Immersion chiller kinda like counterflow

So my thoughts r what if i pump my wort through my immersion chiller and have it sitting in a bucket of icy water and pump wort either back to kettle or into carboy once temp is ready! Any thoughts on this?
Just trying to use stuff I already have without spending money!

I've wondered the same thing in the past... (in fact, when I first saw a diagram of an immersion chiller, I misunderstood it and thought that's what it was doing!) The only problem I can think of is that you'd have to be sure to get good convection in the icy water somehow, or else you'd be running your wort through a copper tube surrounded by hot water, that was itself surrounded by icy water. D'oh! But maybe just stirring it frequently would be enough...

It's also possible there's some horrible gotcha why this wouldn't work... but if there is, I'd be curious as well. Sounds plausible...

Sounds like an immersion chiller in reverse. More work for the same effect. It would work but you would probably have to replace the ice in the bucket. A counterflow is 2 pipes in one.

You'll use a LOT of ice.

I use a combination of counterflow wort chiller (using well water at about 60F), AND I use a "reverse immersion chiller" (after the counterflow) where 10-ft of 3/8" copper sit in a bucket of ice water. I can bring the beer down to about 60F this way, with my pump running at full throttle.

M_C

If you already have a copper coil... why not just hook it up to your hose and drop it in your wort?

Just thinking of something quicker is all that's what I do no just seems like it's takes awhile probably 45 min to get it to 80sh. I'm running the water slow and stiring slowly but just seems like it takes Longer then it should

That seems like an awfully long time to me... I think most people using an IC can get it down there in about half that time.

What is your water temp?

It's called a reverse immersion chiller. Just like when it's used IN wort, you have to keep the solution well stirred and it's going to use a ton of ice (about 40 pounds for 5 gallons).

If you've got tap water over 70F, you can use it to get the wort down to 100F ish, then run icewater through to finish up. Of course, this works best with a pump but there was a time when I put my bottling bucket up on a 8' step ladder and gravity fed it. It worked, slowly.

my home made 20' IC (3/8" copper tubing) got 3.5 or so gallons of boiling wort down to 80 in about 12 minutes last night. Granted, even in the heat of summer we have pretty cool water here. I imagine a full 5 gallons would have taken me near 20 minutes, which is still decent. The 12 minutes is a lot faster than the 30-45 it took with an ice water bath.

Use tap water to get it down to warm, then maybe try using a small pump and ice water to get it colder? Or, build a small 10' coil to put in ice water before your main IC...

Using a small pump in a bucket of ice water and recirculating the water also saves on water use

I can cool my work with my immersion in 12 minutes or so. Friday I cooled it down in 8 minutes on a 65 degree day.

Just, carefully, straighten you IC out, then buy a high temp hose, and make a CFC. That's what I did with my IC. Worked great.

just as an FYI... In the south, a 25-foot counterflow wort chiller won't get you past 80F in the middle of the summer with tap water. A secondary is necessary. Even my well water doesn't get me there, with a 156-foot deep well.

M_C