I'm trying to come back to homebrewing after a long layoff. I put together a crude HERMS system with a PID controlled external heat exchanger. The heat exchanger was ugly. I used an old fermentation bucket, a lot of copper tubing, a 240V element, and some JB Weld.
What I really dislike about it, other than it was only temporary, is the amount of water I had to use to cover the length of tubing I had to use to get temps up quickly. The performance was pretty good.
I'm thinking of ways to make this better. What I would like to do, is cram a small amount of 1/2" copper tubing into a small container and use the power of my 240V element to make up for the difference in size. Water at atmospheric pressure (and I really don't want to do this at any other pressure) only gets to 212º, so I was thinking of using something like propylene glycol in the heating vessel. It boils at 370º, so I'm thinking I could get workable temps in under 10 feet of copper tubing, and the whole apparatus would take up very little space.
Has anyone done anything like this, or have any input?
Thanks!
What I really dislike about it, other than it was only temporary, is the amount of water I had to use to cover the length of tubing I had to use to get temps up quickly. The performance was pretty good.
I'm thinking of ways to make this better. What I would like to do, is cram a small amount of 1/2" copper tubing into a small container and use the power of my 240V element to make up for the difference in size. Water at atmospheric pressure (and I really don't want to do this at any other pressure) only gets to 212º, so I was thinking of using something like propylene glycol in the heating vessel. It boils at 370º, so I'm thinking I could get workable temps in under 10 feet of copper tubing, and the whole apparatus would take up very little space.
Has anyone done anything like this, or have any input?
Thanks!