Fridge compressor for an imersion chiller ??

ok so I saw this thing @ my LHBS that looked like a fridge compressor with LONG copper tubing that extended into an imersion cooler type thing.... looked awesome !

so how do I build one ??

anyone have one ??

seems like massive overkill when you an get 25' of copper tubing and some connections for $50.

got a picture??

Me and a guy at work talked about this just the other day. he used to be in refrigeration.

What homebrew shop do you use, IllNasty? You aren't that far from me...

illnastyimpreza said:

ok so I saw this thing @ my LHBS that looked like a fridge compressor with LONG copper tubing that extended into an imersion cooler type thing.... looked awesome !

so how do I build one ??

anyone have one ??

Click to expand...

That sounds kind of like a gutted dorm fridge.

NoClueBrewMaster said:

What homebrew shop do you use, IllNasty? You aren't that far from me...

Click to expand...

This place is called the Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge. Its right on Mass Ave. It was my first trip to this particular store. The guys where all super nice, and the owner was actually in the middle of brewing some beer when we arived, and asked if I wanted to sample some The prices are also better than the store I usualy go to in Woburn (beer-wine hobby)

I noticed this strange device in the window after I left the store. I'm assuming it was basicly a gutted minifridge, with all the copper cooling tube bent into a circle-like figure and used as a chiller of some sort.

Now that I think about it, could you integrate something like this RIGHT into a secondary barrel to cool all your wort in before racking to a primary ? this would be an awesome idea, and less work than an imersion chiller.

I've been there before, but I never noticed that. I actually got "talked to" regarding the amount of hops I was buying. I didn't clean the guy out or anything, but when you make an IPA, what are you supposed to do when they don't have any high AA hops...

I'll have to look for this chiller next time im in the city.

Sounds like a refrigerated immersion chiller. I used to use on in the lab when I was in grad school. They are great for temp control, like maintaining the temperature of the water in the cooling tub instead or constantly switching out blue ice or frozen bottles of water, but they usually don't have the capacity to do something like chill wort. Unless it is huge it just can't handle that much heat that quickly.

Tom

IndyTom said:

Sounds like a refrigerated immersion chiller. I used to use on in the lab when I was in grad school. They are great for temp control, like maintaining the temperature of the water in the cooling tub instead or constantly switching out blue ice or frozen bottles of water, but they usually don't have the capacity to do something like chill wort. Unless it is huge it just can't handle that much heat that quickly.

Tom

Click to expand...

the coil was just as big as a standard size immersion chiller... I'm assuming the cold freon(or whatever they use these days( inside the copper tube would be more than enough to chill the wort. This device had a technical name on the window, I just forget what it is.

My dad, an old HVAC veteran, suggested the same thing to me. I don't really need it, but some of you guys that have 80* tap water year round could think about it....