counterflow chiller shape

[triskelion]

Hi all.
I'm useing a pretty standard looking helix shaped counterflow chiller and it works great. The problem with it is that it takes up a lot of vertical space, meaning that my kettle is very high and slightly impractical because of that. Has anyone made a flat spiral shaped cfc? It would make things easier for me if I could reshape my current cfc as such. Would there be any issues with fully draining the wort from it because of the lower gradient?

 

[LandoLincoln]

You're using an immersion chiller, not a counterflow chiller, by the way.

 

[triskelion]

I've got a counterflow chiller, not an immersion chiller.

 

[Kingbogart]

Hi all.
The problem with it is that it takes up a lot of vertical space, meaning that my kettle is very high and slightly impractical because of that.

I don't think I'm understanding the problem. Why is this the height an issue?

The way the CFC works doesn't have much to do with the shape so much as the structure. The spiral will help to keep the water moving around the inner pipe and prevent a warmer layer near the inner tube. Part of why some people use convoluted pipe is to prevent that buildup. I would expect you could make it any shape you want, but the standard coil is generally the easiest to manage use and storage wise.

In general I would avoid ups and downs, as it will cause places for water/wort to hide. If you have say an air-compressor, you might be able to risk it, but I wouldn't.

 

[triskelion]

it's mainly gravity fed, with a pump just to speed up the flow. The bottom of the chiller needs to be high enough to go over the fermenter and the kettle needs to be above the chiller. It's a bit awkward to work with because of the height. If I'd made the chiller a bit flatter it would take up less height. So I might reshape it, or just leave it alone and live with it.

 

[Kingbogart]

Those little tan guys have a little power, maybe just a tube from the wort out so you can put the fermenter off to the side? Even if it's just gravity, it should be able to go up a little bit if you put the hose in the bottom of the fermenter for siphon power.

 

[triskelion]

I might loose a bit of wort if the pipe goes up at all. There's a surprising volume inside the chiller.

 

[JKoravos]

I might loose a bit of wort if the pipe goes up at all. There's a surprising volume inside the chiller.

After all the wort drains out of the kettle, fill it with some water, the water will push the wort out of the chiller. Attach a clear hose from the outlet of the chiller to the fermenter. When you see water coming out of the chiller into the clear tube, stop the flow.

 

[LandoLincoln]

it's mainly gravity fed, with a pump just to speed up the flow. The bottom of the chiller needs to be high enough to go over the fermenter and the kettle needs to be above the chiller. It's a bit awkward to work with because of the height. If I'd made the chiller a bit flatter it would take up less height. So I might reshape it, or just leave it alone and live with it.

Or you could make your stand taller.

 

[MagicMatt]

I might loose a bit of wort if the pipe goes up at all. There's a surprising volume inside the chiller.

Not true. It sounds like you're not understanding the physics of how gravity works.

As long as the end of the hose coming off the "out" (bottom) of the CFC ("B" in the diagram) is lower than the kettle spigot/pickup tube ("A"), you'll be fine. Especially if you're using that pump. Once the flow is started, the siphon effect will keep it going no matter how the elevation changes in between.

For instance, check out my setup. Notice the hose from the kettle dips and rises to the CFC, and the kettle ball valve is essentially at the same height as the CFC "wort-in" as well as the carboy neck. But as long as the hose going into the fermenter is lower than the ball valve on the kettle, I'm golden.