Plate Chillers - other than Shirron & Therminator?

I was lurking around on ebay and saw this. It's a 30 plate chiller for ~ $100. I think I saw the same one recently for $80. This seems like it has more cooling capacity than a Shirron - closer to a Therminator - for a reasonable price. I was just wondering if anyone else has gone this route and could give some feedback?

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Plate-S-S-Copper-Brazed-Heat-Exchanger-SVO-Water_W0QQitemZ250170563924QQihZ015QQcategoryZ57114QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I do 12 gallon batches and have no probs chilling my wort(with Shirron). Looks like a good deal tho...chances are it's made in same factory as the Shirron. Shirron is a bit cheaper tho, I got mine for $60 thanks to fears aroused on the Green Board

actually the sellers filter bags are interesting too

Bellybuster said:

Shirron is a bit cheaper tho, I got mine for $60 thanks to fears aroused on the Green Board

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Care to elaborate? Who did you get it from (an individual or store) and what were the "fears" about?

I'm not an engineer and none of my education applies to thermodynamics, so if someone knows better than me, please correct me! That said:

I've been corresponding with this exact seller actually, and he's very helpful with advice regarding his heat exchangers.

I'm really interested if SMALLER plate chillers could be used. This seller's smallest plate chiller is only $44.00, but it's got a much smaller surface area than either the Shirron or the Therminator.

People seem happy with the Therminator and the Shirron, depending on who you ask, and depending on their tap water temperature.

I multiplied the length and width of the Therminator and the Shirron chiller by the number of plates and came up with the following estimates of their surface area:

Therminator: 675 square inches? (if it's 30 plates)
Shirron: @ 347 square inches? (if it's 10 plates)

The seller discussed above sells chillers that are 7.5 inches long, like the Therminator, but with fewer plates than the therminator and similar surface areas to the Shirron chiller.

For example, he sells a 7.5 inch chiller with 15 plates that has about 315 square inches of surface area, less than the Shirron but not by much, and the 20 plate version has 435 square inches; less than Therminator but more than Shirron. These are probably ok, but then you can go even cheaper with his products. He has a 7.5 inch chiller with only 10 plates and which costs only $44.00 plus shipping. This one has @ 217.5 square inches of surface area.

The fact that some people like the Shirron, and some like the Therminator without much complaint about the different capacities of both makes me think we probably haven't seen the smallest effective plate chiller for a batch of beer...

That said, I'm too chicken to dump $44 on a plate chiller that may be a waste of time, but if it did work it seems like it would be a great deal.

Is there anyone out there with some thermodynamics education who could help us out? Are we spending too much for excessively large heat exchangers?

I don't know the answer to your question but I will say that the more surface area you have, the closer the wort output temp is going to be to your coolant in temp. This matters most when the coolant water is borderline where it's not quite warm enough to require an ice water pump. I'm seriously thinking about the 30 plate one.

I found this comparison at http://mashmaster.com.au/p/365438/chillout-mkiii.html.

If I read this correctly, then one of the 30 plate chillers off ebay has over 50% surface are than a shirron, and even a 20 plate chiller has more surface area. The 40 plate chillers should be exactly the same as a thermintor.

At the prices you can get these off ebay, I think clearly it's a better value than buying a shirron and even more so compared to the therminator.

Hey guys I know this is an old thread but I am digging it up. Lil' Sparky what did you end up doing? Did you purchase one of the chillers from the ebay seller?

I am thinking of picking up this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...864953&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_4304wt_941

I see that the ports are not threaded so I was wondering if I would be able to solder on some half inch threaded pieces with a torch and regular solder?

Any advice is appreciated.

I have a duda diesel 30-plate chiller, shown here. I figured for $85 I couldn't go too wrong.

weirdboy said:

I have a duda diesel 30-plate chiller, shown here. I figured for $85 I couldn't go too wrong.

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hmm I like how that one already has the threaded fittings but of course it's shorter than the other one.

Weirdboy have you used this on 10 gallon batches?

My thought is that I will be using a march pump to whirlpool my wort as it passes through the chiller then back to the kettle so I don't really need it to get cooled down in one pass. Is this what most people do?

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

Hey guys I know this is an old thread but I am digging it up. Lil' Sparky what did you end up doing? Did you purchase one of the chillers from the ebay seller?

I am thinking of picking up this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...864953&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_4304wt_941

I see that the ports are not threaded so I was wondering if I would be able to solder on some half inch threaded pieces with a torch and regular solder?

Any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I believe that the ports are made of stainless. If so you will need to silver solder it.

With 1" ID, you'll have to get creative and it's not going to be easy. You could start with some 1" ss pipe nipples and cut them in half. Drop the cut ends into the ports and silver solder them. The silver solder and acid flux kits from Sta-brite are about $10 and enough to do the project. Then from there, you'll have to adapt down to whatever size you want via threaded fittings.

Bobby_M said:

With 1" ID, you'll have to get creative and it's not going to be easy. You could start with some 1" ss pipe nipples and cut them in half. Drop the cut ends into the ports and silver solder them. The silver solder and acid flux kits from Sta-brite are about $10 and enough to do the project. Then from there, you'll have to adapt down to whatever size you want via threaded fittings.

Click to expand...

Thanks guys. Sounds like it might be a project that I am not really looking to pick up right now.

I think I may just go with the one that already has the threaded fittings even though it's smaller.

Has anyone used this chiller with a ten gallon batch?
http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=he30s

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

Thanks guys. Sounds like it might be a project that I am not really looking to pick up right now.

I think I may just go with the one that already has the threaded fittings even though it's smaller.

Has anyone used this chiller with a ten gallon batch?
http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=he30s

Click to expand...

yes, it works very well. I recirculate for a short time and then go to fermenter, depending upon how cold the coolant water is. Only used it 4 times so far.

MgMt_Home_Brew said:

Hey guys I know this is an old thread but I am digging it up. Lil' Sparky what did you end up doing? Did you purchase one of the chillers from the ebay seller?

I am thinking of picking up this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...864953&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_4304wt_941

I see that the ports are not threaded so I was wondering if I would be able to solder on some half inch threaded pieces with a torch and regular solder?

Any advice is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I ended up finding a used shirron. plenty of cooling capacity for ten gal batches. I have to use ice (pick your favorite method) here in TX in the summers though.

I use a Dudadiesel 15-plate chiller with 1/2" wort hose on both sides. It chills 5 gallons of wort to 75F in 5 minutes. Works like a champ.

Edit- I've also started dropping the whole chiller in a bowl of water while I chill- otherwise the bottom gets too hot to hold.

I have the chillout. It works great. I had one clog. My fault I tried doing it without filtering or whirlpooling. My only problem is I am getting tri clovers. I wish it had Male NPT instead of barbs.

Lets dig it up again:

I just got this in the mail today and it seems to have more surface area than the Therminator. It was $117 shipped!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370341370377&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Yeah, a 50 plate chiller like that should have way more than enough chilling capacity. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

I bought this bad boy
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170438314398
40 plate chiller, works awesome. About 50% more internal surface area than the therminator at less than half the cost. Plus its NPT on both sides!

I used the 50 plate chiller yesterday and as figured, it was a flawless fast chill. The shipping was faster from Germany than my order from Morebeer out of Cali!

any pictures? Anybody want to explain the $100 difference between this and a therminator and why I should buy the blichmann? If it is worth the extra $100, or I will tell the difference, I am not against the extra money. Any difference in materials? Blichmann is 316, the 50 plate chiller from Germany is 304, so a slight materials cost difference.

The therminator has mounting brackets, but as far as the chilling capacity, I don't think there's an argument to be made.

JoeBob said:

Lets dig it up again:

I just got this in the mail today and it seems to have more surface area than the Therminator. It was $117 shipped!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370341370377&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Click to expand...

Does anyone know what size the fittings are on this? Are they NPT or some weird European standard?

JoeBob said:

Lets dig it up again:

I just got this in the mail today and it seems to have more surface area than the Therminator. It was $117 shipped!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370341370377&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Click to expand...

JoeBob,
Unfortunately eBay doesn't make their links permanent, so I cannot go to see what item you purchased. Would you mind providing that information? And if you can provide what your experience has been since using it? Any advice? I'm in the market.