Pumping ice water vs pre-chiller in ice water

[attyindaburgh]

So with the summer months, my water is not as cold as it is in the winter and I am having trouble getting down to pitching temps. So, thinking about going with a small pump and pumping cold water through the im chiller or building another Chiller and putting that chiller into a bucket of ice water. Thoughts? Ideas? Also, if you think prechiller, I have extra 3/8" and 1/2" ID tubing, which would be better? I currently use 50' of 3/8 " for my chiller.

 

[d3track]

Pump ice water

 

[HopinJim]

I've never tried a pre chiller, but I do use the ice water recirc method thru my IC. I have a pond pump in a 5 gal bucket that I just cover with water, then dump a bag of ice on top...hook the pump to the IC, and let the outlet recirc back to the bucket. I only hook this up once the temp has gotten down as far as possible with tap water. Works like a champ!

 

[BetterSense]

Pre-chillers are pointless. For the price of copper to make a good pre chiller your could buy a pump and pump ice water which works better probably anyway.