CFC mod...will this work?

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Hawgbranch

Hawgbranch

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I am trying to come up with a cost effective way to help my CFC bring temps down a little lower.
Has anyone tried something like this? Will it be efficient enough to work?
I apologize for this weak rendering of my idea.

My plan is to use regular water to bring temps down as far as they will go then open the valve(s) to the cooler then mixing ice cold water in the line. I don't need that much as I can get to about 80 as is.

Thanks guys and gals!

CFCCOOLINGSAMP.jpg
 
Yeah, one worry I had is that my Immersion Chiller is 5/8. I worry that the size reduction would reduce efficiency.
 
5/8 or 3/8?
5/8 is fine. Even 3/8 IMO

I assume you would run ground water through to knock down from 212-100 or so, then switch the valves and run the ground water through the iced down immersion chiller through the CFC then to waste?
 
Colder water will give you better cooling regardless of line size. You could probably got your wort down to 40 deg if you give it enough time. There a many people that use this system. It will, absolutely, cool your wort faster and colder than just water alone.
 
That's right Layne. I didn't plan on turning the ground water completely off. Just add the chiled water to the mix.
Or, whatever works, if it works.......
 
I've been through many iterations of chillers. So far, what I've found chills the quickest is pumping wort out of the kettle into a 25' CFC chilled with hose water, then into a 25' coil immersed in ice water in a cooler, then into the fermenter. This set-up goes from boiling to 42F in a single pass with a full throttle march 809 pump in the summer heat and warm ground water. I put a pond pump in the cooler with the ice water just to move the water around, it helps efficiency.

I don't use a plate chiller because I fear gunk build-up and I don't use a whirlpool chiller because I've clogged my hop stopper with cold break before.
 
I do this here in Richmond during the summer, where regular hose water comes out between 80 and 90. I use a 10lb bag of ice and a little water the entire time and I flow into the fermenter between 55 and 60 degrees in less than 10 minutes. It warms up as the ice melts and you reach the end, but the temps in the fermenter equalize out because the colder stuff went in first and the warmer stuff will balance it. Never had a problem with having to wait to pitch.

I have also set it up on a pump where I just recirc the ice water through the CFC, but that takes more ice due to the warm incoming water from the chiller.
 
You probably don't need the valve on the left, if you're looking for opinions :). The valves integrated into your "Y" on the right will do the job just fine by themselves....water won't be able to back up into the chiller if the chiller valve isn't open on the right, so why have the valve on the left?

Also, having the valve on the left just means you have to manipulate TWO valves to control how much chiller water you mix with regular water...
 
you can add a little salt to the pre-chiller as well, to get the temps lower if you need to.

+1 to the pond pump - otherwise the tubing in your immersion chiller in the pre-chiller will get a "blanket" of warmth - keep it stirred...

I do a similar thing here in the summer!
 
shortyjacobs said:
You probably don't need the valve on the left, if you're looking for opinions :). The valves integrated into your "Y" on the right will do the job just fine by themselves....water won't be able to back up into the chiller if the chiller valve isn't open on the right, so why have the valve on the left?

Also, having the valve on the left just means you have to manipulate TWO valves to control how much chiller water you mix with regular water...
Click to expand...

I am looking for opinions, thanks a lot Shorty!
And...you are right. I will probably go with a single valve on the right.
My goal was to find a cheap way to pull this off and if it worked, then "Hardline" everything so all I have to do is add ice and turn on the water.
 
Hang Glider said:
you can add a little salt to the pre-chiller as well, to get the temps lower if you need to.

+1 to the pond pump - otherwise the tubing in your immersion chiller in the pre-chiller will get a "blanket" of warmth - keep it stirred...

I do a similar thing here in the summer!
Click to expand...

Add a LOT of salt, or else don't even bother....

[copy/pasting this from a post I made a few days earlier]

One thing though, people underestimate HOW much salt you need to make a difference. Say you have, oh, 15 quarts of ice and 15 quarts of water in your cooler. 15 quarts of water is 14.2 liters. 1 pound of salt is 7.76 moles. You get 15.52 moles of sodium+chloride ions when you dissolve it, and 15.52/14.2 = 1.09. The freezing point depression constant for water is 1.9, so you will get 1.9*1.09 = 2.07*C freezing point depression per pound of salt.

This means that with a pound of salt, you get a water/ice mixture that freezes at 28.24*F.

3.7*F difference in freezing point isn't much, and won't help a great deal when cooling your wort, (your end wort temp should be around 70*F, so we're talking about 4/70, or about a 6% improvement in heat transfer). You'll probably want 3-5 lbs salt to make any appreciable difference.

Short version: Just use ice water, or start buying salt in bulk.
__________________
Click to expand...
 

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