CFC troubles

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Beenym88

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Who here is using a counter flow chiller? I bought the exhillerator a few months back because cooling is my least favorite part of the brew day but I have been less then impressed. I had to add a bleeder valve in order to get the ring to work first of all. Then I don’t understand how people are chilling so fast I first use it during whirlpool and let the wort get to at least 160 before transferring. At 160 the only way I can get the wort to pitching temperatures is by letting it trickle so slow it takes about 30-40 minutes for 5 gallons. I also had it clog a couple times like yesterday so this is my angry rant and had to ditch it quickly spraying my old IC with starsan so hopefully I don’t have an infection in this brew. If anyone has had these issues or any advice I’d appreciate it at this point it seems like a 200 dollars piece of garbage.
 
I use the one that came with the Grainfather. If I run straight to the fermenter from boiling temps it will come out in the mid to high 70sF. If I route it back onto the GF until I get down under 190F I can get 68F out the end. I use the garden hose for cooling water and route the outflow out the window. Done in about 15 -20 mins. Amazing compared to my old IC which took at least half an hour to get in the 80s.
 
I use the Chillus Convolutus CCFC and never have wort blockage issues even with my most heavily hopped recipes. As for the cooling times, they depend on the flow rate and seasonal temperature of the tap water used for chilling. In Winter it easily cools the wort from boiling to 65F very quickly but in Summer it may only cool the wort down to ~75F.

chiller1a-sml.jpg
 
I replaced my 50' half inch copper IC with a stout CFC last September. I've been super happy with it but test is coming. With cool season groundwater I've been able to chill from 175F whirlpool temp to 65F into the fermenter in single pass and probably 30-45 minutes for 17.5 gallons of wort. During summer I will probably aim for 75 into fermentor and then let the fermentation chamber drop it rest of way to pitching temperature. I did a lager this way during the fall and worked out fine ... transferred in mid 60s in chamber set to control at 50F. Had the brew day wrapped up well before dinner and then pitched my yeast at 50F before going to bed. If I have to do similar for ales in the summer I can live with that.

I went with the Stout as I was trying to get copper parts out of my brewery and this was last part. I looked at the SS exchilerator but was worried about the ID of the wort tube, reminded me of my old home built CFC which did have issue of plugging up from time to time with lots of kettle/whirlpool hops. I was hoping to be able to whirlpool through the chiller and I can just get a gentle whirlpool going with my chugger pump.
 
I use a northern brewer ss cfc and have no issues.
I chill down to about 165⁰ for whirlpool.
After that it takes about 7 or 8 minutes to go into the fermenter at 65⁰. (6 gallon batch)
I will time it eventually out of curiosity tho.
I too didn't want any copper in my system.
The stout ss cfc is tri clamp and I've read allows a stronger recirculation through it.
 
I wonder if it’s just the exchillerator then it but had such good reviews.
 
I've used the exchillerator for a few years and it's been great. I've never had it clog up on me, and I've run lots of hoppy beers through it. That's in fact why I use it over my plate chillers that are gathering dust on a shelf somewhere...

I would definitely reach out to them. The owner, Kenny, was a really great guy when I worked with him before. I'm sure he'll work with you to figure out what's up, and get it right for you.

The poor cooling performance could be very well what @d3track asked. Make sure your cooling water in is connected at the same end as you have wort coming out of the CFC. As for the clogging, maybe you have some unexpected blockage inside. But that should end up with slow flow but cooler wort coming out (unless maybe the lines aren't hooked up right).
 
Just to validate, are you sure it's properly connected (wort out at water in, and vise versa)?
Second that. I've had a copule of brain farts in the past where I misconnected my plate chiller and the loss of efficiency is huge. Now I always double-check the connections while chanting the mantra "Water in-Wort out... Water in-Wort out". 😁
 
I've used the exchillerator for a few years and it's been great. I've never had it clog up on me, and I've run lots of hoppy beers through it. That's in fact why I use it over my plate chillers that are gathering dust on a shelf somewhere...

I would definitely reach out to them. The owner, Kenny, was a really great guy when I worked with him before. I'm sure he'll work with you to figure out what's up, and get it right for you.

The poor cooling performance could be very well what @d3track asked. Make sure your cooling water in is connected at the same end as you have wort coming out of the CFC. As for the clogging, maybe you have some unexpected blockage inside. But that should end up with slow flow but cooler wort coming out (unless maybe the lines aren't hooked up right).

Do you ever have issues with flow. Ever since I switched to my 3 vessel system air getting trapped in the lines and setting up bleeder valves everywhere has been a real pain. I have the most trouble when going to use the CFC.
 
The thing to keep in mind is that it is a physical law that makes the heat transfer work. If the cooling doesn't happen, it's a flow problem, either a cold water flow or a beer counterflow.

You should:
a) Check, as said by others, that the water actually goes in the opposite direction than beer;
b) clean the beer pipe by flowing water in the opposite direction of the normal beer direction. That will help in dislodging any solid residue which might be there;
c) hot water, hot water, hot water in the beer pipe. Hot water cleans and dissolves a lot of bad stuff which might be stuck there. It also allows you to check the flow instantly.

Check also that nothing is blocking the water pipe, although that is highly unlikely.

If everything is unclogged and the beer and water flow in opposite directions, your CFC cannot fail to work properly because laws of physics are pretty reliable :)
 
I have an Exchillerator and have no problems with it. The bleeder valve comment in the OP stands out for me, as I don't understand the need for it so wonder about pump priming. A photo showing how the beer and water lines are connected and routed might help.

As to process, I usually recirculate wort through the chiller with tap water running until I have kettle temp closer to 100*. By then I can pump through the chiller (at a reduced rate) into the fermenter and have the wort at about 70*F. Takes maybe 5 minutes for 6G. In the summer when tap water is very warm, I use a submersible fountain pump in a bucket of ice water recirculating though the chiller jacket for the final cooling.
 
Who here is using a counter flow chiller? I bought the exhillerator a few months back because cooling is my least favorite part of the brew day but I have been less then impressed. I had to add a bleeder valve in order to get the ring to work first of all. Then I don’t understand how people are chilling so fast I first use it during whirlpool and let the wort get to at least 160 before transferring. At 160 the only way I can get the wort to pitching temperatures is by letting it trickle so slow it takes about 30-40 minutes for 5 gallons. I also had it clog a couple times like yesterday so this is my angry rant and had to ditch it quickly spraying my old IC with starsan so hopefully I don’t have an infection in this brew. If anyone has had these issues or any advice I’d appreciate it at this point it seems like a 200 dollars piece of garbage.

What is the temperature of your cooling water?
How fast were you flowing the cooling water
Do you have the water in going on the end of the chiller where the wort comes out? (I think this is your problem, that you have it running parallel instead of counterflow)

The comment about the bleeder valve stands out to me. You should get your pump primed before you connect the output of the pump to the CFC. Verify it's pumping by putting the pump output back to the kettle, see it flow, then attach to the CFC. No, there is no way you can prime a pump with it connected to be big flow resistor and that's not limited just to this particular chiller.
 
Who here is using a counter flow chiller? I bought the exhillerator a few months back because cooling is my least favorite part of the brew day but I have been less then impressed. I had to add a bleeder valve in order to get the ring to work first of all. Then I don’t understand how people are chilling so fast I first use it during whirlpool and let the wort get to at least 160 before transferring. At 160 the only way I can get the wort to pitching temperatures is by letting it trickle so slow it takes about 30-40 minutes for 5 gallons. I also had it clog a couple times like yesterday so this is my angry rant and had to ditch it quickly spraying my old IC with starsan so hopefully I don’t have an infection in this brew. If anyone has had these issues or any advice I’d appreciate it at this point it seems like a 200 dollars piece of garbage.
Sorry you are not happy with your Exchilerator. Please reach out to me is 800 843 0553( Eastern) I would love to resolve these very unusual issues you are having. Looking forward to hearing from you. I can also be reached at [email protected]
Kenny
 
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I'm hopeful, just ordered the Brutus tonight, then thought to check here.. Lots of good reviews though, and the science seems sound enough. Maybe I can stop worrying about stuff hiding in the plate chiller...
 
I too have had issues getting the Exchillerator outflow temp to be pitching temps even with an ice bath pre chill on the water input (in counter direction to wort flow). I’m reaching out to Kenny for assistance. Will report back any findings. I have not had issue with any blockages.
 
I too have had issues getting the Exchillerator outflow temp to be pitching temps even with an ice bath pre chill on the water input (in counter direction to wort flow). I’m reaching out to Kenny for assistance. Will report back any findings. I have not had issue with any blockages.
Dropped a note to Kenny and he quickly replied and called me back. He gave me a couple of tips to try next time. Will let y’all know how it works out.
 
Been using the Brutus for just over a year now, I have done ~16 10G batches through it.

The thing is a beast. I usually whirlpool through it until I hit ~140F, then switch over into the fermentor. I have pretty cool water here, but between the whirlpool and final pass to the fermentor(80-90F depending on what I'm pitching), is ~15-20 Minutes, I end with my 15G HLT full of piping hot water. I then flow that hot water back through the pump and chiller into the boil kettle for cleaning.

Only wish I suppose would be that I had gone with the tr-clamp version.
 
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