Gravity feed enough for an immersion chiller?

[FreudianSlip172]

Working with Okinawa's 80° tap water has convinced me to upgrade my wort chilling setup from the single immersion chiller I'm using now. I'm a BIAB brewer at the moment thinking about moving to a more "full-size" all grain setup someday down the road.

The normal answer to the cooling problem is probably to get a second chiller and pre-chill the cooling water, and I've got some choices in mind for the task. But I was thinking about getting one of the standard 10-gal Igloo beverage coolers for use as a mash tun. Seems like I could just fill the mash tun with ice and then hook the output valve up to my existing immersion chiller. Has anyone ever tried this? I'm concerned that gravity feed from the tun might not be enough to adequately drive the immersion chiller, but if it works it'd be a cheap way to accomplish the job.

It also helps me sell my wife on why I need a mash tun now :rockin:

 

[RufusBrewer]

When I use a immersion chiller, I use a (about) $15 bilge pump that is submersible. I have a spare ice chest I fill with water and the bilge pump. At first I pump tap water at "out of the spigot" temp to get the wort down to 100 degrees or so. Then I add ice and pump ice water.

If you have a generous or inexpensive supply of ice, you can start with ice water.

The bilge pump is cheaper than a coil of copper and you are pumping the coldest water a available to you. When your wort gets to your desired pitching temp, pull out the chiller go to the next step.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

The normal answer to the cooling problem is probably to get a second chiller and pre-chill the cooling water, and I've got some choices in mind for the task. But I was thinking about getting one of the standard 10-gal Igloo beverage coolers for use as a mash tun. Seems like I could just fill the mash tun with ice and then hook the output valve up to my existing immersion chiller. Has anyone ever tried this? I'm concerned that gravity feed from the tun might not be enough to adequately drive the immersion chiller, but if it works it'd be a cheap way to accomplish the job.

If water systems were frictionless, that would be a no brainer. But the friction of the water going up down then back up, in a circular manner, may be too much for gravity to keep a good flow of water going.

The small pond or aquarium pump may be a better way to go - lots of people use them.

MC

 

[beersk]

Don O. had a gravity set up where he did an ice water recirculation in the Brewing TV episode "Lager Workarounds". It should work.

 

[dmcman73]

If you're looking to recirculate the water then you'll need a pump to push the water through.

Anther way would be to set your spare immersion chiller in a tub of ice, hook one end up to a water source (faucet, garden hose) and then hook up the other end of the immersion chiller to the input of your chiller for your wort. As the water flows through the first chiller (in the bucket of ice) the water temp should drop lower than the temp out of the faucet and go right through, no pump required.