Long Draw Salt Water Chilled Beer Tower

mheitt said:

Good question! I'll have to check for a differential. I set up the chiller pump to go on and off with one of those cheap STC-1000 units.

michael

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I think you're better off just having the pump run for 12 hours or for whatever hours of the day you may want a beer. I just built a setup using a blower fan and it works 'ok' (beer is 40 degrees when first poured) but i decided thats not good enough for me.
I found on a different thread someone suggested this for the glycol lines: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-1-...ethylene-Tubing-SPIG25/100186093#.UlSA6lBvNpV

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=436223

I run my pump 24/7. It is a small 5 volt DC submersible.

Runningweird, do you still run this setup? Any issues or changes? I'm looking to replicate your build and was wondering if you had problems keeping your beer cold enough while keeping your salt water warm enough. If you had to do it again, would you do a chest freezer and a diy glycol chiller for better temp control?

A final update for those wondering:

I ran this straight 24 hours a day until just recently. The pump never once had an issue and I am planning on selling it with the rest of my brewing stuff(yes sad, but I have drifted from the hobby and have to make room for other projects)

I found the glycol to be an okay solution, the alcohol water mix may be the best option as glycol slushes in the freezer and salt water is a pain to maintain with evaporation.

Sometimes this project worked too well- frozen taps and condensation on the tap tower that caused some issues. I would change this project a bit by running the chilling reservoir at the same temp that the kegs are kept - not from the freezer.

I'm so glad others were able to get some benefit from this and I really appreciate all the replies!

Cheers everyone.