Counter Flow Counter Productive?

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Cistercian

Cistercian

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Perhaps I'm being impatient, but it seems like it takes forever to drain through my counter-flow chiller. My CFC is 28 feet long, but the positive is that the wort does come out cool. However, it just sort of dribbles out. I've only used the CFC twice so it's somewhat new to me.

Do I need to learn patience or is there something I can do to speed up the flow - like raise the keggle up higher?
 
Are you just using gravity?

How long are we talking here? And for how many gallons of wort?
 
If it's just dribbling out something is wrong. Check for a blockage in the pickup end or the tubing itself. If you are siphoning through the chiller you will need a height differential to get a good flow.
 
28 feet seems like a long CFC. The resistance to flow will depend on the length of the chiller and the height of the keg above the cfc.
And are we talking about a 3/8 ID copper chiller? and is it gravity flow?
 
With the kettle on the kitchen counter top, the CFC on a bar stool, and the carboy on the floor, mine just dribbles. I solved the problem by placing a small footstool between the kettle and the counter top, thereby raising the kettle by about 10". With this, I can drain 5+ gallons in about 15 minutes. A pump would be more effective, more complicated, and more expensive.

-a.
 
It also helps to have tubing all the way down into the fermenter. If it's spilling out and falling through air, you're not using that fall to pull a siphon through the chiller. A picture of your setup in action would help.
 
Here's a photo of my system.

Obviously I have hardly any distance from my keggle to counter flow. Moreover, I don't have a tube from my counter flow to primary.

2957162820_db2f589377.jpg
 
Put a tube on the output of the chiller. The vertical distance between where the wort exits to the open air and the surface of the wort in the kettle is what powers the flow. The higher your kettle, the lower your exit, the faster it will flow.

When I used gravity I would lift my kettle up onto utility shelving so the bottom was about shoulder height.
 
Coastarine and Talley Monster,

Thank you for all your help. Both suggestions will certainly help my flow. I'll raise the kettle and add a tube at the end of the CFC.
 
Bobby_M and Coastarine are both absolutely right. Also (IMHO) you don't need a strainer to filter out the cold break which settles to the bottom of the fermenter very quickly and provides yeast nutrients. The only problem I see with a tube going to the bottom of the fermenter as opposed to your current setup, is that you won't get quite so much O2 in the wort.

-a
 
Coastarine said:
When I used gravity I would lift my kettle up onto utility shelving so the bottom was about shoulder height.
Click to expand...

:eek: Wow, you lifted 5 gallons of boiling wort above your head? You, sir, are a braver man than I.

That, or you were wearing a flame suit. :D

flame_suit.jpg
 
Cistercian said:
ajf,

I use the filter at the end of the CFC to break up the flow and add O2 to the wort - not to filter.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that's a good idea, but breaking the line above the top of the bucket will lose you about 18" from the top of the wort to the outlet, and slow down the flow.
If you can raise the kettle enough, you could get a good flow and some O2. Otherwise you may want to find another way to oxygenate. Only you can decide.

-a
 

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