Plate Chiller - Lessons Learned

Hi all,

I've recently had a good experience using the Duda Diesel 30-plate chiller and wanted to post a few thoughts.

This is a pic of the 3-tier stand with the chiller hooked up to the boil tank via a chugger pump with stainless pump head.


Lessons Learned
(Sorry if these are repeated, but here goes...)
- Gravity flow with this particular setup was pretty bad. I tried to run through the chiller without the pump during my last brew day and it was painfully slow. I realize raising the tank would have helped some, but I got a chugger pump for Christmas, and it made all the difference. This time it took 5 or 10 minutes to cool all 10 gallons. Pretty awesome.
- Using a hop bag during the boil was clutch. During the last brew, I added hops straight to the boil and ended up with chunks getting stuck in the chiller, which were pretty touch to get out completely. Today, I used a hop bag, and the result was a clean brew and no hops in the chiller.
- Quick connects are mandatory. I know a lot of people have preferences for the various types, but whatever you prefer, they are great.
- Having an proper inline thermometer is great. I used the thrumometer during the first batch and it worked okay, but having a threaded dial thermometer permanently attached works better for me.
- Make sure your hoses are long enough for all configurations you need to run (chilling, cleaning, backflushing, etc.). Wasted some good tubing by not having them long enough the first time.

 

That's good advise right there.

Considering the price for good silicone tubing, I actually went ubernerd and tied strings to my QD ends, then walked through a simulated brew session to see how the lengths would work out. I did have two "tubes" that proved way too short to make it through a day - including cleaning...

Cheers!