IC with fountain pump & iced water

I cut down my prechiller (don't use any more) to 35'.
Started with 106 F
Large bag of ice
Got down to 76 F in 10 minutes.

I'm going to buy a larger pump (240 gpm now - rated 7-8' of lift).

I'm disagreeing with the thought that the water coming out of the IC should be warmer than the wort. I think it should be colder than the wort.

I think the end point would be to have the water coming out of the IC 10-20 F colder than the wort.

Will report back, possibly this afternoon.

Note: I F/U, cuz I never start my secondary cooling until the wort is 100 F or lower. But, to be consistent, I have to do the next experiment with 106 F to keep things level.

I too removed my prechiller and added a pump for ice water this weekend. I'm using a 330 gph pump rated for 4.5' of lift. I went from boiling at flame out to 75 degrees in eight minutes!!!! The trick is to stir the wort in the opposite direction of the flow of the water in your chiller. This creates a cross current heat exchange that is very efficient.

On a side note, my prechiller fits inside of my IC. I'm planning on connecting the two in order to add surface area.

Brewer3401 said:

I'm disagreeing with the thought that the water coming out of the IC should be warmer than the wort. I think it should be colder than the wort.

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Where did that idea come from? Unless you are applying heat somewhere during the process, there is no way for the water in the IC to become hotter than the wort surrounding it - it's physically/thermodynamically impossible.

I need pictures! Pics please!

Yuri_Rage said:

Where did that idea come from? Unless you are applying heat somewhere during the process, there is no way for the water in the IC to become hotter than the wort surrounding it - it's physically/thermodynamically impossible.

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I think the idea is that it should be at the same temperature as the wort if you are fully utilizing the temperature differential between the wort and the tap water. Otherwise your wasting the cooling potential of the water, but thats splitting hairs.

I've trying to figure out a way to do this without buying more copper since its so expensive right now. It's about 95 in the shade and the tap water isn't cool enough. 75F

jcarson83 said:

I think the idea is that it should be at the same temperature as the wort if you are fully utilizing the temperature differential between the wort and the tap water. Otherwise your wasting the cooling potential of the water, but thats splitting hairs.

I've trying to figure out a way to do this without buying more copper since its so expensive right now. It's about 95 in the shade and the tap water isn't cool enough. 75F

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Don't buy more copper. Get a pump and run ice water through your existing chiller after the tap water has cooled the wort as much as it can.

jcarson83 said:

I think the idea is that it should be at the same temperature as the wort if you are fully utilizing the temperature differential between the wort and the tap water.

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I agree...but he was suggesting that there is an idea out there that the water exiting the IC should actually be hotter than the wort.

What kind and where do you get these pumps?

Photopilot said:

What kind and where do you get these pumps?

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I bought a sump pump from the hardware store.

Anyone tried gravity instead of a pump? Fill a cooler with ice water and let that feed the chiller. I'm not sure that would be enough volume though.

fountain pumps can pump around 200 gpm, i found one at the home depot for less than 20 bucks with some vinyl tubing to attatch it to the chiller

Yuri_Rage said:

Where did that idea come from? Unless you are applying heat somewhere during the process, there is no way for the water in the IC to become hotter than the wort surrounding it - it's physically/thermodynamically impossible.

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What he said was you don't want cold water coming out of the IC, while I think this may be a good thing.

If your copper on the in side of the IC is cold, it means you're moving slow enough to have the iced water chill the copper on the inside, so if it's cooler coming out, your whole IC is pretty cool, resulting in quicker cooling.