Jaded HERMS coil

[mgerton13]

https://jadedbrewing.com/products/herms-coil?variant=522659229

Anyone bought / used these and have thoughts / reviews? Specifically about the flow though it with it being only 3/8 OD compared to a traditional 1/2 OD herms coil

 

[highland_brewer]

https://jadedbrewing.com/products/herms-coil?variant=522659229

Anyone bought / used these and have thoughts / reviews? Specifically about the flow though it with it being only 3/8 OD compared to a traditional 1/2 OD herms coil

Not sure what the company is talking about, saying more even heating.. never had any issues with a standard round coil. MAYBE it will heat somewhat faster due to more surface area able to be heated by the HLT.. the faster heating could posdibly be attributed to the smaller ID of the coil?

My $.02

 

[Homercidal]

This design seems to distribute the wort through a more diverse area of the HLT than just a coil, which really only contacts the heating water right where that coil sits.

One could argue that shaping the HERMS coil like this helps to minimize the effect of insulating the area around the coil by being longer and not stacked and sitting right next to othe rportions of coils like a standard round shaped coil.

This design assumes that people don't recirculate their HLT water while running a HERMS system. That would also help prevent uneven heating.

 

[mgerton13]

I will be recirculating my HLT water in my system when complete. Just based off of more surface area in contact with the water, it would be interesting to see how much faster, if any, you could bring your mash up to temp after the initial rest. I guess my overarching question is, does 3/8 vs 1/2 OD really make that much of a difference in flow rate and heat transfer, even with a traditional coil?

 

[passedpawn]

I will be recirculating my HLT water in my system when complete. Just based off of more surface area in contact with the water, it would be interesting to see how much faster, if any, you could bring your mash up to temp after the initial rest. I guess my overarching question is, does 3/8 vs 1/2 OD really make that much of a difference in flow rate and heat transfer, even with a traditional coil?

Yes, I'd say the heat exchange rate will improve a lot. The tube cross section is 78% bigger, so flow will definitely increase a lot (if you're pumping, as expected in a HERMS, you're limited by the pump's flow rate at head pressure). Further, the surface area of the tubing, where the heat exchange must take place, is 33% greater with that increase in diameter.

It's hard to say if any of this is important in a HERMS application. It's probably not important for maintaining a mash temperature, where heat loss in an insulated mash tun is minimal. However, if you're looking to do step mashes (i.e., start mash at 125°, then ramp it up to 150°), you'll want to optimize your HERMS heat exchange rate.

 

[MplsUgly]

That just looks like a royal PITA. What happens when it gets bent a little out of shape and you end up with a birds nest of copper?

Also, the pressure drop would be a lot worse with more bends. For heat exchange you want linear length and sectional area. Turns would only make you loose pressure and reduce flow.

 

[itsnotrequired]

That just looks like a royal PITA. What happens when it gets bent a little out of shape and you end up with a birds nest of copper?

Also, the pressure drop would be a lot worse with more bends. For heat exchange you want linear length and sectional area. Turns would only make you loose pressure and reduce flow.

^this

i have a 1/2", 50' stainless herms coil with the 'traditional' helical configuration. i'm amazed how much the flow slows down through it. the jaded coil seems like it would really slow down with all the bends, plus a 3/8" diameter. some may argue that slow flow = more time in the heating medium = more heat transfer but they are not correct. there is plenty of thermal mass in a hlt, no need for the fluid to 'hang out' in the exchanger. running it as fast as you can optimizes heat transfer. while mashing and maintaining temp, not a big deal but step mashing or ramping up for a mash out seems like it would take forever.

it is copper though so you'll get slightly better heat transfer compared to stainless. i say 'slightly' because at the sidewall thicknesses of the coils, the extra heat coefficient of copper isn't that big a deal. plus copper can be more finicky to clean compared to stainless.

 

[crane]

As with what others are saying it's more about how fast you can pump, not how long your ... is.

When I first built my HERMS setup that uses a 1/2" 50 foot stainless coil I measured the temp of the water directly at the output of the HERMS coil. With my pump running full speed there was no Delta in HLT temperature and HERMS coil temperature. So to try and speed up a mash temp ramp you need to get more wort through the coil faster.

How can you get more wort through the coil faster? As others have said you reduce resistance in flow. This is accomplished with a shorter coil, a larger diameter coil, and/or reducing restrictions from bends. The jaded coil does the opposite of all 3 of these.