Beginner wort chiller questions

[PAjwPhilly]

I wrote wort chiller... I specifically mean plate chiller.... sorry for the confusion


#1. Working outside with gravity feeding. Wort in/out →silicone tubing (exit probably wont need it). Doing knockout cooling directly into the fermenter

What water exit (garden hose in → water out) should I buy? Tubing or another hose? Its all going to be waste water. I dont need any water this time of the year and my landlord pays for water so.....

#2. With all the force created by the liquids in the plate chiller what/where is the best place for it? My pot will be elevated, is the chiller going to lay flat? Move around? Do I need to do anything special (i.e. words what should I expect while running fluids)?

#3. Plate chiller cleaning. I dont have a pump so... thinking of boiling the chiller in another pot while i clean up, and then putting tap water back into my brew kettle and letting that flow in both directions of the wort in/out until it runs clean.... Any advice

Thanks to everyone who offers advice

 

[ludomonster]

It doesn't matter where the chiller is or what position it is in if you create a siphon. You would only need to worry about the kettle being higher than the fermenter.

To clean it, just run water through it when you are finished using it.

 

[ETCS]

I have been using a plate chiller (both a Shirron and now a thermenator with pump) for about 3 years now and find that rinsing them will NOT clean them as weel as you think. I typically flush mine out after a brew sesssion, after that I soak it in some PBW for 24 hours and then flush it again, in both directions. I hook it up to my gargen hose after the 24 soak. You will be suprised how much gunk will come out of it. I have read and tried other methods (boiling/baking on the clean cycle in the over) and found that none of those methods work as well as the one above.

Cheers

 

[PAjwPhilly]

Thanks for the feedback.

I need to go to Lowe's before I purchase grains for my next brew day and try to find some quick disconnects for this.

3/4" Male NPT (water) x 1/2" Male NPT (wort)

2 barbs for wort, 2 hose adapters is what I am thinking (1 extra hose adapter for the wort in/out)

 

[ETCS]

For cleaning/flusing, I use a 1/2' NPT to 1/2 barb fitting and a hose to barb fitting and some 1/2" ID hose for the flushing/cleaning. Just cleaned my tonight as a matter of fact.