My counterflow chiller is clogged

[jimbohlia]

I am able to pass liquid through it with a garden hose on full blast but even then it barely comes through. Last night when I was brewing I couldn't get any wort through - which really sucked! I have tried immersing the entire thing in boiling water thinking it would loosen whatever is in there - no luck. Anyone have any experience or ideas with this? I'd appreciate hearing them!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hot PBW or oxi clean if you can get it in there?

Pump?

 

[govner1]

Did you flush it out w/ cleaner & sanitizer after your last use?

 

[bsperr]

What is your CFC made out of? If it's all metal, you could try baking it in the oven for a while to carbonize whatever's in there and then flush it out once it's cooled.

 

[HLSheppard]

I would try an air compressor set to about 40 psi (if you have one available). That should clear it - then hot PBW, etc.

 

[jimbohlia]

I always try to clean and sanitize it when i finish but I honestly might have forgot after the last use - can't remember. It is made of copper so I could try baking it but I think I will running hot PBW through it to see if that has an effect first.
I'll start with the least severe ideas and hopefully fix it before we get to gunpowder charges.

 

[m00ps]

+1 on hot PBW. To clean mine real well, every 10 or so brews I will fill my kettle with PBW, heat to 150ish and recirculate. Then backflush and let it sit overnight. A ton of crap always comes out

Removing any rubber/plastic components and baking it in your oven is another remedy that seems to work well

But you really should be flushing and backflushing after every brew if you want to keep it in good shape

 

[TorMag]

Buy a 100 foot spool of bailing wire at Home Depot in the fencing section about $5, push it all the way through until it pushes out the other end and give it a good ream job.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I doubt bailing wire would get very far before friction caused it to fold.
Spring steel, maybe, but not bailing wire...

Cheers!

 

[Happywanderer]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCraft-1-4-in-x-25-ft-Power-Pistol-Grip-Drum-Auger-BC86250/202755049

 

[TorMag]

fwiw, I doubt bailing wire would get very far before friction caused it to fold.
Spring steel, maybe, but not bailing wire...

Cheers!

You might be right, ok, buy a some galvanized wire... Same trick.

 

[stevehaun]

Did you try back flushing it?

 

[hou_me]

I'm dreading the day this happens to me, but when it does I'm throwing the whole MFer in a bucket of PBW for two or three days. That stuff will get rid of anything!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Reviving a necro thread here... My chiller is probably 15 years old, was a Morebeer (I think) convoluted counterflow chiller. Worked fine for a decade with just basic flushing after brewing. Including for VERY hoppy IPAs, and never with a spider--just a whirlpool before chilling. So unlike OP it doesn't sound like a manufacturing issue.

I kinda fell out of brewing in 2020. My last batch at that time was an IPA, so lots of pellet hops. Counterflow chiller worked fine. I flushed it as usual then.

So, fast forward to a few months ago. Start brewing again. Make a blonde ale, and my flow rate is ABYSMAL. Get it done, but know I need to fix this issue. So before my next brew (Saturday), I start trying to flush it pumping vinegar through it on the advice of a fellow brewer. It's flowing, but not at a high rate. I added some One Step to the kettle--I'm out of PBW--and it keeps flowing but not getting better.

So I attempt to brew--and notice at the end it's not bringing down the whirlpool temp. Realize it's not flowing at ALL at this point. So I get the hot wort into the fermenter and throw it in the fermentation fridge--it's unintentionally my first "no chill" beer... Oops.

So I'm wondering what's best to clean this sucker out. I do NOT have a compressor... I *do* have a power washer if that is of any use. And obviously I can try PBW once I buy some, can try baking it, can try just about anything.

Thoughts?

 

[lumpher]

I doubt a power washer will do much. The coils will bring down the effective water pressure to close to the same pressure as a regular hose.

 

[Skeeter686]

I've never dealt with this, but I'd lean towards PBW or maybe BLC.

I wouldn't think that baking it would help, unless your goal is to run the oven at 500 to try incinerating the blockage. The PBW sounds like a better approach to me.

 

[sibelman]

All this confirms my practice of circulating hot OxiClean solution through my copper CFC (and stainless HERMS coil) after every batch.

A ton of crap always comes out

This remark is, erm, chilling.

I hope you can restore your chiller, @betarhoalphadelta.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Guess I'd better go buy--or order--some replacement PBW.

 

[mschoeffler]

I hate to break it to you, but this is what’s left after PBW backflush, followed by tap water and then StarSan. You really need to break it down and mechanically clean it.

 

[Broken Crow]

Though the original poster never seems to have found a solution, @TorMag and @day_trippr made some suggestions that could use some followup...
Because of my TAI, I can no longer picture 3-dimensional models so to try and recover that as well as solve a flow-rate issue, I decided to build a dual-concentric CFC. As part of this, I experimented with trying to devise a way to turn a coiled copper tube into a coiled PEX hose without straightening them out. On my first attempt, I got about 10' of the copper coil into the pex before it jammed....I decided I needed something to help pull it from the pex end while pushing the copper in..Enter: MIG-wire.
Not the weekend warriors flux-core stuff; proper solid wire intended for use with gas. I fed it through the entire lot, twisted and tied one end around a bolt and washer, wrapped the end that came out the pex around a large bolt to use for a handle to pull on and it didn't even threaten to break. With a lot of jerking force and occasional backing up, I got the tube through. Since then it's been my intention to unspiral a faucet-cleaning brush and weave about a 1/4" long section into the middle of some mig wire for an eventual deep-scrub of my CFC. Haven't done it yet, but then I've always been thorough in washing, flushing and occasioanal de-oxidizing routine and I've never experienced a slowdown of flow...probably also helps that I always have a filter stage before anything goes in. Still; the very long brush can be done, I just haven't had reason too yet....MIG wire will work.

(note: for those who may try and build a CFC themself this way: Don't! For my second coil: I simply took the time to shape the copper coil perfectly with spaces, to the dimensions it would occupy inside the PEX coil, which I duct-taped into shape and then very simply 'screwed' the copper coil into..felt and sounded a lot like turning a massive snap ring on a pickle jar.

 

[Indian_villager]

I know this only gets you north of 3 feet, hoping that one of your clogs is within 3 ft of one of the ends.
https://www.homebrewfinds.com/long-cleaning-brushes/

 

[Deadalus]

@betarhoalphadelta I think a convoluted CFC is rippled or finned in some capacity but not sure whether it's the inner or outer tubing? Anyway, if you don't want to wait for the PBW, you could make your own. A longer CIP, keeping the solution hot at ~150F, does wonders for cleaning. I occasionally leave the CIP running overnight on my EHERMS, as it has PIDs. I do this when I've started a late brew and I don't want to stay awake. I always do a 20-30 minute CIP afterwards otherwise. Keeps the HERMS coil and CFC flowing!

 

[Deadalus]

I hate to break it to you, but this is what’s left after PBW backflush, followed by tap water and then StarSan. You really need to break it down and mechanically clean it.

View attachment 877515

That appears to be a plate chiller, which does use counterflow but not typically what is referred to as a CFC (tubing inside tubing). I wouldn't run free hops through a plate chiller, perhaps though on one that disassembles. I used to use a hop spider with my plate chiller and then CIP with flow continuing through the spider on the return. Little bits of grain will get caught inside a PC too and would collect in the spider. This would happen even after backflushing first. Therminators don't come apart.

 

[DuncB]

In search of accuracy isn't this a plate chiller partly disassembled?
Aren't they notorious for blocking/ difficult/ fussy to clean?
My CFC has a 10mm bore and is difficult to block but I always clean out with water, then hot PBW recirculate and then hot water wash out before drying which is a pain.

This view doesn't have the connection joining the two parts together.

 

[DuncB]

On the subject of making a CFC
It can be done as per this recent thread.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/diy-stainless-steel-counterflow-chiller.107095/