series and the water is run in parallel. The wort goes through 2 cold cycles back to back.
This is the method we are currently employing on our stands.

abarhan said:

@sankepanky- How does KC sell the Dudadiesel CFC for almost half the price?

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Not sure what you're looking at. Looks like Duda doesn't even have the 50 plate small listed on their website. Might be a new item or a custom OEM (doubtful).

The price seems equivalent as a scale up from the 40 @ $94.

or are you looking at the 50 plate Medium?