DIY chiller, would it work?

[brewhawhaw]

So, I've done some research and havnt seen anyon try it.. would it work to completely remove the evaporator out of a window ac unit and replace it with a stainless steel immersion chiller, of equal length of the copper in the evaporator? It would be the same thing as dropping the nasty copper evaporator in your wort but with a nice, clean ss one. If anyone has seen a thread on this, please let me know. Cheers!

 

[snackson]

Having a refrigeration background it won't work as you are hoping. A couple of things to think about:
1. A window ac unit is no built to handle to heat (load) that you are looking to remove. ACs chill over time and do not cool instantaneously.
2.you would have to recover the initial charge of refrigerant and be capable of recharging the unit.

A better option would be to build a glycol chiller with the ac evaporator and run the glycol through a stainless coil in the boil kettle but you would only want to do this after you chill using a regular wort chiller to get the best bang for your buck or have a huge glycol tank.

 

[brewhawhaw]

Hey, thanks for your input. It would actually be a 65 pint dehumidifier that id be modifying. Also, I have the tools and know how to recover / vac / recharge. Hypothetically, would it work under a lighter load, in your mind? If so, how would you calculate how much stainless you'd have to use if you cut out the evaporator?