IC to HERMS coil?

Now that I have my plate chiller, my old copper IC is just sitting there.

Has anybody used one to make a HERMS coil? I would imagine so, it's a natural.

A couple of weldless connectors and a couple more camlocks, and it will be in business.

:rockin:

"The Pols" first system used a commercial pre-chiller for that.

im using an IC as a herms coil - AND an IC. I like that i can take it in and out of the keggle. Works well for now until i get the elements in and everything hard plumbed into the keggles.

Cpt_Kirks said:

Now that I have my plate chiller, my old copper IC is just sitting there.

Has anybody used one to make a HERMS coil? I would imagine so, it's a natural.

A couple of weldless connectors and a couple more camlocks, and it will be in business.

:rockin:

Click to expand...

Here is what my copper herms coil looks like...



Compression fittings going to weldless bulkheads.

One thing I'd add is that if you are going to hard mount/plumb it, having gravity on your side is nice. As you can see mine self drains. Makes it a lot easier to clean up. To get the last bits of water out I then put my brewing dedicated shop vac on one end for a few minutes.

Yup, you can do it pretty easily. I just made one out of my old 25' IC chiller because I had an extra thermocouple and 1500w HD element lying around and wanted to try a herms setup. I got a cheap 3 gal stockpot here:

http://www.boscovs.com/StoreFrontWeb/Product.bos?itemNumber=11954

Added a T and a compression fitting from Home Depot, some reflectix for insulation and I was in business. I already had my PID setup from my CB20 system, so it was an easy transition. I get close to 1 degree rise per minute with this setup doing step mashes. The coil fits very tightly into the 3 gallon pot.

I actually use the IC chiller now to chill as well instead of my plate chiller and whirlpool ala Jamil. I got tired of using bags for my hops and still getting my plate chiller stuck with trub.

I use the copper coil in my system as an IC and a HERMS coil. It stays in my kettle for the entire brew, I just switch which hoses are connected to it. So, yeah, you can convert an IC into a HERMS coil.

Imagine the audacity of people calling these immersion "chillers," when we all know they're really HEAT EXCHANGERS, and they can work well both ways... they're a lot like tracer fire in that sense!!

I too, use my old IC as a HERMS coil. It works fine

My IC is made of 3/8" copper. It that too narrow for a HERMS coil?

How long should a HERMS coil be?

Cpt_Kirks said:

My IC is made of 3/8" copper. It that too narrow for a HERMS coil?

Click to expand...

I bet it will be fine, just lower flow rate. There will probably be some 3/8" vs. 1/2" arguement, but that should not be added here, it has be done elsewhere...

I just cut my IC to make a HERMs coil. Haven't started building it yet, but I plan on doing as other have with the compression fittings. Mine is also 1/2" and 25', but I don't think that it will matter for our usage.

My IC-Herms coil is 3/8 and it works well for my 5 gal batch purposes. I actually use 3/8 hose all around now and by chance it runs at 1 gal per minute during recirculation wide open on my march pump with the length of hoses and rise that I have in my system. I have found 1 gal/min is just about perfect for a HERMS recirculation. I get about 1 degree per minute rise for steps and mashout.