Ribcage IC with Ice Water Recirculation System - Cheap

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specialkaye

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Location
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All credit for the Ribcage Immersion Chiller comes from:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-interwoven-rib-cage-immersion-chiller-106415/

Thanks, RedIrocZ-28

After my last batch of beer took hours in the sink with about 30lbs of ice, I knew I wanted an easier, faster way. The ribcage IC from RedIrocZ-28 looked like it would fit the bill exactly with one problem.

My tap water is usually in the 80f range because I'm so far south. So, I also knew I needed an ice water recirculation system. But, I also needed to do this as cheaply as possible because low work hours and SWMBOs full time college is stretching us pretty thin.

I bought a box of copper tube:
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Straightened it out so I could bend it into coils.


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Took three measurements
 
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Made one coil...


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And a second one, on the other end.


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Until it looked like this.


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Cut the ends off some washing machine hoses and clamped them on the copper tubing.
 
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And came up with this. There's a bit more construction detail with each picture in my photo album but not much. This is a pretty straight forward kind of project.


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I tested my pump and the entire setup looking for leaks and to make sure this tiny little salvaged pump could combat the head lift needed for this project.


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One angle on set up.


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Another angle. The brew kettle is empty because this is a test of the system, not the brew kettle. I'll test it's actual cooling ability when I brew an AG recipe with it. That will be in another thread.
 
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Another look at the test set up.


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A look at the test bucket. The cold water is picked up by the tiny pump, through the vinyl tubing, you can see when it starts, through the 3 step adapter, into the cold (blue) side washing machine hose, into the RIC, out the warm (red) side hose, and back into the far side of the cooler from the pump. That way, the warm water can be cooled as it passes past the ice towards the pump to start the cycle again.


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Kettle size test, with lid.


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Had a couple copper pipe straps in my plumbing bag. I hammered one on the vise and....
 
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I wasn't really happy with the bit of floppiness I was getting out of the upright tubes with the weight of the hoses on there. I took the flattened copper pipe strap and used a couple zip ties to see how that worked.


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Looks like a name plate. I always try to do a good enough job that I'd be proud to put my name on it and, I'd put my name on this. Now to trim.

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The zip ties have been cut. Please notice I'm working on the cardboard box the tube came in. Quick easy way to protect the tubing and your work surface. In this case, that's a three way casino table SWMBO bought for our garage pub.


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Here's the brand new RIC (Ribcage Immersion Chiller) in use for the first time in my first AG batch, with my new hop spider, on my new burner, trying a new brewing method with a new beer. The results will be posted in my AG brew thread.
 
Awesome job! I'm soon moving to Florida and I'll probably need to adapt a similar system. Luckily it isn't far south, so a few months out of the year I'll be able to throw a sub-pump into a pool for my IC.

Can't wait to see how it performs in the other thread! :rockin:
 
Awesome job! I'm soon moving to Florida and I'll probably need to adapt a similar system. Luckily it isn't far south, so a few months out of the year I'll be able to throw a sub-pump into a pool for my IC.

Can't wait to see how it performs in the other thread! :rockin:

Thanks. I'm having a devil of a time getting HBT to take the pictures. I had to load, and caption, these pictures three times. Man, that sucks. Alas, I no longer have a pool to use. But, I did use that super cheap red cooler and some ice. What happened will probably surprise you.
 
Very nice. Immersion chiller is definitely high on my todo list, right next o mash-tun.
 
im happy to see someone made one with more space between the coils instead of neatly stacked coils. i took one and spread the coils out about 2.5 inches from the center making it like three coils shuffuled like cards so that there is two pipe diameter plus between the coils except where they cross. works much better.
 
I love my ribcage chiller... It does a great job. I suspect the biggest advantage over a normal coil is the ability of the wort to circulate through the chiller with almost no resistance. I stir the hot wort (ever so carefully) with the ribcage, and once the water is moving it cools very quickly.
 
what is the measurement from the ends ? I'm assuming the third measurement is the middle of the tubing?
Thanks
 
I wanted to thank the OP for the post, it helped visualize what needed to be done and I replicated it pretty easily.

This design is great, you can really see the temperature dropping as soon as you get cold water running through it. I am able to cool 5 gallons in about 12-15 minutes.
 
what is the measurement from the ends ? I'm assuming the third measurement is the middle of the tubing?
Thanks

Yes, the third measurement marks the middle of the length of tubing. The first and second measurements mark distance from the ends of the tubing. These marks give a reference for where to begin the coil and leave enough tubing to create the stand pipes for the water hoses. The third picture in Post #2 shows all three marks. And you can see that the two end measurements were just to give me a guide line for where I wanted the coils to stop. I adjusted things a bit during the coiling so that I could get things pretty even. You need the two outside marks because you begin coiling from the outside and work your way inward toward the center mark.
 
I wanted to thank the OP for the post, it helped visualize what needed to be done and I replicated it pretty easily.

This design is great, you can really see the temperature dropping as soon as you get cold water running through it. I am able to cool 5 gallons in about 12-15 minutes.

That kind of cooling time is the exact reason I made this system. And, that tiny little fountain pump is still going strong.
 
That's cool, but why not put a spout on the pot, and do a counter flow chiller? I can cool from 212 to 65 within 25' of 3/8 copper. Is there another reason you went w/ the ribcage design?
 
That's cool, but why not put a spout on the pot, and do a counter flow chiller? I can cool from 212 to 65 within 25' of 3/8 copper. Is there another reason you went w/ the ribcage design?

How fast are you talking about cooling to 65 with a counterflow chiller? To me those always seem hard to clean and not worth the aggravation for 5 minutes of time. Plus, I imagine that it is more expensive than this design.
 
I've got a single tier system, so I am running a march 809 pump, from 212 to 65 in 25' of coil, about 5 seconds. I made 2 for $90 b/t copper and rubber hose. Sold one that paid for mine :)
 
That's cool, but why not put a spout on the pot, and do a counter flow chiller? I can cool from 212 to 65 within 25' of 3/8 copper. Is there another reason you went w/ the ribcage design?

Because it was quick and easy without having to put a spout on the pot. Plus, as I use different pots I can move it easily, or use it in one pot while another pot boils, or let my kids use it if they want to brew up a batch. Plus, I think it looks cool.

I would seriously like to see you use a counter-flow cooler to get a 5+ gallon batch of boiling wort from 212f to 65f in 5 seconds.
 
Explain to me the physics on why this rib cage design is better than a conventional IC. A conventional chiller takes advantage of the thermal difference of the top and bottom of the liquid, thus cool water in and out are at different levels. This makes the wort move on its own while chilling. Yours has water in and out at the same level. I would think the same length of copper done in the traditional way would cool faster.
 
Explain to me the physics on why this rib cage design is better than a conventional IC. A conventional chiller takes advantage of the thermal difference of the top and bottom of the liquid, thus cool water in and out are at different levels. This makes the wort move on its own while chilling. Yours has water in and out at the same level. I would think the same length of copper done in the traditional way would cool faster.

Look at all the deadspace in the center of a conventional chiller and how the coils touch each other.

With the ribcage, you get rid of that deadspace and also stagger the coils so that wort can past through better and cool.

If you really feel the need to bring the hot end of the chiller out of the bottom, go for it and let us know how it works, I doubt it will save much time. Most people stir with the chiller to get the wort moving around anyways.
 
I bet that 5 seconds is how long it takes for wort to get through his CFC, not how fast he drains the BK...

Cheers!

Exactly, I haven't done too many 5g batches with this set up but my typical 10g batch drains in about 5-10 minutes, and by the time it reaches the end of the 25' coil it is at pitching temp.
 
barhoc11 said:
Look at all the deadspace in the center of a conventional chiller and how the coils touch each other.

With the ribcage, you get rid of that deadspace and also stagger the coils so that wort can past through better and cool.

If you really feel the need to bring the hot end of the chiller out of the bottom, go for it and let us know how it works, I doubt it will save much time. Most people stir with the chiller to get the wort moving around anyways.

A correctly made chiller has spaces between the coils. The "dead space" allows for convection movement, as I mentioned. Yes, moving the IC around makes it quicker. But if you are moving it around the wort, then shape would be secondary to length in terms of cooling ability, don't you think?
But who really wants to stand over the pot for ten minutes swishing the chiller around? Been there and done that. Plus the lid is off and there is increased chance of something landing on the cooling wort. That' why I built a CFC. And why Jamil's whirlpool IC is popular.
Modlfy the rib cage as a figure 8 with inlet and outlets on top and bottom and then you'll have the best of both, I suppose.
 
A correctly made chiller has spaces between the coils. The "dead space" allows for convection movement, as I mentioned. Yes, moving the IC around makes it quicker. But if you are moving it around the wort, then shape would be secondary to length in terms of cooling ability, don't you think?
But who really wants to stand over the pot for ten minutes swishing the chiller around? Been there and done that. Plus the lid is off and there is increased chance of something landing on the cooling wort. That' why I built a CFC. And why Jamil's whirlpool IC is popular.
Modlfy the rib cage as a figure 8 with inlet and outlets on top and bottom and then you'll have the best of both, I suppose.

Odd, I have never seen a store bought chiller that had gaps in the coils.

You can do whatever you want, I will probably make a CFC one day but the 15 minutes it takes me to cool down my wort is acceptable and that is without standing over it and swishing it around. I probably move it around twice during the 15 minute cool down while I am cleaning up, its not an issue for me.
 
Odd, I have never seen a store bought chiller that had gaps in the coils.

You can do whatever you want, I will probably make a CFC one day but the 15 minutes it takes me to cool down my wort is acceptable and that is without standing over it and swishing it around. I probably move it around twice during the 15 minute cool down while I am cleaning up, its not an issue for me.

Yup, works for me. I MIGHT swish the coils around if I think about it while cracking another bottle but most of the time I don't even bother. And this is a thread about building an inexpensive ribcage cooler with recirculating ice water, not about how, or why, one style works better than others or should be used or why not put spouts on pots, or any of that. If you're so dead set that the CFC works better why are you bothering with this little chiller that was needed because of local water temps? :off: A problem was identified and cured quickly and efficiently, I copied that, added my touch, and took my time to get decent pictures and write up the instructions, and this write-up might help someone with the same problem or someone new to brewing that can't quite purchase an CFC yet. Or doesn't know what a CFC is. Or thinks it's too complicated to build. Or what ever reason they want to tell their significant other when they decide to spend 30 minutes and $30 to build this quick easy HOBBY project.

For the record, a CFC would have still needed the recirculating ice water because the local water temps were not able to cool the wort sufficiently. Please read the thread.

And I still maintain it looks cool.
 
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