Plate chiller help

[Kmcogar]

So I saw a deal on Craigslist for a Brazetek 30 plate chiller. It was $60 so I bought it. It was originally $125 so I thought it was a good deal. I decided to test it today by boiling some water and running it through. My hose connections were leaking a little bit but they we're still pushing water through it fine. The wort was flowing fine as well.
When the boiling water flowed into my empty pot I measured the temp. It was about 100 degrees F. Which is way too hot to pitch yeast into. But don't get me wrong, 212 F to 100 F in 5 minutes is pretty good. But it's not what I need.
Am I doing anything wrong? What can I do to reach my target temp? My ground water was about 65 F. Should I run it through my immersion chiller first? Do I need a pump to recirculate the wort? (kinda out of my price range.)

Any thoughts would be greats. thanks

 

[cmybeer]

It's tougher in the summer when ground water is warmer. In winter here in MN the plate chiller I use works like a dream but in the summer it only gets it down to the 90-100* range. You can try slowing the flow rate or just use a big ice batch for your carboy. It takes a while but gets you there eventually.

I've also been toying with the idea of getting some plastic/metal box of sorts to put ice water in and place the plate chiller in there so it doesn't heat up so much. Haven't really tested this though. Anyone try anything like it?

 

[aquenne]

What you want to do is slow the flow rate of the wort such that the output is at your desired temperature.

 

[Bobby_M]

Measure your tap water temp for one thing. I suspect that you may not be running the coolant and wort in opposite directions. It MUST counterflow to be efficient.

 

[Kmcogar]

That may have been the problem. I think I had it flowing in the same direction.

 

[Kmcogar]

I am going to try it again Saturday. What can I do about the leaks? I am also going to try and hook up my old immersion chiller as a pre chiller. Let's see how cold this can go!

 

[Bobby_M]

It's absolutely the problem. When you flow in the same direction, the two liquids quickly reach equilibrium and then have nowhere to go. In counterflow, the incoming wort hits warm water first (pretty big delta there anyway), then it progressively encounters colder and colder water until it finally exits.

 

[HDIr0n]

You could also use a pond pump to pump ice water through it if changing flow direction doesn't get you where you want to be.

 

[microbusbrewery]

It's absolutely the problem. When you flow in the same direction, the two liquids quickly reach equilibrium and then have nowhere to go. In counterflow, the incoming wort hits warm water first (pretty big delta there anyway), then it progressively encounters colder and colder water until it finally exits.

What Bobby said. Make sure they're running opposite directions and slow the flow.