pump for wort chiller?

[dale weaver]

ok, so while i wait for the rest of the kit i have ordered to arrive, i started to think about water conservation. to wit, using a submersible or pool draining pump, to push water through the wort chiller. placing the pump in a 40 gallon trash can( never used for trash)and the out put line from the chiller back in to the trash can. thoughts?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I think that the trash can full of water will soon turn very warm. Probably before the wort hits the 100 mark. You could hook up your chiller to a hose and discharge into that trash can and later use that can water for watering your garden, filling your washing machine, filling toilet tanks, etc.

 

[wsmith1625]

I bought this pump and used it for the 1st time last Sunday. Running it without the chiller, this pump seemed over powered, but after connecting to my 25" IC, the water out was considerably slower. I ran the garden hose until I hit 95 degrees, than recirculated water from a cooler. I used (6) 1 liter soda bottles which I filled with water and froze the night before to keep the recirculated water cool. I found that taking the caps off the bottles and letting the water get direct contact with the ice got the water colder. My final temp was 65 degrees when I stopped recirculating.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CGAD986/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dale weaver]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CGAD986/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Not bad this is the pump that i bought------
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X05G1A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dale weaver]

I think that the trash can full of water will soon turn very warm. Probably before the wort hits the 100 mark. You could hook up your chiller to a hose and discharge into that trash can and later use that can water for watering your garden, filling your washing machine, filling toilet tanks, etc.

the trash can will be part full of ice as well, but you may be right. time will tell.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I am curious though. Please report back with info like ground water temp, ice water temp, time to chill to what temp. All the cool data nerd stuff.

 

[dale weaver]

I am curious though. Please report back with info like ground water temp, ice water temp, time to chill to what temp. All the cool data nerd stuff.

will do!

 

[electricsailor]

I have a 275 gallon "tote" that I will use for this (for initial cool down), then recirc iced water from a cooler. My pump(s) is from MPJA, see: 12VDC Submersible Water Pump | MPJA.COM
At $6.95 I bought two of them and can put them in series, if one does not move enough water.
Will report...

 

[Gozie Boy]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CGAD986/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Not bad this is the pump that i bought------
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X05G1A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've got the pump you bought in two sizes (1/3 & 1/4 HP) for various uses around the brewery. I like it a lot (it's more powerful than my RipTides when I want some better flow and head capacity). However, one of these "froze" (ha!) when using it to CIP my conical with PBW at about 150F (the official rating is only 120F). I had previously used it frequently at 140+F with no problems. Yeah, I pushed the rated temp a little too far this time and the internals locked up or the thermal overload protector kicked in and shut it down. Fortunately, after everything cooled down, it "unseized" or reset and no permanent harm was apparently incurred. Probably best to keep things under about 135F.

 

[electricsailor]

Yes, I was planning to use it (them) on the supply side, 80 - 32 degrees.

 

[gnef]

You can do some quick calculations as to how well your trashcan will work. The specific heat of wort should be very close to that of water, which means you can just do a weighted average of temperature by volume - if volumes were equal, then it would be 50/50, and the temperature would be close to right between the two original values. If you had twice as much chilling water in the trash can, you would weight it 2/3, etc.

There will definitely be efficiency losses, so this won't be perfect, but it should give you a general idea of what your maximum chilling potential is.