Chill plate questions

[pretzelb]

I am finally considering adding a chill plate to my tool list and I had a few questions. I have an unused March pump I bought when a fellow brewer moved, and I have a pre-chiller for my immersion chiller so besides all the connections and extra hose I think I have what I need.

1. Anyone ever tested the performance difference between a $100 and $200 chill plate?
2. Is the correct configuration boil kettle -> pump -> chill plate (or bk->chill plate -> pump)?
3. Do you need a valve on your pump or is the valve on your boil kettle good enough?
4. Do you need to elevate the boil kettle or can you start just from the height of your burner (which is maybe 10" or so off the ground)?
5. Assuming I use a pre-chiller between my garden hose bib and the chill plate, should I go directly to the primary or recirculate back into the boil kettle for a few minutes?
6. Any recommendations for a site to buy cam-locks?
7. Is there a submersible pump that is friendly to homebrewers that can be used for pre-chilling the water? Maybe something with hose connectors built in?

I'm excited about this change and hoping it helps to not only save time but also conserve water.

 

[Bobby_M]

I am finally considering adding a chill plate to my tool list and I had a few questions. I have an unused March pump I bought when a fellow brewer moved, and I have a pre-chiller for my immersion chiller so besides all the connections and extra hose I think I have what I need.

1. Anyone ever tested the performance difference between a $100 and $200 chill plate?
2. Is the correct configuration boil kettle -> pump -> chill plate (or bk->chill plate -> pump)?
3. Do you need a valve on your pump or is the valve on your boil kettle good enough?
4. Do you need to elevate the boil kettle or can you start just from the height of your burner (which is maybe 10" or so off the ground)?
5. Assuming I use a pre-chiller between my garden hose bib and the chill plate, should I go directly to the primary or recirculate back into the boil kettle for a few minutes?
6. Any recommendations for a site to buy cam-locks?
7. Is there a submersible pump that is friendly to homebrewers that can be used for pre-chilling the water? Maybe something with hose connectors built in?

I'm excited about this change and hoping it helps to not only save time but also conserve water.

The best combo of performance and value is the 30 plate long B23A-30 from Duda, which is the one we sell. It's basically Therminator performance for $60 less.
Yes, BK PUMP CHILLER
The pump only needs to be a few inches below the pot to get an initial prime.
You'll want a ball valve on the output of the pump for sure. You can't throttle before the pump or you'll cavitate.
Yes, buy the camlocks from me. In fact, you can't go wrong with the pump connection kit if you don't already have any of the parts.
If you can make a direct run to the fermenter without having to run it at a trickle then do it. Ideally you'd want to get the whole batch chilled in about 10 minutes. If you can't do that, you'd be better off recirculating back to the BK until you hit 140F, then do the run to the fermenter.

 

[pretzelb]

The valve on the outgoing pump line makes sense. I will add that to my list of parts.

I'm not sure I understand this:

If you can make a direct run to the fermenter without having to run it at a trickle then do it. Ideally you'd want to get the whole batch chilled in about 10 minutes.​

What is the issue with having it run at a trickle?

 

[Hello]

The best combo of performance and value is the 30 plate long B23A-30 from Duda, which is the one we sell. It's basically Therminator performance for $60 less.
Yes, BK PUMP CHILLER
The pump only needs to be a few inches below the pot to get an initial prime.
You'll want a ball valve on the output of the pump for sure. You can't throttle before the pump or you'll cavitate.
Yes, buy the camlocks from me. In fact, you can't go wrong with the pump connection kit if you don't already have any of the parts.
If you can make a direct run to the fermenter without having to run it at a trickle then do it. Ideally you'd want to get the whole batch chilled in about 10 minutes. If you can't do that, you'd be better off recirculating back to the BK until you hit 140F, then do the run to the fermenter.

Not to hijack his thread but I e-mailed you a while back about this. Is there a kit to outfit a plate chiller? I have a pump and a pump kit from you already.

 

[Bobby_M]

I don't have a kit to outfit a chiller but I should. Basically it would be a pair of type A camlocks and another hose with Big Cs.

The reason you wouldn't want a really slow trickle is that your wort is sitting in the kettle for an extended period of time, altering the flavor/aroma hop additions and potentially creating more DMS.