50ft immersion chiller or 30plate wort chiller?

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molsonG

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any opinions or input or 2cents on if i should get a 50ft copper 1/2" copper immersion chiller or a 30plate chiller? They both cost about the same. I mainly do 10g batches.

I'm worried with the plate chiller since even if i vorlouf, run through a strain while mashing out, use a hop bag, etc.... my wort never comes clean, always a ton of trub
 
I'm worried with the plate chiller since even if i vorlouf, run through a strain while mashing out, use a hop bag, etc.... my wort never comes clean, always a ton of trub

What type of screen/filter are you using? Sounds like your filter bed doesn't get set up properly.
 
I'd go with a 50' of 3/8" copper IC... I'm actually going to build my next IC out of that, to replace my 20' 3/8" copper IC... I plan to make it so that it will fit into either my 32qt or 60qt kettle so I can use it for 5 and 10 gallon batches with ease.
 
i had this a similar debate a while ago, while also contemplating a CFC. I made my own 50' copper IC, it works great. I can get 5 gallons down to 80F in just about 20 mins.
 
i had this a similar debate a while ago, while also contemplating a CFC. I made my own 50' copper IC, it works great. I can get 5 gallons down to 80F in just about 20 mins.

I can get 5 gallons of wort to under 70F in about 15 minutes with my 20' IC this time of year... We got ~4.5 gallons down to about 65F in about 10-12 minutes almost two weeks ago... If you either move the wort more, or move the IC in the wort more, you'll get better chill-down times. It will be interesting to test my 50' IC after I build it...
 
Plate-Chiller_cutaway.jpg


This is a cutaway of a plate chiller. There are many places inside it where eddy currents happen. Those spots are nearly impossible to clean.

My vote is an immersion chiller. 25' chiller? use 3/8" copper tubing. 50' chiller? use 1/2" copper tubing.
 
My vote is an immersion chiller. 25' chiller? use 3/8" copper tubing. 50' chiller? use 1/2" copper tubing.

Any valid reason to go with the larger OD copper for the 50' chiller? It will cost more than using 3/8" OD copper. I can't see the extra 1/8" OD making enough of a difference to justify the extra cost. 50' of 1/2" is about $20-$25 more than 50' of 3/8"... Lowes has 3/8" for about $56... Haven't looked at Home Depot yet, or any other suppliers... Still, the difference is almost half of what you'll pay for the 50' of 3/8" tubing...
 
Plate and frame is typically used as a space saver in most hvac applications. You can flow more with a helical immersion chiller. And it looks like a pain to clean and will probably foul quicker.
 
i have a 50' 1/2" ic, and it cools 12 gallons down to about 70 here in texas in the summer in about 25 minutes when it's 100 degrees. wouldn't go with less (and it cost me $20 on craigslist) :D
 
Golddiggie said:
Any valid reason to go with the larger OD copper for the 50' chiller? It will cost more than using 3/8" OD copper. I can't see the extra 1/8" OD making enough of a difference to justify the extra cost. 50' of 1/2" is about $20-$25 more than 50' of 3/8"... Lowes has 3/8" for about $56... Haven't looked at Home Depot yet, or any other suppliers... Still, the difference is almost half of what you'll pay for the 50' of 3/8" tubing...

It has 25% more surface area than 3/8 but will flow at a slower velocity. Go with 3/8.
 
It has 25% more surface area than 3/8 but will flow at a slower velocity. Go with 3/8.

That's what I was thinking anyway... Up in New England, our ground water is cool enough, year round, that we won't need the extra OD (at lower flow rates) to chill reasonably.

IF I lived in Texas, I would probably use a pre-chiller for my IC to make the water cool enough to do the job better... That's what I thought I'd use my 20' IC for, when I built the 50' IC... But, a brew buddy is interested in buying my 20' IC, so I won't need to do that... Besides, I don't ever recall the water coming out of the faucet being above ~65F up in MA... Ever...
 
Golddiggie said:
That's what I was thinking anyway... Up in New England, our ground water is cool enough, year round, that we won't need the extra OD (at lower flow rates) to chill reasonably.

IF I lived in Texas, I would probably use a pre-chiller for my IC to make the water cool enough to do the job better... That's what I thought I'd use my 20' IC for, when I built the 50' IC... But, a brew buddy is interested in buying my 20' IC, so I won't need to do that... Besides, I don't ever recall the water coming out of the faucet being above ~65F up in MA... Ever...


65 degF water would be lovely. 85 in the winter here. The pre chiller in ice bath seems like it would only bring the water down a little. Maybe a condensate pump submerged in an ice bath pumped through chiller to finish it off to pitching temp?
 
Go with 1/2" IMO.

I start getting cold water out of mine (3/8") after the wort hits 180. This off the kitchen faucet and I have crap for water pressure. Note on my last batch the tap was 47 degrees.

You will have plenty of water pressure, surface area is needed although you pay a premium.
 
65 degF water would be lovely. 85 in the winter here. The pre chiller in ice bath seems like it would only bring the water down a little. Maybe a condensate pump submerged in an ice bath pumped through chiller to finish it off to pitching temp?

I would think that even a 20' 3/8" IC in a 5 gallon bucket where you have a F load of ice in it, plus water (salt it) would help drop the supply water to a decent level. You'll probably need to add more ice during the process, but it should seriously reduce the time it takes to chill your wort... Basically, you're only looking to chill the source water to under 70F (under 60F would be better) so that it can chill the wort better...

Although in Texas, you might need to just get something rigged with refrigeration lines in order to get the water cool enough to do the job faster.

In the southern half of the US, it might make sense to get the larger OD tubing... But anywhere that has cooler source water, I don't think it's necessary at all... All the brewers I've met, and brewed with use 3/8" OD tubing... Well, except for the guy that has a POS 1/4" OD IC... :rolleyes:
 
P-J said:

The effectiveness of the heat exchange will be increased by the size but reduced by the flow, (volume flow rates are close to equal because the pressure drop is nil in both, but lower velocity means less effectiveness with the LMTD.) 50% more cost for a little more effectiveness, so if strapped for cash use 3/8.
Forgetting all of that bs I just said, Does 50 ft of 1/2" tubing even fit in 5 gallons of wort without the copper touching?
 
I love my plate chiller. I've had an immersion chiller now it's my prechiller. It's easy to clean, dont let anyone tell you it's hard to clean because they've probably never used one. People warned me too, but I've never had an issue. I do use a hop sack in my BK to keep particles out. I can chill 10 gallons to 68 degrees in less than 8 minutes.
 
Eh.. just went from a 50' 1/2" IC to a 40 plate chiller. With the same ground water that took half an hour to get down to 80 on the IC, I'm chilling down to 70 almost as fast as I can pump it through the chiller. I have a HERMS system, so the wort is pretty clear before it gets to the kettle, and I put my hops in the big paint strainer bag so they don't make it into the chiller either. Surprised nobody else has chimed in, but the two aren't even in the same league.
 
I'd be concerned about getting big kinks in it, even bending around something that would make it fit within ~5 gallons of wort in the kettle...

I'll probably do a double coil when I make my 50' IC, so that I don't need to worry about it at all.. Use one guide for the inner coil, then a larger one for the outter coild... I might use some copper wire to hold the spacing between them...
 
Definitely would go with the plate chiller. It takes 5 minutes to chill 5 gallons. You will be amazed when you try it out. They are not hard to clean either.
 
Golddiggie said:
I'd be concerned about getting big kinks in it, even bending around something that would make it fit within ~5 gallons of wort in the kettle...

I'll probably do a double coil when I make my 50' IC, so that I don't need to worry about it at all.. Use one guide for the inner coil, then a larger one for the outter coild... I might use some copper wire to hold the spacing between them...

Sounds like a good plan.

A 1/2" @50ft will displace over 1/2 a gallon of liquid, while a 3/8" will displace about 1/3 gallon. What if doing 5 gallons with a 5 gallon kettle or 10 gallons with a 10? I have a5. Don't have to worry about that overflow with a plate and frame....
I'm broke and get a monthly budget from the misses, can't afford another kettle.
 
Sounds like a good plan.

A 1/2" @50ft will displace over 1/2 a gallon of liquid, while a 3/8" will displace about 1/3 gallon. What if doing 5 gallons with a 5 gallon kettle or 10 gallons with a 10? I have a5. Don't have to worry about that overflow with a plate and frame....
I'm broke and get a monthly budget from the misses, can't afford another kettle.

See, that's why I use a 32qt kettle for 5 gallon batches and a 60qt kettle for 10 gallon batches... Right sized kettle for the batch size...

I purchased aluminum stock pots from a restaurant supplier, and converted them myself... Saved a good amount of money that way AND I have the right sized kettles for the batches. It's a win-win situation...
 
ruffdeezy said:
Definitely would go with the plate chiller. It takes 5 minutes to chill 5 gallons. You will be amazed when you try it out. They are not hard to clean either.

Good informative thread. What temp ground water?
 
I used my new 30 plate chiller for the first time on Monday. Gravity flowed and chilled to 70 degrees as fast as it left the kettle.

For cleanup I bought a cheap power pump from an aquarium store and recirculated water for 15 minutes while I cleaned up followed by cleanser and then fresh water.

I look forward to using it for a long time.
 
Golddiggie said:
Can you use them without a pump?

Yes you can. If you check KegCowboy 30 plate chiller deal you'll see gravity fed pictures as well as some of my pump fed pictures. I've done both and they both work just fine.
 
I vote for Plate chiller. I used to have a 25ft IC but recently went to a 50 plate DudaDiesel plate chiller. I can cool 10 gallons form boiling to 60 degrees in 5 minutes. I use hop bag and run boiling wort through it the last 15 minutes. After brew day I backflush and then bake in oven at 300 deg. Never had a problem with clogging.
 
Have used them all.

IC - works fine. 5 gallon batches cool in 15 - 20 minutes. Requires some manual labor or recirculating.

CFC - works better. 10 gallon batches cool as quickly as you drain the kettle. Bulky and odd to 'empty'. They hold a lot of liquid.

40 Plate Chiller - works great. First pass chill with limited water hose flow. Compact but hot as a pistol, (I guess that's the idea). Easy to clean with pump, flush it out in both directions. Sanitize by recirc.

In short, gave my IC to a HBT member, will be selling my CFC at the LHBS and I'm keeping the Plate Chiller.
 
Spec'd a heat exchanger yesterday and got to thinking about this thread again.

The leaving wort temp, after one pass will be at least 5 deg warmer than the ground water temp. We have 85F ground water minimum where I live. Buying or making one of these after the pe exam next month and hoping to get it right the first time.

How hard/cumbersome is it to do 2 passes with the plate and frame HE? Simple?

Thanks
 
You can do 2 passes no problem. You just put your output hose back into the kettle till you dial in your output temp and once that is adjusted it goes right into your carboys or bucket. total time is about 10 minutes. You can also put a bag of ice on the heat exchanger to get better cooling efficiency.
 
I'll be making another video of my HE in use this weekend. I'll post a link here once it's up.
 
DakotaRules said:
You can do 2 passes no problem. You just put your output hose back into the kettle till you dial in your output temp and once that is adjusted it goes right into your carboys or bucket. total time is about 10 minutes. You can also put a bag of ice on the heat exchanger to get better cooling efficiency.

So kettle to bucket, bucket to another bucket. Ice bath for chiller.
Thanks! might go with plate and frame.
 
So kettle to bucket, bucket to another bucket. Ice bath for chiller.
Thanks! might go with plate and frame.

You COULD do that but if you just put the chiller in an ice bath to start with for the first pass, you wouldn't need the second transfer. kettle to HE in ice bath to carboy or bucket.
 
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