Spot welder cooler as a glycol chiller?

[invictusbrew]

So, I have an old spot welder I no longer use (a few of them really, but one in particular) that I'm looking to possibly take the cooler off of and utilize it as a glycol chiller for my 28 gal conical fermenter. Since I'm not too well versed in how this particular style of pump works (I mean that more as in efficiency, not in mechanics), I was wondering if someone may have some more insight on whether this will work or not, and if so, what I may need to do to make it fit my needs. If at all possible, I would absolutely love to make this work for two fermenters... but haven't really looked into the logistics of such a thing just yet.

Any and all input on this would be much appreciated, thank you all in advance!

 

[invictusbrew]

Also, I plan on cleaning this thoroughly, inside and out, before using anywhere near my fermenters. It's been sitting an awful long time.

 

[The_Bishop]

That's just a fan and water pump with a radiator. Not a 'chiller'. It won't be able to get below ambient room temps.

 

[invictusbrew]

That's just a fan and water pump with a radiator. Not a 'chiller'. It won't be able to get below ambient room temps.

Thank you for your input. The way it is set up now, I completely see your point. However, I'm willing to more or less tear this thing apart and make it work. IE: pulling the radiator off and sticking it inside of a cooler filled with ice water that I refill each day while fermenting is well within the box on this one. I also have a couple STC-1000's that I can hook up to this so that's not much of a problem either.

I guess my biggest concern is if the pump is decent enough to keep 20-something gallons of fermenting beer cool using something like the aforementioned method. If so, is a three gallon reservoir going to be ample enough to make this work or will I need to fab something bigger? Also, is there a way to get this to operate on two fermenters at once? (which I suppose is something I'm interested in regardless - worse comes to worse I buy some old A/C unit for cheap on craigslist and follow one of the DIY's on the forums for this method)

 

[The_Bishop]

The thermal mass of 20 gallons of beer, on top of the active ferment generating heat, means you would need one hell of a big cooler full of ice water to keep the fermenter cool. That'll go double for two of them.

You need the ability to move more BTUs out of the fermenters than they're generating and/or absorbing from the ambient atmosphere.

 

[invictusbrew]

The thermal mass of 20 gallons of beer, on top of the active ferment generating heat, means you would need one hell of a big cooler full of ice water to keep the fermenter cool. That'll go double for two of them.

You need the ability to move more BTUs out of the fermenters than they're generating and/or absorbing from the ambient atmosphere.

Fair enough. So, in your opinion, are the A/C units the way to go for something like this? I mean ideally I would have enough money to justify a legit glycol chiller and jacketed fermenters, but since that's not the case and I really enjoy the DIY aspect of it anyway, what's the best way to achieve this?

 

[The_Bishop]

You're going to need a more 'active' cooling system, in my opinion. The sheer thermal bulk of the wort, and the heat generated during the ferment will overwhelm a cooler full of ice in short order.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

You'll have to look at the specs from procon, but you could probably use the pump to circulate the glycol. The rest of that is scrap. I'd love a water cooler for my tig stuff so if you are ditching these for cheap send me a message.

The ac unit method is probably the best bet you have coupled with the motor/pump here. Or you can use a submersible pump from harbor freight. That is what I do... it works great.

 

[invictusbrew]

Sandyeggoxj, thank you for the help. I've got a guy I work with that has a couple extra A/Cs so I'm good there, probably just follow one of the existing DIY threads here. Also, I'm definitely willing to sell the water cooler - PM sent. I also have quite a bit of other sheet metal tooling and equipment for sale if you or anyone else are interested.

 

[invictusbrew]

So, got the A/C I was talking about last week. Working on wrapping my conicals in copper tubing now, but wanted to know what you guys thought about the different ways of controlling the chiller? A little information: I've currently got two 28 gal fermenters (planning on ~20gal batches) that will be hooked up to this. Will probably add at least one more fermenter to this eventually. Looking around, I feel that the BCS is probably my best option here, but would really appreciate any insight in this matter.

Here are some pictures of the A/C after I pulled off the plastic covers - he also brought in a 15,000 BTU A/C, but I think this one should work fine for my needs - if I'm mistaken, please let me know!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

This thread popped back up and reminded me about your pm... I'll get to that shortly!

The part with the fins all messed up will need to stay out in the open to push the heat out of the refrigerant enroute back to the compressor.

Do you have pictures of the other side?

 

[invictusbrew]

This thread popped back up and reminded me about your pm... I'll get to that shortly!

The part with the fins all messed up will need to stay out in the open to push the heat out of the refrigerant enroute back to the compressor.

Do you have pictures of the other side?

I do, here is the flip side of the picture originally shown.

And the two remaining sides just in case you want to take a look at that.

Left side of picture above:

Right side of first picture above:

EDIT: Also, I was pretty sure it was the other side that needed to stay on to dissipate heat, while the original picture showed the side that should go in the glycol (side that would go in the room if used as intended). It certainly wouldn't be the first time I was wrong, I just want to double check!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

On the very last picture you posted: The left side stays put and the right side is immersed in the glycol. If you have any doubts just plug it in and run it for 5 minutes. The cold part goes in the glycol. You will have to massage the lines around to get them to work right so just be careful not to break them.

 

[invictusbrew]

On the very last picture you posted: The left side stays put and the right side is immersed in the glycol. If you have any doubts just plug it in and run it for 5 minutes. The cold part goes in the glycol. You will have to massage the lines around to get them to work right so just be careful not to break them.

Ok, that's what I was originally thinking (I know the first picture didn't give a whole hell of a lot to go off of). I've dealt with copper lines before, so I should be fine taking my time and not having any problems, but worst comes to worst I can solder it back together. Thank you for the help, I really appreciate it!