I may have missed this, but has anyone found that a 20' - 25' counter flow chiller requires a pump to move the wort through? I saw a video on YouTube that warned 15' was about the longest you would want to go without a pump.
Brew-Jay said:I may have missed this, but has anyone found that a 20' - 25' counter flow chiller requires a pump to move the wort through? I saw a video on YouTube that warned 15' was about the longest you would want to go without a pump.
It is made from 3/8" OD copper inside 5/8" OD copper.what size copper tubing did you use for the outer bit of copper for the water?
Absolutely no problem at all.I'm planning on making an all copper CFC. And I was able to get a 50' roll of both 3/8" and 3/4".
Would there be anything wrong with usin the 3/4" copper tube on the outside?
P-J said:If I can help and talk you through it, please holler at me.
P-J
I was looking for this thread to finally cut up my immersion chiller and make a counterflow, I'm surprised it is still kicking!
Living in Phoenix my tap water in the dead of winter is 80-85 degrees, summer temps are around 103 to 106 degrees, normally I use a pond pump to move a cooler full of ice water through my IC, I will be keeping this same process, just pushing the ice water through the CFC instead, maybe I can reduce the amount of ice I need, current setup requires 50 lbs of ice to chill a batch
mccumath said:Just built your CFC this past weekend out of my old IC. Works great! Tested it with some boiling water, and as you can see, worked like a charm. Thanks for the writeup!
mccumath said:Just built your CFC this past weekend out of my old IC. Works great! Tested it with some boiling water, and as you can see, worked like a charm. Thanks for the writeup!
If I can't shorten my cooling/filling fermenter process I don't see a reason to change, but every time I see a new thread pop up I am interested in making one.
Do you adjust the flow of the beer/tap water to adjust your final temp going into the fermenter? And, about how long does it normally take to fill the fermenter?
Great build by the way.
VipertheIV said:Similar topic, but mccumath do you have a pic of your set up? Looks like something I have in my head to build very soon. Maybe even this weekend.
mccumath said:My stand or the chiller?
VipertheIV said:Stand. Right now working with burner on the floor and mash tub on 3/4" plywood on two sawhorses
Okay, my wife just "surprised" me by buying everything I need to make this thing. Only problem, she says the total came to $130! I haven't seen all the parts yet, or the receipt, but what should I be looking at for a gross overcharge?
Tiber_Brew said:Yikes. I would look at what she paid for the copper, and how much she picked up. Perhaps she was only able to get a longer roll than you needed? Also, I priced my build out after selling part of the materials to my friend who build one out of the same hose and tubing purchase. You could possibly build more than one with the materials she bought and sell the extra chiller to another homebrewer (possibly here on HBT?), recuperating some of your cost.
I was given some copper tubing and it says on the box it's 3/8" OD but it's refrigeration tubing so it's actually 1/4" plumbing tubing. Would that be too small to use as the inside tube of a CFC?
Cajun_Tiger33 said:I was given some copper tubing and it says on the box it's 3/8" OD but it's refrigeration tubing so it's actually 1/4" plumbing tubing. Would that be too small to use as the inside tube of a CFC?
Thanks guys. I just built my counterflow wort chiller last night and it looks great. Can't wait to use it. Felt a bit embarrassed asking for KY jelly, but it was super easy getting the copper into the hose using it. Any advice on how much head difference to drive flow through the 25' of 3/8" copper tubing?
pksublime said:Well i tried it out this weekend - and it worked but was really really slow. I think i'm going to have to build a stand to get it to be at just the right level, and get some different tubing. The good news was that it was extremely efficient, wort output temp was below 60!
More time to drink beer?
You spent the money to buy the material for the chiller now spend a little more and buy a march pump. Huge improvement for me. In 5 mins I have five gallons of cooled wort. I also use a sump pump to pump ice water through the chiller.
pksublime said:true, but what about the added time for late hop additions and the chances of infection?
Think of the immersion chiller as a bulk chiller. Now think of the counterflow chiller a super efficient chiller for a smaller portion of wort traveling through it. In my neck of the woods, in February, I'm able to pretty much go from boil to primary with the 25' CFC that I use. The volume of chilling water and temp difference vs hot wort is so great that I don't have to recirculate the wort. In fact, I usually open up the pump out valve to speed up the wort transfer or slow down the cold water through the CFC so the wort doesn't get too cold.
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