My DIY Chill Wizard Knock Off

[Desert_Sky]

Ok just tested it out finally. I took the day off work to prep and get ready for tomorrow. Gave the chiller a boiling PBW run, then hook up hot water as I pumped into my Blichmann. Chilled boiling water down to 65 with the flow throttled back to a little less than half way open

Now the oxygen stone did let some water through if it the flow was wide open or if it was pumping into a closed tri-clamp on the fermenter.... which of course promptly trips the GFI from dripping directly into the pump. YEa that was fun.....but good to know safety devices are working properly.

Brewing my house pale tomorrow morning which is the chiller, 2050, and the conical's inaugural run. SHould be fun!

 

[Walker]

Ok just tested it out finally. I took the day off work to prep and get ready for tomorrow. Gave the chiller a boiling PBW run, then hook up hot water as I pumped into my Blichmann. Chilled boiling water down to 65 with the flow throttled back to a little less than half way open

But, How long did it take to chill???

 

[Desert_Sky]

But, How long did it take to chill???

Well as long as it takes to pump 22 gallons out of the kettle. If cold water in is pre-chilled to ~40 then you would most likely be able to run the pump with the exiting valve wide open. My ground water is ~65 so I had to throttle back the ball valve to let the hot liquid have longer contact time with the heat exchanger.

It takes less than 10 minutes regardless

 

[Walker]

ah... ok. I thought you were recirculating the wort back in to the kettle and making multiple passes through the thing. But I guess that's not necessary with that therminator, eh?

 

[Desert_Sky]

ah... ok. I thought you were recirculating the wort back in to the kettle and making multiple passes through the thing. But I guess that's not necessary with that therminator, eh?

Nope, hence the one drawback. You only get one pass being that it's being pumped directly into the conical. You need to hit your pitching temps the first time through because there is no recirculating.

The big dial thermometer lets you monitor the exiting temps. So if it's too hot you simply close the valve to give it longer. Too cold, then you open the valve more.

 

[Walker]

but you COULD recirculate, right? Maybe more of a hassle for you than it's worth?

I'm using my IC in reverse mode.... coil dropped into ice-water and wort pumped through it. I just recirculate it back into the kettle until the temp in the kettle is where I want, and then pull the coil up and move the pump's output from kettle into fermenter and let it go.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I still recirc mine back into the kettle from the wizard output just to drive the bulk down fast and to trap the break.. Unless I hop back. Then I throttle down for a single pass.

 

[Desert_Sky]

You mean recirculate back into the kettle? Sure, I suppose you could but it would add a bit of time and water needed to accomplish the same recults as making one pass.

 

[Walker]

You mean recirculate back into the kettle? Sure, I suppose you could but it would add a bit of time and water needed to accomplish the same recults as making one pass.

Yeah, back to the kettle.

As for saving time and water, I guess it depends on the full set-up. If you have two pumps (and I assume you do since your sh*t is so fancy), you could pump ice water through one port, recirculating it back to the icewater tub, and pump wort through the other side and back into the kettle.

Full-open throttles on the wort pump, set ice pump where you want. What came out of the chiller might be over-chilled, but it goes back into the kettle to mix with the stuff that's still hot.

You'd have to monitor the chiller INPUT instead of OUTPUT here to see when you reach the point where the stuff coming out of the kettle is at pitch temps.

I dunno.... just thinking out loud....

 

[EvilGnome6]

You'd have to monitor the chiller INPUT instead of OUTPUT here to see when you reach the point where the stuff coming out of the kettle is at pitch temps.

I dunno.... just thinking out loud....

I do what you describe with a plate chiller but I monitor the output of the chiller. Once it's coming out at my pitching temp, I swing it over to my fermenter. Works like a champ.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Complete success!

One run, out of kettle through the chiller. Output was 72 degrees oxygen added for 5 minutes. Total time 11 minutes to empty, chill, and rack. Clean up was another 5.

I had a couple leaks, but they will be fixed before the next batch. This little guy is fuc**in amazing!

 

[thegreatgumbino]

I still recirc mine back into the kettle from the wizard output just to drive the bulk down fast and to trap the break.. Unless I hop back. Then I throttle down for a single pass.

Just picked up a used therminator on the cheap. I've been wondering about this myself and trying to figure out the best way to use it. Been using the IC recirc / whirlpool method till now.

Recirc'ing 10 gallons through the plate chiller and back into a near boiling temp BK seems like it's going to take a really long time to bring down to pitching temps. The only real world reason to do this IMO is to filter out the cold break. If you're using whole hops &/or a scrubby in the kettle, the hot break should be left in the BK.

Is it really that big a deal to transfer 100% of the cold break to the fermenter? Palmer says no, correct? Why are we so worried about it then?

The other option I'm considering is a hop back of sorts to run between the Therminator and the fermentor to filter out the majority of the cold break. Still one pass to pitching temps. The question is how much of the cold break would pass through the false bottom?

 

[jamcclureuk]

it is in the assembly with the thermometer. HEre is the back side. Sabco has a really nice tri-clamp verison. Mine is threaded....no biggie, Im going for CIP anyway

Hi guys. Quick question about this oxygenation diffuser setup... How do you prevent the chilled wort from leaking out the diffuser barb? Do you need to cap off the end if you are not going to add O2? or does it only allow O2 "In" and no wort to exit?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Desert_Sky]

Hi guys. Quick question about this oxygenation diffuser setup... How do you prevent the chilled wort from leaking out the diffuser barb? Do you need to cap off the end if you are not going to add O2? or does it only allow O2 "In" and no wort to exit?

Thanks a lot!

it takes a bit of pressure to actually get O2 to diffuse through the stone. A check valve inline with the O2 tubing would of worked but I found that 1-2 psi kept the cooled wort from passing back through the stone. I only run O2 for about 2 minutes while transferring, so backing it off to 1-2 psi wasnt enough to add more O2 but enough to keep liquid out.

 

[jamcclureuk]

Thanks for the fast reply. The reason I ask is that I'm building this exact setup (Thank you so much for the pictures!) and I don't have an O2 canister yet. But I thought that I'd get the setup and add the O2 later. I suppose that I could just take the diffuser out and cap the end. It would be nice if there was a valve there though like on the Sabco version.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Just picked up a used therminator on the cheap. I've been wondering about this myself and trying to figure out the best way to use it. Been using the IC recirc / whirlpool method till now.

Recirc'ing 10 gallons through the plate chiller and back into a near boiling temp BK seems like it's going to take a really long time to bring down to pitching temps. The only real world reason to do this IMO is to filter out the cold break. If you're using whole hops &/or a scrubby in the kettle, the hot break should be left in the BK.

Is it really that big a deal to transfer 100% of the cold break to the fermenter? Palmer says no, correct? Why are we so worried about it then?

The other option I'm considering is a hop back of sorts to run between the Therminator and the fermentor to filter out the majority of the cold break. Still one pass to pitching temps. The question is how much of the cold break would pass through the false bottom?

I filter as much as I can for the sake of clarity without the use of finings. That is just my OCD and not necessarily beer critical. But, I am also not shy about using nutrients and energizers to make up for what is lost by clearing the
break.

How much break passes through? I assume all of it otherwise the chiller would stop flowing.. which is really what I am concrened with most and my primary reason for filtering in teh first place. since I can dis-assemble my chiller for cleaning I'd rather keep all I can out of it in the first place. But since cold break is formed inside the chiller I just try to keep it out of the fermenter for clarity reasons.

 

[jamcclureuk]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but it's somewhat related.... what is your O2 setup like? Got any pics of it attached to your chiller?

 

[Desert_Sky]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but it's somewhat related.... what is your O2 setup like? Got any pics of it attached to your chiller?

O2 bottle from Ace hardware and regulator from NB. Very simple and I used clear tubing to verify no wort was backflowing toward the O2 bottle

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Welding bottle and regulator. Opaque tube to chiller.

I have a flowmeter too, just haven't bothered to hook it up since my regulator isn't designed for small adjustments.

 

[jamcclureuk]

What are your thoughts on the tubing? I see that you are using silicone tubing. I have read that it doesn't hold more than 10 PSI or else it will burst. It looks like the Sabco Chill Wizard uses the reinforced vinyl tubing.... Where did you get your Silicone tubing?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Never had an issue with the silicone tubing and actually prefer it since it hold up better at temp, IMO. Of course, I don't have any lines connected where there would be back pressure.

 

[jamcclureuk]

I just checked and the max output of the March pump is 5.23psi so I don't think that there is really any worries with the silicone tubing exploding. Thanks guys!

 

[Desert_Sky]

What are your thoughts on the tubing? I see that you are using silicone tubing. I have read that it doesn't hold more than 10 PSI or else it will burst. It looks like the Sabco Chill Wizard uses the reinforced vinyl tubing.... Where did you get your Silicone tubing?

No issues with swelling at all from the pressure. I picked it up at Morebeer, which is another issue all together. Its rarely in stock and they don't like to tell you it isn't until after you've purchased it

 

[jamcclureuk]

I finally finished my chilling system this afternoon. I can't wait to test it out. It is basically the same components that are in the OP's DIY ChillWizard.

Switch the hoses using the camlock S.S. quick-disconnects and it reverses the flow for cleaning.

Here is the thermometer assembly with the built in oxygenation stone.

I also found this great remote control that will turn the pump on and off.

 

[TonyR]

Nice remote, where did you find it?

 

[jamcclureuk]

Nice remote, where did you find it?

Amazon. About $15 plus shipping. It is the Skylink WS-100/WS-100N Wireless Remote Control

 

[pola0502ds]

Any pictures of the diffusion stone assembly? Anyone that has installed this stone, is this the way to go compared to other methods?

 

[ultravista]

Desert_Sky - are you still using the scrubbie pad in the kettle pickup tube? Can you post a few photos?

jamcclureuk - I've been thinking about using a wire shelf like that for my own setup. Can you post more photos of the entire rig, top to bottom?

 

[jamcclureuk]

Here you go.

 

[mrklueber]

I am getting ready to build a similar project, although the plate chiller will be different model from the Therminator due to cost. Thanks so much for all the ideas and pictures. When finished, I will try to post pictures of my project.