Immersion Chiller Recirculation build help?

Alright. Ive made a Immersion chiller but now want to not waste so much water. I have heard and seen people talking about Recirculation. Basically where you run the water into a cooler of some kind and use a pump to pump the water back through the chiller. I Typed the words " Recirculation chiller" and didn't find anything.

I'm sure there are threads about this. So could someone push me in the right direction to a detailed build of a Recirculation wort chiller. thanks so much

I don't have a build thread link handy, but I can tell you what I do, super easy.

I use a small pond/aquarium pump submersed in a bucket of ice water. I attach vinyl tubing from the end of my wort chiller to the output of the pump, which pumps ice water through the chiller. I direct the output from the chiller back into the ice water.

I'd recommend using the hose/tap first, until you're down to 120 or so, otherwise you're just melting ice.

Have any suggestions to where to buy a good but cheap aquarium pump?

Cheap at Walmart. Some guys buy them online for pretty cheap too:
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=pond+pump

Not sure if this is what your looking for but it's the way to go if you have a wort pump.

http://www.mrmalty.com/chiller.php

TyTanium said:

I use a small pond/aquarium pump submersed in a bucket of ice water. I attach vinyl tubing from the end of my wort chiller to the output of the pump, which pumps ice water through the chiller. I direct the output from the chiller back into the ice water.

I'd recommend using the hose/tap first, until you're down to 120 or so, otherwise you're just melting ice.

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What I do. Got cheap pump from harbor freight.

You'll get the best results if you just use water for the first part of the process (212-140F) and then add the ice and recirculation to bring it down to fermentation temperature. The key here is temperature differential between the wort and the water. You don't want to recirc the really hot chiller water back into the ice. Save that part for the second half of the process.

I use a sunterra pump its 210 gph and about 8 feet of lift. This works well.

even small fountain pumps from the big box hardware stores work just fine for this. I've got three or four for around here for small tasks.

So basically what i am getting from this is i need to waste water till it gets down to 120 then i can use the cooler/pump/ice to recalculate the water and not waste it? Am i correct

Or should i still save the hot water in another bucket or cooler to use for cleaning or making ice bags or something else later?

Any suggestions on Pump speed or Gallons per hour i should be looking for. I don't need the brightest and best but i want one that does a good job and has enough speed to cool down the wort in a timely manner.

You could use the waste water for anything. I collect mine in a spare pot till that is full for cleaning. You could use it for the washing machine, to make ice, to use for cleaning. Anything really, or like a lot of people just let it go down the drain. Seems wasteful but unfortunately its the nature of the beast.

ekjohns said:

You could use the waste water for anything. I collect mine in a spare pot till that is full for cleaning. You could use it for the washing machine, to make ice, to use for cleaning. Anything really, or like a lot of people just let it go down the drain. Seems wasteful but unfortunately its the nature of the beast.

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I run the waste water into my empty carboys for my next brew.

I save the first bit for cleaning, and used to fill the washing machine until my wife got the front loader.

in the summer I run the hose out to my young trees for a deep water.

I have a septic so I don't want it going down the drain.

I just blew a hole in my immersion chiller and I don't want to go to a plate or counterflow (I like leaving all that nasty stuff in my kettle) so this is all pretty timely. Time to build new toys! :rockin:

I also recirc with an IC, I generally run straight tap water until I get under 120 and then recirc. All h2o goes into the washing machine


This is running into a second bucket before the temp is cool enough to recirc.

Once I start brewing outside I plan to run the output from my IC into the swimming pool. It's about 14K gallon above ground and can almost always use a few extra gallons of water when the kids have been in there splashing. I build a couple passive solar panels to help heat the pool but figure it can't hurt to add a little more warm water.

kapbrew13 said:

What I do. Got cheap pump from harbor freight.

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Which pump did you get? Is the eight feet of lift necessary to get full flow?

I know they are harder to find, but it is preferable to use a pump that does not sit in your cooling water. All pumps generate some heat, and the more powerful they are, the more counterproductive they become because of their heat output. Still works, but diminishing returns the longer they run.

I have yet to build this myself, but intend to do so soon. Just be sure the pump you purchase has adequate head pressure / lift for your intended set up.

I love the swimming pool idea-

NRF said:

I love the swimming pool idea-

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Was thinking it would be great to float the kettle in the pool and let it suck some heat out that way while the IC was cooling from the inside but don't think it is worth the risk of capsizing.

spokaniac said:

Was thinking it would be great to float the kettle in the pool and let it suck some heat out that way while the IC was cooling from the inside but don't think it is worth the risk of capsizing.

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Yeah- it's a real biotch with 10 gallons too!

So anyone have suggestions on a pump that would work best here? Or are all pumps basically the same.?

I've been thinking about building something like this now that warm temperatures are here. My plate chiller can quickly cool 11 gallons of wort (in a keggle) down to about 85 degrees in the summertime when the tap water is fairly warm. Can anyone tell me how many pounds of ice would be needed to cool those 11 gallons down from 85 to 63, assuming an impossibly perfect heat transfer?