Poor man's Glycol Chiller?

[Tim H]

After experiencing some wild temp swings and offputting flavors in some beers, I am upgrading my fermenters to SS Brewtech 7 gallon buckets with FTS for lagering and cold crashing. Space is limited, so I am a fan of the vertical stack. After reading the FTS info, it says ice baths will need to be changed daily to keep low temps for long periods. (shameless plug for their Glycol chiller) But wait! If you spend $899, you won't ever have to replace ice again!!!

Needless to say, after shelling out the big bucks for SS, I don't have an extra grand laying around for a chilling system. This got me thinking about a cheaper alternative....

Instead of an igloo cooler with ice, what about running the cooling lines to a 1.1 cu ft freezer that has an alcohol/water container cooled below freezing? I mean.... isn't that essentially the same as Glycol? For $129 and a cheap handle of vodka, it seems like a good alternative. Does anyone have experience with this type of methodology, or have valuable insight?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Arctic-K...FC40DoV3bA0s5iYEtEoTjNKRL4yGFP90aAhOEEALw_wcB

 

[BeardedBrews]

As far as I know that approach is fairly common. You want enough volume of glycol in the loop to give the freezer enough time to keep the loop cold.

(Edit) you've already got the FTSS, for sure you can keep your own glycol in a freezer. That little one you linked seems like a fun choice, I would just wonder how long it would have to keep the compressor running to keep up.

 

[Vale71]

There are several issues with this solution:

- a small freezer really has a very small cooling unit
- the cooling fluid will not be in direct contact with the cooling coils but will rely on air, one of the best insulators, to carry excess heat from the container to the coils. This can reduce performance so much that the cooling action can become almost non-existent.

 

[augiedoggy]

Its almost just as cheap to buy a window ac unit for $50 used and take the cover off, then unbolt the evaporator unit and set it into a small cooler after cutting a groove in the top lip of the cooler to hold the evap units copper plumbing that goes to the compressor... then control the whole thing with an inkbird and your done! you can control multiple conicals with this and lager at real lager temps where the fridge freezer cannot keep up.

there are a bunch of diy chiller step by step tutorials online.
I scored a chiller free from work but the 1/3hp one I use at the brewery I bought for $200 used at an auction... they dont have to cost $900. even the chiller SS resells is cheaper direct from the real manufacturer and it comes with a nice pump ss has removed since its really a beerline chiller..
grainfather uses a repurposed smaller aquarium chiller with a digital control system built in but normally they are only like $300 and large enough for one ss conical.

 

[Jag75]

Yup^^^^
I have about 300 into my diy chiller and that's glycol included. Holds 10 to 11 gallons and works perfectly.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

I just stumbled across this on reddit -

So, I thought about doing the same thing and ended up doing something similar that works quite well and requires less effort. I use a dorm size mini fridge instead of an AC unit that I bought for 20$ on Craigslist. I use a plastic tote for my reservoir and bent the freezer coil down into the reservoir. Now, you might be wondering if this is enough cooling power. It was more than enough for my 14 gallon chronical. I used water at first and had the reservoir temp set too low and it froze my reservoir solid. I turned the temp up (I use the 28$ inkbird one to control the fridge) and it worked like a champ without cycling on and off very often.

It took me 10 minutes to put together and I didn't have to buy a cooler or an AC unit.


I wish they had pics or a video this sounds to good to be true a 10 minute glycol chiller from a $20 fridge

 

[Jag75]

No pics then it didnt happen lol^^^^^^

 

[augiedoggy]

Theres a lot of folks here that tried this with mixed results.. the bottom line is its very inefficient using a liquid refridgerent to cool a large cavity with cold air , to cool another bucket of liquid indirectly... It works but I really dont think it will be able to cold crash and it will use more electricity. and for a 14 gallon conical?.. the dorm fridges are not very powerful btu wise

 

[Tim H]

Hummmmm.... Interesting info. Who sells reasonably priced glycol chillers these days, or is there a good place/forum to watched for used gear? I haven’t seen much in the HBT sales thread.

 

[postalbunny]

+1 for just using a window a/c unit... way more efficient. Trying to rig that fridge up will just end up with you sad that it's constantly running. Same price as that fridge grab a used window a/c unit and a cooler.