THE TEST....
I removed the IC (yay!) and filled the keggle with 15 gallons of 34 degree water, and heated to a boil (88 mins)... Then I started the cooling water through the chiller, and then opened the valve up on the keggle, and then opened the ball valve at the end of my fill tube...
Wow! I thought I was going to have to slow down the wort to allow it to cool.. but the opposite is true, I have to slow down the chill water to prevent 'overcooling!'
So I was able to drain the keggle at full speed and with the cooling water throttled back to about 40-50 percent, I achieved a steady 64 degrees out of the chiller.. I dumped the output into buckets so I could double check the temp with a floating thermometer (and it was the same as what the PMT said)...
I forgot the exact time it took to drain, but I think it was under 8 minutes to drain and cool 15 gallons from boiling to pitching temp..
That is 'AWESOME!' in my opinion..
I'm gonna test it out a couple more times as to run hot water through the system, then run some PBW through it, some star san, and then boil up a 5 gallon extract batch of IPA tonight...
I'm 'stoked' at how well this thing works!
Next upgrade is to install a five and a half inch high T1-11 plywood skirt around the chiller box for looks and safety, and then paint it... Then a 2'x2'x6"h drawer box to sit under the burner stand for storing hoses and increasing gravity feed pressure to the mash tun...
So, hopefully.. next weekend, I'll be doing my second AG batch of ale..
)! Less than 5 dollars total.... I'll get some clear Heat Shrink in the future to replace the tie wraps.. but for now, this works 'great'..
