Plate Chiller Not Chilling(Very Good)

[Stevo2569]

Hey guys,

Got this 50 plate chiller from Keg Cowboy 3-4 yrs ago. Worked Ok when I got it. Took like 8 min to chill 5.5 gal from boil to 70. Has been getting worse and worse it seems over time. Today took 25 min at a trickle from boil to 70. Flow is still good so I dont think it's clogged. Oriented horizontally. Did a search and couldnt find anything. Any help would be appreciated. Thnx

 

[CadillacAndy]

How do you clean it? Has the ground water temp changed? I'd probably soak it in pbw and flush it to see what comes out.

 

[IslandLizard]

Those 50 plates, 25 cavities for each side, all run parallel. Say half are (semi) clogged, you still get good flow but only 1/2 the chilling capacity. It could be worse, and blocked passages don't flush out easily, they actually get clogged more over time.

Do you get a lot of hop debris in there? Do you always flush/backwash back and forth after use?

After initial flushing I circulate near boiling PBW through it with a mesh filter on the intake. I also bake it regularly, every 4-5 batches or when I feel it needs it.

 

[Stevo2569]

I back flow it every time I use it. I use hop sacks so no debris. I was thinking maybe beerstone or something but it doesn't appear on any other brass, copper or stainless in the system. Haven't baked it. I just flow boiling wort to sanitize. Would it help with blockage? How long at what temp? Thnx

 

[IslandLizard]

Maybe the water cavities are getting clogged from hard water. How is the water-side flow? Try to reverse the operating flow on both sides (run it backwards) to try to dislodge anything stuck in there. You could soak in or circulate an acid (phosphoric, acetic (vinegar), sulphuric, HCl, etc.) through both sides for a few hours to dissolve calcium deposits and perhaps beer stone (calcium oxalate). Hot works faster. Careful with those stronger acids (sulphuric, nitric, HCl) though, they ruin clothes, skin, plumbing, and stuff, and never use them concentrated. Diluted to 10-15% at the highest.

How many batches have been through it? Have you contacted Keg Cowboy?
Mine is a Duda Diesel.

Baking:
Shake as much of the water out before baking. I toss it in when baking bread or pizza and bake them at 350-450 for an hour or so, and let them cool down with the oven. Mostly to sterilize it, but I still get some larger black (hop) flakes washing out later. And yes I use a filter for the hops, but over time some have gotten through from imperfect filtering.

 

[Stevo2569]

I doubt the calcium our water is good. But may be worth a try. Prob got 100 or more batches through it. Keg cowboy in closed I think. Pretty sure it's the same one duda sales. Searched and all I found was a bar. I'll try to bake it and see if that helps. Thanx gents.

 

[IslandLizard]

First I would recirculate very hot PBW for a few hours in backward direction, see if anything comes out. You can always add more Oxiclean to the solution during that time to keep the oxygen level up.

Rinse it and test, then do the acid treatment if needed. Muriatic acid (HCl) is cheap and easy to get (hardware store). Just be very, very, VERY careful. That stuff is dangerous! Wear eye and skin protection. No kidding!

If it is a blockage some high pressure (air or water) may dislodge it. You got to feed it more than the open passages can pass, which puts pressure behind the blocked ones.

There is a nice image around of a plate chiller cut in half sideways, diagonally. I was amazed how convoluted and tight some of the passages are.

 

[passedpawn]

 

[passedpawn]

A guy in my homebrew club uses two therminators in a row. The first gets tap water for chilling fluid, the second one gets ice water. So, if you want to get crazy, you could do that.

http://www.thebeerjournals.com/chilling.html

 

[runkelia]

Are all valves fully open?

Edit: Is it designed to operate vertically? The therminator operates horizontally.

 

[passedpawn]

Hey guys,
Got this 50 plate chiller from Keg Cowboy 3-4 yrs ago. Worked Ok when I got it. Took like 8 min to chill 5.5 gal from boil to 70. Has been getting worse and worse it seems over time. Today took 25 min at a trickle from boil to 70. Flow is still good so I dont think it's clogged. Oriented vertically. Did a search and couldnt find anything. Any help would be appreciated. Thnx

Make sure that the flows are going in the correct directions. The chilling water and wort flow have to move in opposite directions through the chiller.

I know I've accidentally hooked it up wrong. Hardly works at all if the flows are parallel instead of "countercurrent".

 

[Stevo2569]

Yes flows directions are correct. Flow valves full open or partial. Only gets better when I slow it way down. Good idea with high pressure. I'll hit it with the air hose. Ill do some work on it and see if I can get it working better. Thanks
for the suggestions guys.
Edit: had a brain fart it sits horizontally. Lol

 

[runkelia]

What gets better when you slow it down, the temp?
Your water 3/4" cooling water in valve needs to be fully open.

 

[IslandLizard]

There's a better pic, but this is pretty illustrative.

 

[Stevo2569]

Cool pic. Had to suck to be the guy that sacrificed his chiller.
Runk: yes. Yes

 

[Stevo2569]

Alright so finally got time to put some work in on the chiller.
Step 1. Soaked in Pbw after flowing/ backflowing for a while.
Step 2.Ran hot water back and forth 4-5 times then hold upside down to drain out junk.
Junk wouldn't come out unless gravity drained upside down through wort output side.
Step 3. With chiller full of water pulse 150 psi air forward flow then backwards flow.
This seemed to use the water as a medium to blast build up lose.
Step 4.Repeat step 2.
Step 5.Repeat step 3.
Repeated steps til junk no longer came out approx 15 times each. Haven't used it yet but I would bet a significant increase in chillablilty considering the amount of crap that came out. I had no idea. Cheers guys.