Water chiller

[dgez]

I use an immersion chiller with garden hose fittings. This works well 2/3 of the year when the water temp is cool enough to chill the wort in a reasonable amount of time. Since I live in the South, the remaining 1/3 of the year, when its 95 degrees, the water temp cant be much lower than 90 and therfore I cant really get the wort below 90, I have to top it off with ice cold water to get it into the 75 range. What I'm looking for is some sort of plate chiller that has only a water in and water out (garden hose fittings) that i can throw into a cooler with ice cold water to get the water temperature down to something more usable in the summer months. I still want to use my immersion chiller, I just want the water colder. I've looked online and cant seem to find what im looking for. Do they make something like this?

 

[speeddemon11L]

I have the same issue. I use a 1/2"x50' immersion chiller in my wort and have a smaller 1/2"x25' immersion chiller in a bucket/cooler of ice water.

I use the larger chiller as normal until the temp gets down to 90-100deg. Then I put the smaller chiller in line between the faucet and the larger chiller. Instant cold water!

 

[ArcaneXor]

What you are looking for is a pre-chiller - basically a second immersion chiller that sits in a bucket of ice water (or other coolant - some people get pretty adventurous) to chill the cooling water once you hit that "wall" at about 100 degrees. You can also run these in a closed circuit with a pump, which works even better.

 

[bad67z]

Here is similar thread. I have a second immersion chiller but I found the pump method to deliver faster chill times.

 

[dgez]

I think I was over thinking this.....a 2nd immerision chiller would do exactly what I'm looking for. The answer was in front of me the whole time.