Stainless shell and tube for chilling

[milldoggy]

Found these on eBay and wondering if any has use these for brewing? I have some people use custom copper ones with PVC, just no mention of these all stainless ones.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/262110805629

 

[JoshuaW]

It definitely looks like a heat exchanger. I dont see how it would be more efficient than a plate chiller or CFC, which can be had for $100 less.

 

[JohnnyBrewGood]

I want one of these, not that I think it will work for anything, just want it part of my rig, for cool factor.

I would polish it of course.


>>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Refrigeration-Heat-exchanger-Copper-7-5-HP-BH750-Refrigeration-Research-Unused/400694790996?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D35829%26meid%3D700edae550804a93a1625caa3cd93b3e%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D20%26sd%3D262110805629




.

 

[milldoggy]

Actually think this one would work and is 125
http://m.ebay.com/itm/55K-BTU-316L-...3D262110805629&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

Probably will not clog like a plate, and maybe more efficient than a stainless CFC?

 

[milldoggy]

I ordered the following heat exchanger.

http://r.ebay.com/e7z5gS

I currently have a chillzilla copper CFC and a stainless CFC, so if I can find the time, I can do an experiment and compare. I just got the stainless CFC off CL, so have not compared it to the copper one.

Current plan is to use this for my herms and chilling. I been using my copper herms coil for 5 years and have been looking at changing to stainless. If this exchanger works, will be one less piece to buy and clean in brew day.

 

[CUrchin]

Just be careful that welds/soldering etc. is done with stainless and not something with lead or something else bad in it. These things are designed for boilers and not food applications.

 

[boat_eggs]

Just be careful that welds/soldering etc. is done with stainless and not something with lead or something else bad in it. These things are designed for boilers and not food applications.

was just going to chime in about this. there are several of these at my work (milk company) that are much larger and none of them are product contact. all are for cip or hot water set

 

[milldoggy]

Was thinking about that this am, asking the manufacturer. Hope I did not just waste 120

 

[dmcman73]

If this wasn't made for potable water or for food application, there is a good chance the welds / solder aren't food safe. Also, those welds are not sanitary so it may be quite difficult to clean and sanitize.

 

[milldoggy]

I did ask another seller of a similar product and they said it was food safe

 

[Ben58]

If these are truly 316 SS, don't even worry about lead based means of joining any of the components. If solder is used, it will be silver based.

 

[poptarts]

following, this look like they will work great. obviously stainless isn't as good at heat exchange as copper but i don't see how this can be worse that then stainless CFC chillers.

 

[orangehero]

I looked into these heat exchangers a while ago, but unfortunately they weren't able have custom fittings made such as triclover instead of those huge threaded ports.

There's also these:

http://stilldragon.com/index.php/2-long-product-shotgun.html

http://stilldragon.com/index.php/condensers-conp3l1.html

Let us know how well it works once you get it.

 

[milldoggy]

I called the manu. He said no problems. All stainless welds, no lead at all. Pretty nice company. Will post my results

 

[orangehero]

Can they do custom pieces?

 

[milldoggy]

Did not ask, but when I called, no automated prompts, when right to a human being. I bet you could ask them. If these work well, be a great market for them to get into

 

[orangehero]

Are the internal convoluted tubes welded or soldered?

 

[milldoggy]

Welded, he said no solder

 

[milldoggy]

Showed up today. Looks well constructed. Giving it a soak to clean any machine oils out of it. I order some 3m lead test pens to verify there is none in there.

Wish I order the larger ones as I am going to mount horizontally and have the room for it. Will look nice mounted in the front if my stand.

Hope to get to test this weekend, will report findings, but thinking about it, then inner tubes are probably 18" long, there are 19 of them, so the gives a linear length of say 28 ft. They are twisted, so there is turbulent flow. I am hopeful it will work.
Edit: internal tubes are 16, Still 25 linear ft

 

[schematix]

Can't wait to hear how this turns out. I'd expect it to clog really easily and perform no better than an IC for the size, but I love to be proven wrong!

Can't wait to find a suitable replacement for my plate chiller. Love the performance but it clogs too easily.

 

[milldoggy]

Do not think it will clog on my setup. I use a 300 micron hop spider for hops and a 28x28 mesh hop taco around my dip tube. I get zero hop debris in my carboy.

Either way, the tubes are my 1/4", I bet they could handle a lot

 

[schematix]

Do not think it will clog on my setup. I use a 300 micron hop spider for hops and a 28x28 mesh hop taco around my dip tube. I get zero hop debris in my carboy.

Either way, the tubes are my 1/4", I bet they could handle a lot

With that level of filtration i suspect you'll be ok. I swore off the hop spider a few years ago due to poor utilization and flavor and i've been happy with the decision, but now i end up clogging a lot more, which sucks.

Have you run any performance tests with it yet?

 

[milldoggy]

No, kids and work will prevent me from trying this week

 

[milldoggy]

I used 5 3m lead test pens, all negative. I feel safe about using it. No test runs yet, but I plumbed it. Working in how I will mount it. Think I will mount in a board and wing nut it to my stand so I can remove it for easy draining. Pic below was just testing the idea.

 

[milldoggy]

Pic

View attachment 1457578214999.jpg

 

[dmcman73]

It will be interesting to see how fast this things cools and how easy it is to clean afterwords.

 

[milldoggy]

Test run underway. I used some multi position pins to attach the chiller to my stand. Will make removing it easy.

View attachment 1457957896838.jpg

 

[milldoggy]

I am first testing this as a replacement for my herms coil.

First observation. Flow. This thing is is fast. Twice as fast as flowing through my 50 ft 1/2 copper coil. I think to fast. Will probably need to throttle it down for better heat transfer. Letting it run full throttle for the first run though

 

[milldoggy]

As a herms tube, it is pretty good, a tad slower than running my submerged herms coil. I think it has to do with the air temp. It seems to be losing some heat in the tube. I be some insulation will help.

Here is my chart. 13 gallons in hlt, 8 in mash.

View attachment 1457963523789.jpg

 

[dmcman73]

I am first testing this as a replacement for my herms coil.

First observation. Flow. This thing is is fast. Twice as fast as flowing through my 50 ft 1/2 copper coil. I think to fast. Will probably need to throttle it down for better heat transfer. Letting it run full throttle for the first run though

I see you have a CFC, any reason not using that as a HERMS replacement.....or were you using the CFC as a HERMS originally?