How Fast is Fast? My DIY Immersion Chiller -2 parallel 20'x3/8" coils

[htc]

So, htc, great minds, right?!?!

Holy Cow!!! That thing is awesome! What kind of chill times are you getting with 100 feet of coil? It looks like we had about the same shopping list...

I'm diggin' the quick disconnect btw. I definitely hate screwing the garden hose onto the chiller. Does it leak at all?

 

[adamreef]

Htc,

I haven't timed it. I want to make an easy way to be able to suspend the chiller so the uppermost coil is just below the surface of the wort to maximize convection. Once that's done, I can time it with and without agitating the wort. My ultimate goal is efficient cooling times without any user intervention.

Adam

 

[htc]

Finally time for an update! I tested the chiller last month; 5 gallon final volume, low chilling water hose measured in the low 40's,

Timed from Boiling:

to 150°F in 1:57
to 125°F in 2:48
to 100°F in 4:21
to 63°F in 9.22!!!

 

[jjadamsfb]

For anyone that has made this adapted / upgraded Immersion chiller, have you tested what the temp is coming out compared to the temp in the kettle? I wonder if more 4 shorter coils spread out more vertially.

Just a question, I am going to hopefully build this in the next week or so, too bad copper is so expensive now.

 

[63belair]

I'm wondering why you used T joints for the two 'bottom' connections, did you just not have any 90's?

 

[tjpfeister]

I'm wondering why you used T joints for the two 'bottom' connections, did you just not have any 90's?

I'm not sure if HTC had other plans, or why the bottom "legs" were uneven in length, but whenever I get around to building one this design, I will be using those to space to coils off the bottom to avoid my heating element.

 

[htc]

I'm wondering why you used T joints for the two 'bottom' connections, did you just not have any 90's?

Sorry I missed your reply. I didn't use 90's because I wanted to keep the bottom coil off of the bottom of my kettle, mostly to minimize chiller contact with the kettle and maximize wort contact. I know it wouldn't be much, but every little bit helps.

As far as the uneven legs go. Chalk that up to poor engineering. I tried to remove the cap on the longest leg and shorten it, but it takes an incredible amount of heat to un-solder a sweated joint.

 

[htc]

I'm wondering why you used T joints for the two 'bottom' connections, did you just not have any 90's?

Sorry I missed your reply. I didn't use 90's because I wanted to keep the bottom coil off of the bottom of my kettle, mostly to minimize chiller contact with the kettle and maximize wort contact. I know it wouldn't be much, but every little bit helps.

As far as the uneven legs go. Chalk that up to poor engineering. I tried to remove the cap on the longest leg and even it, but it takes an incredible amount of heat to un-solder a sweated joint and I just couldn't pull it off.

 

[evanmars]

I think I just found the design for my next IC.

P.S. Don't assume that there isn't any water left in your IC and leave it in your unheated garage in the winter...

 

[htc]

You're right, that design does make it a pain to drain the water from. I try to rotate it around the coils to get it empty, but it lives indoors so it's not a worry.

 

[htc]

Adding a third coil to the wort chiller. This makes 60 feet of 3/8 tubing. With a whirlpool effect, I think I can get 10 gallons from 212 down to 60 in 5-7 minutes.

 

[Espresso]

Ok I'm definitely building one of these

 

[HootervilleHops]

Doh!!! Palm to forehead! It's 12 below and my IC is in the garage..

 

[evanmars]

Doh!!! Palm to forehead! It's 12 below and my IC is in the garage..

Hopefully there wasn't too much water left in it...

 

[Hello]

Doh!!! Palm to forehead! It's 12 below and my IC is in the garage..

But sticking it in boiling wort for a second will free up that water and thus let the hose water flow, no?

I envy < 10 min cooling time. I was excited to see 25 min form 212 to 65F with my IC in a 10 gallon batch with hose water that was 52F.

 

[evanmars]

But if there was too much water it could freeze and split the copper tubing. Ask me how I know...

Sent from my SM-N900P using Home Brew mobile app

 

[HootervilleHops]

Don't ask me beacuse i don't want to know. I sure hope i drained it the last time i used it.

 

[htc]

I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of Saison, roughly 4.5 gallons in the kettle after boil (underestimated evap)...

At the start of chilling, while I fumbled the thermometer and timer, I failed to whirlpool the wort for about 20-30 seconds.

anyway... from 212 to 80 in 3 minutes 31 seconds.

 

[htc]

Okay, it's official I can't help myself. I added a 4th coil.

The first time I tried to time the chill for 5 gallons I got frustrated that it was taking so long,I was at the 100'F mark in something like 5 minutes when I noticed my feet were really warm as I stirred the kettle. The burner was still on.

The next time I hit reset on the stopwatch (instead of stop) before I got to see the time.

Two days ago I prepared before hand and did it right.

With 80' of 3/8" coil, that's over 8 square feet of surface area including the riser. With the time from the last brew, 5 gallons from boiling to 60'F in 5 minutes and 30 seconds, and those measurements I've calculated just over 2640 BTU/hour or 775 watts of cooling power (with hose water temps @ 50'F)