Glycol Chiller Question

[Yesfan]

I think it's safe to say, after purchasing my latest fermenters, I'll more than likely add the cooling coils for them on down the road. For the glycol reservoir, could I use a portable freezer? I have a 48qt portable fridge/freezer I use for my garage and Jeep. I use it for a fridge, but it can go down to freezing temps (-4F).

I've thought about a 2nd one for a possible glycol chiller setup. It's not much more than the window AC mod. Could it be done? If I understand correctly, the freezer is the cold source for the glycol. The pump inside that runs glycol through the coil is the one switched off/on by a temp controller (Inkbird), correct?

I'm wondering about this option as I could use this as a chiller, plus hop storage and other brew related items. An idea I had was to rig a spare kettle filled with water and have my small immersion chiller in it to act as the temp coil. I could recirculate near freezing water using my portable current fridge/freezer and compare it to the water if it was sitting in ambient temps (about mid 50s in my garage). Is this doable?

 

[Tom R]

IF the portable freezer is watertight, this sounds like a simple way to chill glycol/water.

My only concern would be is the BTU rating of the cooler up to the task? Since already have one, give it a shot.

Yes, use an Inkbird (or similar) to switch the fermenter's pump on and off. Might need one for the freezer also, but try as-is first.

 

[Vale71]

If you want to use it as a glycol chiller you must fill it up with glycol ensuring full contact between glycol and the freezer walls (where the evaporator coils are). Anything else won't work and will be just a waste of time. The BTU rating of the freezer will then determine how many fermenters you will be able to cool and by how much.

 

[augiedoggy]

I would not expect it to work as well as a chiller with the cooling coil coils or evap unit directly submerged in the liquid... especially if we are talking about something thats designed to be portable (and powered off 12V?)... It likely has a very low btu value.

 

[Jtvann]

My cheapest setup I ever used was a refrigerator with freezer above it. I used 2 brew buckets inside the fridge. I was able to kill power to the inside of the fridge, and turn power to the coldest setting inside the freezer. I drilled 4 holes for chiller lines between the roof of fridge to bottom of freezer. Put a 5 gallon bucket in the freezer with lines, pumps, and temp controller.

Brew buckets had heating pads in case fridge was too cool, but never got too cold. I could crash one while maintaining 68 on the other. Was able to reach 32 degrees, or less while cold crashing, but never went lower on purpose (I did hit 28 on accident ... beer was slushy)

If I was doing 5 gallon batches still, it would be the only way I'd go.

 

[Yesfan]

IF the portable freezer is watertight, this sounds like a simple way to chill glycol/water.

My only concern would be is the BTU rating of the cooler up to the task? Since already have one, give it a shot.

Yes, use an Inkbird (or similar) to switch the fermenter's pump on and off. Might need one for the freezer also, but try as-is first.

If you want to use it as a glycol chiller you must fill it up with glycol ensuring full contact between glycol and the freezer walls (where the evaporator coils are). Anything else won't work and will be just a waste of time. The BTU rating of the freezer will then determine how many fermenters you will be able to cool and by how much.

If I'm reading your posts correctly, the freezer itself would NOT be the holding vessel. For the test....

1) a large container of water inside the freezer. The freezer size is 48qt. Should the container be metal or plastic? Does it matter?

2) a pump would be inside the container recirculating ice cold water through an immersion chiller in a 10 gallon kettle filled with water. The pump would be plugged into my inkbird controller. The temp of the kettle's water would be the temp of the garage, about mid 50s. The temp of the "glycol substitute" in the freezer would be as cold as I could get it without freezing.

The goal is to see if there is going to be a noticeable drop in temps compared to the garage when recirculating this water. If so, then surely glycol will (hopefully) perform as expected. My garage stays in the mid 50s in the winters and 70s in summer. My basement stays in the mid 60s year around.

Regarding the quoted posts and any concerns...

1) My fridge/freezer is a portable unit aimed at campers/overlanders, etc. LINK It is a wired for 110V/12V. Would this be sufficient.

2) Does a chiller HAVE to have cooling coils in the glycol solution or is a container of solution inside a freezer/chiller good enough?

The main reason I'm asking about this particular fridge/freezer unit is it's small size. I've seen a couple of videos on YouTube where a guy is using an aquarium chiller for his two CF10s. Of course the aquarium chiller is a bit cheaper, but after a few gift cards, I could get the fridge at the same price or lower, plus have additional cold storage for hops.