chiller question

[theonetrueruss]

If my wort is hot but the output of my chiller is not hot... am I correct in thinging I need more feet of tubing? (I'm using an IC made from copper tubing) at least if that's the case more feet of tubing should allow more heat xfr. that's my thinging.. though it's 2:14 am and im drinking and brewing... waiting for my wort to chill

 

[meister]

gently stir the pot around, or stir the wort center in the chiller.

 

[IceFisherChris]

First make sure you are stirring. Gently and not vigorously. How much tubing is in your chiller?? Sometimes slowing down the water flow will help too.

 

[theonetrueruss]

about 20 feet in the fluid... I was pumping ice water through it so possibly that has an effect. It took about 1.5 hours to get me down to temp though... it was about 7 gallons of wort though.. I usually only work with 5. I'll try stirring next time.. thanks

 

[thethirsty1]

Try slowing your water flow down it sounds like you have no heat transfer

 

[rawlus]

1.5 hours? wow. i agree with the rest, slow the flow to reach the right balance between efficiency and heat transfer. moving the IC and/or the wort will improve those times as well.

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

what sort of chiller is this, counter-flow or immersion?

slowing down the coolant flow will never ever help. at least from a heat transfer rate standpoint. sure, you would get more efficient heat transfer but it would be slower...

this is a copper tube you are using correct?

what diameter?

 

[theonetrueruss]

it's 1/4" OD copper tubing IC. I'm planning to eventually switch to 50' of 1/2" but don't have the budget for that at the moment. In the past it's taken more like 40 mins though this batch was a bit bigger than my normal sized batch. 7 gal as opposed to 5 gal. Also I cooled to 65 instead of 75 where I usually stop. Since it's cold I get a few more degrees during transfer to carboy. I wound up at 58 deg in carboy. I pitched at that temp and was getting blowoff after about 10 hours. The break material also looks plentiful though so I'm expecting it to turn out fine.

It sounds like I have a few things to do:
1) get the 50' 1/2" chiller going
2) stir gently while cooling
3) eventually get me a wort pump and start recirculating with a whirlpool type setup... or just go to a counterflow setup... all that is much further down the line... need better fermentation temp control before that. - right now I just use a closet that happens to stay at 68 F

 

[Apendecto]

I'm guessing you'd be just fine with 70, 75 or even 80 F. For me, those last 5-10 degrees take the longest to shave off. You are on the right track with ice water, but stirring will help a ton. If I move my chiller and hold onto the water out side, the temperature of the copper heats up pretty dramatically.

 

[CoalCracker]

Your copper tubing size is way too small. You should really do 3/8 at a minimum. Once you upgrade. You shouldn't have this problem any more. Like others said, stir.

 

[djt17]

I too am stuck with a chiller with 1/4" tubing (bad purchase made in my extract days) & no funds to purchase/build a larger one at the moment. But, with constant stirring I can get my wort (4 gal) down to 70° in about 30 minutes.