Anyone have experience with Morebeer glycol chiller

[augiedoggy]

I read in some of the reviews that the noise comes from poor assembly. Once you check over every screw and either tighten or replace them with nuts & bolts, it becomes a lot quieter. You shouldn't have to that for an $800 unit, but it is what it is. I was considering the Penguin, but the small reservoir had me a little worried about using it for my three Grainfather conical fermenters, especially in my garage during these Texas summers. I went ahead and ordered an Icemaster. I'm going to go over it with a fine tooth comb when it comes in and make any necessary adjustments before filling it up. If I end up not liking it, I'll return it.

the penquin chillers are made from repurposed window ac units.funny but most of the photos that show this have recently been removed from thier website and replaced with logo photos, and a google search but theres a recent thread about this here with pics that clearly show a window ac unit along with pics of the unmodified window ac unit so you can see its the same unit with modified face and tank added.

They work well and they will also be as loud as a window ac unit running inside vs hanging outside of a window but still they will be quieter than most actual professionally designed chillers. I own 5 different chillers and can say the fans are kinda loud on all of your purpose built chillers making them louder than most fridges and freezers because noise is not normally as much of a concern as size is in the normal field of use for a commercial chiller. brewing beer on a professional level at home quietly is not really something they make special residential chillers like aquarium chillers for yet.

 

[Leblais]

Hey guys... Probably been years since my last post but,

I recently purchased a used 14 gallon SS Brewtech Chronical BME for $400 with the chilling package (he also added the blowoff and 5 gallons of glycol, but I digress...) and was looking at a "cheap" glycol chiller. It looks like you guys are still happy with your purchase of the icemaster 100? It is available at a few places now, including amazon 3rd party, all around the $799 price point, which is a lot more than I really wanted to spend, but it seems like that is the cheapest option other than an ice bath, a self build (which, although cheaper at first, might not be able to handle when I start adding in more fermenters) or a used model. I have been looking for a used model for a bit, but then you run the risk of it breaking, and since these things are heavy and a lot of people selling them had them in an actual brewery, they are pricey!!

Regardless, this icemaster 100 seems to have a pretty large tank at 8 gallons. So the question is: How much of that is going into the line? I was looking at some of the competition and they dont have a holding tank anywhere near that much. Some are as small as 1 gallon. Are you guys noticing a drop in temp in the unit as it begins to cool? Is anyone using this for 50+ gallons and if so, how is it working for you?

Cheers!!

 

[Bigs166]

My Icemaster 100 just **** the bed after 6 months of use (7 brews) What are your thoughts?:
Process was typicaly the same for every batch:

When in use:
Fermentation: Set glycol to 32 degrees to keep tank at ferm temps (62-72) for 10-15 days

Cold crashing: Set glycol to 25 degrees to keep tank at 36 degrees (3-4 days)

When not in use:
Turn system off completely. Glycol would rise to room temp (60 degrees). When I would turn the system on the day before a brew day it would take about 2 hours to get the glycol from room temp to 32 degrees.

What happened:
Turned the chiller on and after 2 hours the temp dropped maybe 1/2 a degree. I knew something was wrong. I took the lid off and everything looked normal. The lead going into the glycol was cold to the touch but the coil itself was not getting cold (strange). I removed 1/2 the glycol and only about 8 inches of the top part of the coil was frosting and getting cold (20 degrees with my therm pen) The rest of the coil was not (60 degrees with my therm pen).

Thoughts???

 

[CodeSection]

My Icemaster 100....

What happened:
Turned the chiller on and after 2 hours the temp dropped maybe 1/2 a degree. I knew something was wrong. I took the lid off and everything looked normal. The lead going into the glycol was cold to the touch but the coil itself was not getting cold (strange). I removed 1/2 the glycol and only about 8 inches of the top part of the coil was frosting and getting cold (20 degrees with my therm pen) The rest of the coil was not (60 degrees with my therm pen).

Thoughts???

Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm using my Icemaster 100 for the first time as I write this and have been very happy thus far with its performance. I plan on cold crashing at 36F in about four days.

As @augiedoggy pointed out in another thread where you posted, it sounds like you have a freon leak. I would imagine it should be an easy fix, though you probably will need to call an A/C guy unless you are certified in using freon and have the experience fixing leaks.

Before calling an A/C guy, I would call MoreBeer since they have a one year warranty on equipment they sell. They may even know where the leak is originating from. Otherwise, dye may need to be added to the system to determine where the leak is.

Never-the-less, your best option is calling MoreBeer today and turn in a warranty claim.

Good luck!

 

[CodeSection]

@Bigs166, what did MoreBeer have to say?

 

[Bigs166]

@Bigs166, what did MoreBeer have to say?

Nothing yet.

 

[CodeSection]

Nothing yet.

Did you call them or emailed them?

https://www.morebeer.com/content/return

 

[Gozie Boy]

Pulled the trigger on an Icemaster 100. Two weeks now into fermenting a lager (which was previously not possible with my "Igloo Chiller"), and so far it is operating flawlessly, and keeping things rock-solid at 50F. What a relief not to have to change out ice bottles once or twice a day in my 80+F garage -- set it and forget it! We shall see how it handles an extended 35F cold crash, but I'm not expecting any problems.

I did not experience any of the start up issues previously reported; hopefully with all the feedback better QA is now being employed.

The only issue I see is that if you will be using this for multiple fermenters (and their associated glycol tubing and pump power lines), then you will need to develop a solution for getting those lines into the glycol reservoir. There is only room to get one set of lines into the tank. This can be done either by cutting holes or a notch into the reservoir's top cover, or by opening one of the top panels to allow access (with a little loss in insulation efficiency). Not a deal breaker by any means, but it's odd that a chiller which is designed to support up to 5 fermenters doesn't have the means to run the corresponding lines into the reservoir!

Will up date if there is anything else to report.

 

[CodeSection]

Pulled the trigger on an Icemaster 100. Two weeks now into fermenting a lager (which was previously not possible with my "Igloo Chiller"), and so far it is operating flawlessly, and keeping things rock-solid at 50F. What a relief not to have to change out ice bottles once or twice a day in my 80+F garage -- set it and forget it! We shall see how it handles an extended 35F cold crash, but I'm not expecting any problems.

I did not experience any of the start up issues previously reported; hopefully with all the feedback better QA is now being employed.

The only issue I see is that if you will be using this for multiple fermenters (and their associated glycol tubing and pump power lines), then you will need to develop a solution for getting those lines into the glycol reservoir. There is only room to get one set of lines into the tank. This can be done either by cutting holes or a notch into the reservoir's top cover, or by opening one of the top panels to allow access (with a little loss in insulation efficiency). Not a deal breaker by any means, but it's odd that a chiller which is designed to support up to 5 fermenters doesn't have the means to run the corresponding lines into the reservoir!

Will up date if there is anything else to report.

Take a look at the pics on this link that shows my solution. I believe you can easily support five fermenters.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...tainless-bulkheads.667259/page-2#post-8647328

 

[Leblais]

??? I am totally confused. Don't all ten of those hose barbs lead to the glycol reservoir?

 

[Bigs166]

Did you call them or emailed them?

https://www.morebeer.com/content/return

Here’s the update:

Morebeer was awesome with the replacement. Shipped it out fedex very fast. New unit put together and all is good.
BUT....
I got to brew 2 batches on it and the “S” button on the STC-1000 broke. so I couldn’t change the temp of the glycol. I troubleshot it for a couple days with no luck. In the end I bought an ITC-1000F off amazon And wired that in myself (shhhhhh) it works great, nice to have it in Fahrenheit and was fairly easy to gain access to it.

So I guess fingers crossed that the compressor/freon level holds up with this one...

 

[CodeSection]

??? I am totally confused. Don't all ten of those hose barbs lead to the glycol reservoir?

You have the SS bulkhead barbs to attach the lines coming from the pumps and lines going to the cooling coil. I guess I don't understand your question.

 

[Leblais]

The only issue I see is that if you will be using this for multiple fermenters (and their associated glycol tubing and pump power lines), then you will need to develop a solution for getting those lines into the glycol reservoir. There is only room to get one set of lines into the tank. This can be done either by cutting holes or a notch into the reservoir's top cover, or by opening one of the top panels to allow access (with a little loss in insulation efficiency). Not a deal breaker by any means, but it's odd that a chiller which is designed to support up to 5 fermenters doesn't have the means to run the corresponding lines into the reservoir!

My question actually pertained to this.... I dont understand why there is a need to cut holes. The item has a bulkhead with 10 barbs that go through to the reservoir. See the post above this, he states it as well.

 

[CodeSection]

My question actually pertained to this.... I dont understand why there is a need to cut holes. The item has a bulkhead with 10 barbs that go through to the reservoir. See the post above this, he states it as well.

He is talking about the reservoir's top cover and the small hole in the corner to run a line from the SS bulkhead to the actual reservoir below it. It is way too small for multiple lines. Maybe the pictures on this thread will help you visualize the issue and also see my solution...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...tainless-bulkheads.667259/page-2#post-8647328