Plate chiller plumbing

I'm a new owner of a 30 plate chiller, and I'm getting ready to attach it.

I'll have a setup that I dissasemble between brews. I was planning cam locks for the system. I am also planning a T connector with a dial thermometer on the wort out of the plate chiller.

My question is how to plumb the thermometer? Should I go with male cam on plate, then female cam attached to T and thermometer? Any pics or tips? Thanks!

I have a similar setup that I attach to my pump to monitor the temp of wort coming out of my mash tun. Just get a 1/2 in tee, a female camlock w/male npt(B style), and male/male camlock(F style), and a thermometer. I run camlocks on everything, and couldn't be happier. It's all from Bargainfittings.com, one of the best places I've ever done business with.

I've been considering setting up something similar. My only reservation is making sure the cold side is properly sanitized. I'm probably being overly paranoid but one of my homebrew buddies only uses tri-clovers on the cold side of his process. Camlocks seem like they would be sanitized easily but...

I'm doing something similar. Parts are ordered and I should be able to show pictures Thursday night or Friday. Basically I'm using camlocks for all my connections. I, unlike most, am using the male part of the camlocks on my hoses. I am putting the female ends onto the chiller so I can connect my hoses directly for flushing out the chiller. For my temperature and O2 manifold, I am putting a male end on the top (part that connects to the chiller) and a female end where the hose will connect. I'm not using a dial thermometer for my temperature, so I will be able to remove the whole manifold and soak it in StarSan if I feel the need.
Tom

TomRep said:

I'm doing something similar. Parts are ordered and I should be able to show pictures Thursday night or Friday. Basically I'm using camlocks for all my connections. I, unlike most, am using the male part of the camlocks on my hoses. I am putting the female ends onto the chiller so I can connect my hoses directly for flushing out the chiller. For my temperature and O2 manifold, I am putting a male end on the top (part that connects to the chiller) and a female end where the hose will connect. I'm not using a dial thermometer for my temperature, so I will be able to remove the whole manifold and soak it in StarSan if I feel the need.
Tom

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That's a good point, I didn't consider the difficulties of sanitizing with the thermometer attached to the chiller. I've already got my lines outfitted with female disconnects. I think I'll opt for removing the thermometer each brew to keep my system consistent.

yorkbrew said:

That's a good point, I didn't consider the difficulties of sanitizing with the thermometer attached to the chiller. I've already got my lines outfitted with female disconnects. I think I'll opt for removing the thermometer each brew to keep my system consistent.

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I just throw the whole thing in Star San, thermometer and all. I've never had a problem.

I do 10 gallon batches and I used to fill up a carboy with PBW, run it through the wort in on plate chiller, then wort out to the other carboy. Repeat this through the wort out to wort in to sink with the full carboy. Do a bit of a rinse and then do the same with starsan. Now i just installed camlock fittings on my system and am not quite sure how to about cleaning/sanitizing it. Last night i just sprayed starsan from a spray bottle into the wort in camlock fitting until it came out the otherside, repeated the other way. Really want to get a thermometer in it as i was off pitching temp last night. Is that just a blichman type 1/2" thermometer going into the T? Cheers.

AussieBrewerInColorado said:

I do 10 gallon batches and I used to fill up a carboy with PBW, run it through the wort in on plate chiller, then wort out to the other carboy. Repeat this through the wort out to wort in to sink with the full carboy. Do a bit of a rinse and then do the same with starsan. Now i just installed camlock fittings on my system and am not quite sure how to about cleaning/sanitizing it. Last night i just sprayed starsan from a spray bottle into the wort in camlock fitting until it came out the otherside, repeated the other way. Really want to get a thermometer in it as i was off pitching temp last night. Is that just a blichman type 1/2" thermometer going into the T? Cheers.

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Pretty much. I think this one is actually a Miljoco from Bargainfittings, but it is the same thing as the Blichman I have in my HLT

Thanks. Work good for you? Another member changed out theirs for a stick on one because it was too sensitive.

It is very sensitive and almost instant in it's readings, but I don't see how that could be a detractor in any way.

I've done two batches so far through my plate chiller (full disclosure: I've only done two batches ever, but the plate chiller thing seemed so much better than ice baths/immersion that I went straight for it).

I ordered a tee and a thermometer for the cold side that I'm planning to "permanently" mount like this:



For context, here's the rest of my current setup. This is a temporary setup until I build my actual stand, so I'm not looking for aesthetic critique here :



I have been cleaning my chiller and hoses, etc. after brewing by flushing with warm (120-140 degree) PBW solution and rinsing w/ fresh water. I also reverse the wort side fittings of the chiller for 5 minutes or so to make sure I dislodge any debris that may be stuck in the "riffles." Before brewing, I've been sanitizing by flushing with fresh water, then running a StarSan solution through the hoses, plump, and chiller and letting it sit there during the boil, after which I hook it up to the kettle and run wort through to push it out, then start filling the fermenter.

Your question has me wondering though -- is this thorough enough? I know there is some concern about having too many nooks and crannies within the system, but I was just planning to mount the thermometer as above and clean/sanitize the same way I've been doing it. I'm wondering about the reason to have it be camlock-disconnectable, or to immerse the entire chiller in sanitizer as someone stated above. Would be interested in thoughts from more experienced folks on this, since I'm very much making this up as I go along...

Cool thanks for the feedback.

mmcurdy - Check out this thread, his sanitization method is to just run boiling wort from kettle -> chiller (in turn themometer) -> back to kettle while boiling and no cold water to plate chiller. Then he does a whirlpool with flame out and cold water on, then to fermenter.

This will work because it's the same principle as sanitizing an immersion chiller which is put in the wort during last x minutes of boil to sanitize.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/hot-whirlpooling-plate-chiller-242860/

AussieBrewerInColorado said:

mmcurdy - Check out this thread, his sanitization method is to just run boiling wort from kettle -> chiller (in turn themometer) -> back to kettle while boiling and no cold water to plate chiller. Then he does a whirlpool with flame out and cold water on, then to fermenter.

This will work because it's the same principle as sanitizing an immersion chiller which is put in the wort during last x minutes of boil to sanitize.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/hot-whirlpooling-plate-chiller-242860/

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Ah, that's a really good idea for sanitization (saves me a bunch of StarSan solution and a semi time-consuming prep step if nothing else). Also cool that if I eventually want to put a hopback in the loop I can do that too. Thanks for the link!

The port where the water is steaming out is where we placed the probe on this chiller. And yes, that's 2 chillers.

mmccurdy said:

Ah, that's a really good idea for sanitization (saves me a bunch of StarSan solution and a semi time-consuming prep step if nothing else). Also cool that if I eventually want to put a hopback in the loop I can do that too. Thanks for the link!

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No problem, welcome. I agree and will use this method.

OneHoppyGuy said:

The port where the water is steaming out is where we placed the probe on this chiller. And yes, that's 2 chillers.

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One hell of a set-up there. Where does that compression fitting tube on the other side of that T go to?