Counterflow Wort Chiller Length (50' worth it?)

[vzom]

I will be building a CFC this weekend. I was originally going to go for a 50' but am now leaning to a 25' one.

Does anyone with experience know if it is worth going for 50'? Has someone used both a 25' and 50' CFC and seen a big improvement?

I foresee it will be more of a PITA to stick the an additional 25' of copper through hose. With the added cost of the hose and copper, I'm guessing 50' won't be worth it. Also, due to the heat exchange, I would think that the heat transfer would minimal after the first 25', since the water will already be plenty hot at that point.

 

[dracus]

I've always been more than happy with my plain old 50ft immersion chiller.

 

[Brew-Jay]

I will be building a CFC this weekend. I was originally going to go for a 50' but am now leaning to a 25' one.

Does anyone with experience know if it is worth going for 50'? Has someone used both a 25' and 50' CFC and seen a big improvement?

I foresee it will be more of a PITA to stick the an additional 25' of copper through hose. With the added cost of the hose and copper, I'm guessing 50' won't be worth it. Also, due to the heat exchange, I would think that the heat transfer would minimal after the first 25', since the water will already be plenty hot at that point.

Undoubtedly the hardest part of building my 25' CFC was getting the copper through the hose. I can't imagine 50 feet. Mine works very well and the final temp of the wort has more to do with the water temperature than the CFC length. In my case (southern CA) the water temp has been in the 80's so lengthening the CFC wouldn't help much. If anything I would use the extra 25' for a pre-chiller.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I will be building a CFC this weekend. I was originally going to go for a 50' but am now leaning to a 25' one.

Does anyone with experience know if it is worth going for 50'? Has someone used both a 25' and 50' CFC and seen a big improvement?

I foresee it will be more of a PITA to stick the an additional 25' of copper through hose. With the added cost of the hose and copper, I'm guessing 50' won't be worth it. Also, due to the heat exchange, I would think that the heat transfer would minimal after the first 25', since the water will already be plenty hot at that point.

Yes, I have used both a 25' and a 50' (actually a 45'). The 25' just wasn't cutting it for me, so I built a new one. Tried to get all 50' into the hose, but couldn't get more than 45'. Oh well, close enough.

Yes, you are correct in your assumption - getting that last 15' was a real bear. Filling the hose with some liquid soap solution might have helped.

The 50' works great. Gets the wort down to within 1° of the tap water temps.

 

[vzom]

Thanks for the responses.

@Brew-Jay, didn't even think of a pre-chiller. I have my immersion chiller that I can use for that in the warmer months. Tap water gets nice and cold up here in the winter months

@LandoLincoln, thanks for confirming my suspicions on sticking that pipe through

 

[Hoppybeav]

Regardless of the length you use, try this trick...

After I soldered a solid wire around the outside of the copper tubing, it was TIGHT in the hose. In the first try, I couldn't get the last 6-8 feet through, despite using soapy water, and had to pull it apart.

Second try... I fed a fishtape through the hose first, soldered the end of the tape IN the pinched-off end of the copper tubing, then pulled the whole thing back though the hose. Obviously this requires two people. I still added the soapy water to make it easier, but it goes fast this way. Afterward, I cut off a couple inches of tubing and re-melt the solder to remove the piece from the tape.
good luck.

 

[Deric]

I used KY.

Worked great.

Water based so ran water through it fer a while after.


Don't tell my wife.....