shirron plate chiller vs. ebay plate chiller

[paradoc]

I've got a Shirron plate chiller, and about to buy a Duda Diesel one to replace it. Why? The Shirron has FAR fewer channels than either the therminator or the Duda Diesel one, so it plugs a lot more easily. I've got a friend with a therminator and he gets much better flow and less plugging. Of course... any plate chiller will plug if you don't filter your hops somehow.

I clean mine by running hot water with oxyclean through the wort side in both directions, then flush with clean water and let it drain/dry. I sanitize by running boiling wort through it for last 10 minutes of the boil. I also use a large hop bag for my hops.

To the person who suggests freezing your plate chiller, I discourage this. In fact the Shirron has a printed warning NOT to freeze it. Freezing and thawing puts incredible stress on the welds and channels. If you doubt this just look what happens to solid granite when water gets in and freezes during the winter. Probably a quick way to ruin your plate chiller.

 

[ImperialLover]

Hey guys, I know I'm late to the party, but I've been in the market for a plate chiller. I found about 3 when I did an e-bay search for "plate chiller." But if you use "plate heat exchanger" then you'll get about 300 hits. I'm buying a 10 plate chiller right now for $40 with 1/2" MPT. That's about half price from everything in the LHBS. Hope it helps someone. Cheers

 

[Waunabeer]

I have the Shirron plate chiller, but have purchased the Duda Diesel 30-plate chiller and can't wait to use it. I upgraded the size because I just purchased a chugger pump and just wanted more chilling capacity.

I was a little disappointed when I opened the box for the Duda Diesel chiller and it had a big ole "Made In China" sticker on it. I guess that's why they are much cheaper than the rest, but probably work just as well non the less.

 

[Moose777]

My Shirron plugged..here is my new Dudadiesel 30 plate chiller ready for a Waldo Lake Amber brew day tomorrow

 

[Moose777]

Performed like a champ...I'm going to keep this thing cleaned cause this is ahell of a great addition to my brewing...pitchable wort temps in minutes.../

Yessss

 

[jaginger]

For my education, on that Duda Diesel picture, could you use it just as it is oriented in the photo? I am guessing water goes in the right side connectors, and wort on the left.

I'm using only gravity, so I would just slide a tube from my boil kettle on the top left connector, and send cooled wort out the bottom left connector with another slide-on tube. Is that how it works?

Thanks for the info.


P.S. Were those fittings on the left side added after purchase, or did it come that way?

 

[Waunabeer]

I have the same setup as Moose777 and those connectors are add-ons. And yes it can be used as shown in the picture; that's exactly how mine is mounted.

And by the way, with my 30-plate chiller and cold tap water (which is much colder this time of year) it was dropping my boiling wort down into the 50's so I had to speed up the flow a few times to raise the temperatures. Not a bad problem to have.

 

[Moose777]

I'm in Southern California so while my water was cold I'm sure it was nowhere near as cold on yours.
I closed off the valve from the brewpot to restrict the wort flow about 50% and I measured it coming out of the chiller at 72 right into my BetterBottle fermenter.
Bubbling away now on the Denny's Favorite WYeast---Waldo Lake Amber all grain from Northern Brewer

 

[bmbigda]

I'm about to buy the 40-plate duda-diesel (http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX1240BWGHF) and have been reading through all the threads. I'm going to use it gravity-fed for a while until I can get a pump. Right now it's winter in New England. My water is in the 50's. What is the trick to getting a desired final temperature, short of having a thermometer in line with the output? I was thinking of simply starting out with the kettle output as slow as possible, holding a thermometer in the fermenter, and opening the ball valvle as needed/if needed.

I also plan to heed the warnings regarding hop particulates. Thing is, I gave up using paint strainer bags a while ago because I don't like how the hops at the center of a ball of hops inside a bag aren't exposed to the rigors of the boil (that's for another thread). Anywho - what do people think is the next best thing? Bobby_M's hop screen?

 

[day_trippr]

[...]****y_M's hop screen?

Oh no he didn't!

Cheers!