Glycol chiller

[zuke395]

Hey everyone I just wanted to reach out to anyone who is considering purchasing a glycol chiller. I bought a brand new never used SS brewtech 1/3 HP chiller from a friend of mine. He bought it brand new from SSbrewtech and never used it after he moved. He had it in storage for over a year and I then bought the chiller and a chronical from him. I had my first brew day with the new equipment back in April and everything went great. I love my SSbrewtech brewing equipment. The glycol chiller worked great for about a week but one morning when I left for work I noticed it wasn’t chilling as effectively as it had been all week. When I returned from work the compressor would not come on and the beer had gone from cold crashing at 40 degrees to Texas warmth of 80. I went back and forth with SSbrewtech to try and resolve the issue but eventually they said it’s an older unit that can’t be repaired. So basically I had a 1k piece of brewing equipment that would never work again. I posted my frustration in a forum and the owner of Penguin Chillers reached out to me He explained how Penguin chillers designs and knows everything about their chillers where other companies buy their chillers from outside resources and resell them. He offered to attempt to fix my glycol chiller without any promises being made. He was even nice enough to handle the shipping for me. Within 72 hrs of Penguin chillers receiving my glycol chiller unit he had diagnosed the problem, ordered the replacement parts and today I received a video of the unit cooling again. I just want everyone to be informed of their knowledge on glycol chillers and for brewers to be able to make the best decision on which product will work best for them. I know we have a few options for glycol chillers but I think the best on the market is Penguin chillers

 

[sleev-les]

I bought a Penguin through Spike. Just got a chance to use it on a lager from last Thrursdays brew day. It's been great.

 

[augiedoggy]

Theres not much too a chiller honestly.. usually like a fridge the most common failure is a cheap starter for the compressor. some have a pressure switch which can fail. I have a 6th one sitting in my back seat right now I repaired by bypassing it (also less than a year old)... Did penquin say what was wrong with it? I used to have the link for who made the chillers that ss buys and resells. basically they were about the same price (slightly less) but with the big main pump still in them that SS has removed. they are beer line chillers for keeping long rungs of beer lines cold in bars and nightclubs.
Whether they did it or not to show up SS it was a noble gesture for Penquin to help you out in this case.
I dont know if Penquins still doing it but they used to make thier chillers out of repurposed window air conditioners. Theres really a huge markup for a chiller without a pump in it as it can be made fairly cheap considering they are made from all the same components as any refridgeration device like a fridge or ac unit. They just need a thermostat that goes low enough in temp and cooling coil soldered on instead of an evap unit some even leave the evap units in tact and just drop them into a tank or cooler like the homemade units out there.