Immersion chiller with electric elements

[HopheadNJ]

Anybody using an IC in an electric kettle? Any issues sitting on the element?

I'm making the move to an ebiab system with 5500w TC element. I am currently using a cfc with success, but thinking about simplifying and going back to an IC with whirlpool.

 

[jimyson]

I do but need to recoil mine as the larger diameter kettle and element make half of my chiller do nothing to help the cause. I'm seriously considering building a horizontal counter flow chiller.

https://byo.com/mead/item/2849-double-pipe-wort-chiller-projects

 

[HopheadNJ]

I'm thinking I'll just fit a hook that will keep pressure off the element. Just figured I'd see what everyone is doing.

 

[jimyson]

I'm not concerned about it sitting on the element, rather, losing the coils from being immersed because of them sitting on top.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

False bottom is all you need. Or some sort of wire pizza rack from bed bath beyond type of thing

 

[TexasWine]

My IC sits atop my elements. No problems whatsoever doing that. Never occurred to me that it would/could cause a problem.

 

[cod3ck]

+1 -- sits on the element just fine

 

[Hello]

Mine sits on the element fine. I recently moved to a CFC though.

 

[iijakii]

Old pot had two weldless elements with an IC resting on them, no issues. When I leak tested I made sure to try and push and pull on them a moderate amount and never had any issues. Current pot is welded TC fitting and quite sturdy, IC ontop again no issues.

 

[brewprint]

I thought that I would chime in here.

Currently Arbor Fab is building a basket for my EBIAB system. I was going to have feet built on the basket but I'm going to just leave the basket as is.

Thinking about the immersion chiller and the fact that I'm going to upgrade to a Hydra or something like it, that's going to be too much weight on the element. These are 10 gallon batches so more of everything is required.

I'm having a "stand" built with feet that the basket and the chiller will set on.

HBT won't let me upload the blueprint but it's simple.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

My IC sits on my elements with no issue. The only challenge I have run into is when the bottom coil of the chiller finds its way under an element. Trying to figure out which element, ergo which way to pull to free it is fun.

 

[TexasWine]

Thinking about the immersion chiller and the fact that I'm going to upgrade to a Hydra or something like it, that's going to be too much weight on the element. These are 10 gallon batches so more of everything is required.

Everything excerpts less force when submerged in water or wort. And the water you send through your chiller is less dense than the wort the chiller is sitting in, so there will some amount of buoyancy effect there. The elements will need to support very little weight at all.

 

[brewprint]

I also think that if a chiller is sitting cock eyed it may affect the whirlpool feature that I'm trying to achieve for chilling and a sediment pile.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I use a false bottom but a cheap pizza rack takes the worry out of resting on the element.

 

[WI_Wino]

I went hot rod route. I pull the element out when done boiling and drop the IC in.

 

[sonex]

I went hot rod route. I pull the element out when done boiling and drop the IC in.

most people drop in the chiller 10-15 minutes before end of boil to sterilize the chiller.

 

[WI_Wino]

most people drop in the chiller 10-15 minutes before end of boil to sterilize the chiller.

You should read up on pasteurization.

 

[sonex]

You should read up on pasteurization.

pasteurization does not kill all micro organisms just reduces the numbers to make contamination less likely.

 

[WI_Wino]

pasteurization does not kill all micro organisms just reduces the numbers to make contamination less likely.

Boiling water doesn't sterilize. Boiling your IC for 15 is unnecessary unless it is dirty.

 

[cod3ck]

Boiling water doesn't sterilize.

Right, it sanitizes.

Boiling your IC for 15 is unnecessary unless it is dirty.

If it's dirty, hit the IC with a hose before putting it in the boil kettle so no unwanted 'ingredients' are being added...

Beyond that, not boiling the IC sounds like a pretty risky bet to me when it's such an easy step to reduce risk of contamination. Again, this will sanitize the chiller, not sterilize.

Cheers!

 

[sonex]

boiling has been used in the medical industry for sterilizing. cooks also boil their jars for canning. We as homebrewers also boil water and jars to sterilize for yeast washing. Boiling is a effective method for sterilizing.

 

[orangehero]

boiling has been used in the medical industry for sterilizing. cooks also boil their jars for canning. We as homebrewers also boil water and jars to sterilize for yeast washing. Boiling is a effective method for sterilizing.

No, it's not. In order to sterilize with boiling temperatures you would have to go through the lengthy process of Tyndallization.

 

[WI_Wino]

boiling has been used in the medical industry for sterilizing. cooks also boil their jars for canning. We as homebrewers also boil water and jars to sterilize for yeast washing. Boiling is a effective method for sterilizing.

Water bath canning is not sterile, the pH of what is being canned must be low enough to prevent microorganisms from growing. That's why it's fine to can tomatoes in a water bath but not say meat.

 

[brewprint]

Now that we're talking about boiling the chiller...I have stopped doing that.

I came to the conclusion that putting it in there at flame out will kill everything on there anyway. By the time it takes me to hook everything up it will have been in there 2 or 3 minutes anyway. I usually put it in my sink with the oxiclean I used for everything else and let it soak a while.

I have not had an infection since I've started doing this about 10 batches ago.

Now, I just ordered the hydra and it's about twice the size of my current chiller. Their instructions are to just boil for 10 minutes and rinse off.

Since it's larger it won't be able to fit in my sink for the oxiclean soak. I'll probably go back to boiling for 10 minutes. We'll see how much I have to crank the element when I put it in there.

 

[Paleface]

Many of you here let the IC sit on top of the element. Do you do this while the element is on during the boil? Since I'm a creature of habit, I adhere to the 15 minute policy to sanitize the chiller. It never did me wrong. Is there any problem if the chiller touches the element when it's on?

 

[cod3ck]

Many of you here let the IC sit on top of the element. Do you do this while the element is on during the boil? Since I'm a creature of habit, I adhere to the 15 minute policy to sanitize the chiller. It never did me wrong. Is there any problem if the chiller touches the element when it's on?

Nope. I set my hydra directly on the 5500W ULWD element at 15 minutes left. Never had a problem.