Prechiller can or bucket

[puttster]

Here in Texas the summer hose water is pretty warm so I've been thinking of making a prechiller to go with the chiller. Instead of tubing I'd just get a bucket of ice water, pump hose water in one hole, exit cold water out another.

The bucket and fittings would have to withstand the water pressure. Something like a steel or PVC bucket with a screw-on lid might work but I don't know where to find one. To be economical the bucket and fittings would have to cost less than the tubing would cost.

puttster

 

[waldo711]

I live in Florida and have the same problem. Thanks to my LHBS, I now use a 1/6 hp submersible pump (Ace hardware brand works well) in a cooler filled with 40-60 pounds of ice and a quart of water to prime the pump. Immersion chiller is connected to the pump, with the output recirculating back into the cooler. It knocks the temp down just as fast as the groundwater I used to use in Colorado!

 

[sportpak]

I use the ice water bucket and pond pump with my immersion chiller. I usually run regular tap water through the first few minutes, then switch to another bucket with ice. The first runnings are so hot it really kills the ice. I may be hurting efficiency, but I like having ice still present towards the end of chilling when temp transfer slows down.

 

[puttster]

I have a 25' coil which I used as an immersion cooler last week. It brought the temp down to 100 okay but things got a little stubborn after that. I ended up adding some ice right to the wort.

I have a little submersible pump and a 5-gal bucket, Is there a way to rig something to speed up the last 20 degrees without having to buy another 25-foot coil?

 

[brewster2012]

I use a marine livewell recirculation pump (12v) and a cooler filled with ice water. Like sportpak, I run tap water through the first few minutes catching the really warm water to clean the brew kettle with then switch to recirculating ice water from the cooler through the immersion chiller. The pump is attached to the drain opening on the cooler. I removed the drain fitting and used a rubber washer to seal the inside.

 

[puttster]

So you don't use water from the hose, just fill the cooler with ice water and run that till its gone?

 

[brewster2012]

Not exactly. I fill the cooler with water (about 10 gallons) and pump that through the chiller and capture this into buckets for cleaning. I refill the cooler before its empty with ice and water then recirculate this in a "closed loop" way. Said another way, water from the discharge of the chiller goes back in the cooler. In addition to the ice, I also use reusable ice packs.